"STREET ART" PROJECT

“STREET ART” PROJECT

Some may argue that the very act of participating in the medium of street art suggests the artist sees himself or herself as an artist/activist.  Regardless of your opinions on the subject there is no doubt that the street artists in Exit Through The Gift Shop risked bodily injury and criminal prosecution to spread their personal visual agenda. Some of the themes in their work consisted of: social commentary, political discourse, or simply flagrant egotistical self-promotion.

For your next assignments you will create two 8.5 x 11 “Street Art” works that explore some of these themes.

LET ME BE VERY CLEAR!  WE WILL NOT BE RISKING BODILY INJURY OR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS ASSIGNMENT.  WE ARE ONLY INVESTIGATING THE IDEAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEDIUM OF STREET ART WE WILL NOT BE ENGAGING IN THE ACT ITSELF.

Project Parameters:

Each of your compositions will be 8.5 x 11 and oriented either horizontally or vertically.

Your projects will be black and white.

Each of your artworks must contain a minimum of 1 image and text.

You must use Photoshop to manipulate your images to convey your intended visual message.

You must save both the photoshop files (.psd) and jpeg versions of your projects.

You will post the jpeg versions of your projects to your blogs.

You will also need to print your projects to the black and white printer.

You have 2 class periods to work on these projects.

They are due (posted to your blog) by the beginning of class next week.

When conceptualizing your projects you should think about whether your intended message is successfully conveyed through your choice of imagery and text.  You should also consider the overall composition of your artworks and whether they have a dynamic visual impact.

Exit Through the Gift Shop - Blog Post

Today we are going to have a screening of Exit Through the Gift Shop.  I would like you to post a 250 word reaction to the film.  Your post should be thoughtful and well written.


Topic Suggestions:
What was the overall message of the film?
Why do you think it was titled Exit Through the Gift Shop?
Do you think a particular artist in the film was more conceptually rich than another and why?
What are your opinions of the use of appropriation in street art/ graffiti?
What are your opinions on street art/ graffiti in general?  Is it a valid form of art?
Do you think the artists in the film have "sold out"?

EXERCISE - DYNAMIC COMPOSITION USING RECTANGLES

Creating a Dynamic Composition

Compositions can be static or dynamic. In this exercise, we will recreate the dynamic movement found within a painting, using rectangles in Illustrator. Dynamic compositions are full of energy or movement. Angles are used to create motion. While a flat horizon line is at rest, a triangle is in motion. The repetition of even spacing is easy on the eye, as our minds predict the simple rhythm of an evenly spaced grid. Angles and uneven spacing between objects causes our eyes to move back and forth. This physical movement translates into the perception of movement within a composition. Use a figurative painting from the artists listed below as the guideline for your dynamic composition with rectangles.

Go to artstor.org and register if you are not already registered.  You need to be on campus to do this.  Search for a figurative painting from one of these artists:  Edvard Munch, Egon Schiele, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, or Gustav Klimt. 

The rules:

We are only using the rectangle tool to create this composition.

There will be no outlines on your rectangles.

You can only scale your rectangles and rotate them.

You should not use gradients.

Your composition needs to be 11 x 17 (tabloid), landscape or portrait.

Use layers to organize your composition.

Do NOT use the direct select tool to modify your rectangles.


You have 2 class periods to work on this assignment.

The Poet, 1911, Egon Schiele, oil on canvas

Example