JOURNAL #5
#BIGIDEASandMEANINGMAKING
JOURNAL#5
2/24/22
This week I've given considerable thought to the concept of "big idea" through several readings- From Understanding by Design by McTighe, J. + Wiggins, G.P. (1998) (Pgs 67-78)
to Chapters 1 and 2 from Teaching Meaning in Artmaking by Sydney R Walker. The concept of the big idea- the "core" or "linchpin to which a curriculum or body of work revolves. These big ideas lead to further inquiry, deeper meaning and more questions. These should, for the most part, sustain knowledge based investigations possibly for lifetimes, spanning many studies and concepts.
Why is this important?
Why should we think about these big ideas?
In Understanding by Design, we see that big ideas can bring different studies together, connecting and integrating ideas and lessons. On an art education level, It's exciting to see how art can connect to the other studies: how art connects to math, to history, to science. This allows for all types of learners to participate and make connections, creating a deeper understanding to both the physical art, making work and the integrated subject.
It's honestly the question and concept that has been lacking in my own education. As I have mentioned in previous journals, I wasn't accustomed to giving much thought to these larger ideas and connections; focusing mostly on my technical skill. As I read about these ideas, I kept visually trying to comprehend big ideas. As you can see from my process shots, I started sketching a few of these ideas.
I was thinking too literally.
They were linear and related to observational drawing and relationships. This is an abstract and large concept- full of wonder and possibility. Big ideas were not isolated linear events, they were full of questions and further enquiry. I abandoned my first artwork about big ideas. I wanted something that showed connectedness, variety, and expansion. What could show connections and how these ideas interlocked?
This time I wanted to use circles showing the big ideas. Connecting them and using the round shape signifies or symbolizes a sort of unity and shared space. I made them different sizes and colors representing the different big ideas and thoughts. I wanted to convey how big and complex this was. It wasn't some small isolated linear event. It is huge and still full of so much discovery.
This isn't how I usually work and I felt really out of my comfort zone. I was making abstract art that was about an abstract and huge idea. I became lost in the work and probably could have continued going, but as this is an art piece and a symbol for this idea, I stopped when the piece felt like it was finished.
For me, learning about this big idea concept gave me a formula and foundation to something that I struggled with for years. Finding meaning and purpose behind your work. Approaching big ideas, for use of integrating subjects, for use of studying a subject or idea, for learning about art and artist and also discovering about your own work. What a connective and exciting tool!
One can see the pedagogical use for this: at any age we can start to think about the big idea and through these big ideas we can find meaning making in our work. We can also use this to analyze the work of others. The benefits are huge, but how to we make this accessable? How do we introduce these concepts without overwhelming our students?
Meaning making and big ideas being a part of study and curriculum asks more from ourselves and our students. It asks us how we relate to our world and how we relate to each other. What are the important things to take away? What are major topics to understand our world and what are the experiences that we need to address? These big ideas bring us closer and allow us a sort of vocabulary to understand our world. As we find relationships to these ideas as educators, we can then help our students to find relationships to these concepts of their own. Are these internal explorations? External? All of it?
When a student discovers a way to relate and explore their personal experiences through art, this gives them a different method to discover themselves and relate to their world. They can choose the dialog and depth that they want to engage in and we as educators can encourage and emphase the permission to fail. Learning from our failures in a non-critical but informative way can release a lot of the pressure put on a student. Also, by learning about different artist and how the artist engages through a visual dialog, this can model and inspire the students. There are many artists that can model big ideas and meaning making with little technical ability, making this accessable and obtainable to the students.
In my reading, Teaching Meaning in Artmaking, they address that students may not always be able to access what they know and their past experiences. One thing they suggest for memory recall is to ask about other sensory details. What did they see? What smells , textures and sounds were present? What emotions did they experience? Students haven't had the rich diversity of experiences to draw from for some of these big ideas, but helping them to think of experiences as a full range of senses and emotions can begin to help them create a language and sensitivity to their world. We are encouraging them to experiment, fail, to be risk takers and formulate questions. The ability to question and dive head first into inquiry and experience.
We also want them to connect what they know and feel, their personal stories to these big ideas. This creates a relevance to their world and why they are learning something.
One of the first artists that I was introduced to in a meaning making by way of contemporary art was Andy Warhol. I didn't understand his work at first. I remember thinking, "Why a soup can?" and "How does this make him an artist?!" I then saw a video of him talking about a piece titled "Atomic Bomb: Red Explosion." (pictured below) The interviewer asks Warhol, "What are you trying to say here?" to which Warhol replies, "I'm not trying to say anything."
Atomic Bomb: Red Explosion (Andy Warhol, 1965)
I remember my young 9 or 10 year old self staring at the video, mouth hanging open in disbelief. Of course he was saying something! It was then that I realized something else was happening. He wasn't going to be lead, controlled or guide others. He was challenging the viewer, challenging the art world. It wasn't art for the skill or technique; it was something different, confrontational and challenging.... and I loved it. I loved Andy Warhol for this. He may have been the first artist to push my thinking, and now I realize he may have been my first introduction to big ideas.
I still have so much to learn and explore surrounding these big ideas and meaning making in work... Not just for my personal work, but the work of others, my students and how these ideas can connect us to other studies and the larger picture.
It's such a large concept, but it gives us a basis for how to make work of our own and understand the work that surrounds us. I'm excited to apply this to my curriculum and my students, and consider it also to my own work.
These are process sketches and how I worked through thinking about big ideas and how I got to my final peice:
