Teaching notes - Grant Stevens

Teaching notes

MOVE primary: Art in motion is a teaching and learning package containing five resources, each focused on the video artwork of a different Australian artist: Shaun Gladwell, Jess MacNeil, Joan Ross, Grant Stevens and Daniel von Sturmer.

Each resource contains:

  • a video artwork for study

  • a video introduction by the artist

  • an artist statement

  • appreciating and artmaking activities.

Each artist resource focuses on a particular education stage, but can be adapted to meet the needs of students at other stages. Some students might be able to work through the resource independently but generally students will require significant teacher input. Resource components could be projected onto a whiteboard for study as a whole class or by groups, or they can be used independently on personal computers. Videos can be viewed in full screen mode.

While the resources address students, teachers will be active participants, leading students through the activities including reading and discussing instructions. For early stages of learning, the resource might serve as a teaching guide, with each activity becoming a lesson plan interpreted appropriately for the age group. The video might be the only element that young students access directly.

Each artist resource will require a number of lessons to complete and could be the focus for visual arts learning over a term. Completion time for each artist resource will vary according to student experience and interest.

MOVE video art in schools, a video art resource with a secondary focus, includes video works by Shaun Gladwell, Jess MacNeil, Daniel von Sturmer and Grant Stevens. This resource provides students with information about the artists and a wider experience of video artwork. It also contains material useful for primary teachers including articles about video as an art form and critical reviews of the artists.

Content summary
Artist Stage Visual art form Curriculum links

Shaun Gladwell

Stage 3

Performance art

Video art (4D)

English:

Learning to write (review)

Talking and listening (discussing and exploring ideas, listening to others)

Learning to read (written and visual text)

Jess MacNeil

Stages 2 and 3

Drawing (2D)

Animation (4D)

Photography (2D)

English:

Talking and listening (discussing and exploring ideas, listening to others)

Learning to read (written and visual text)

Joan Ross

Stages 1 and 2

Digital art (4D)

Photography (2D)

English:

Talking and listening (discussing ideas, listening to others, exploring ideas, collaborating)

Learning to read (written and visual text)

Creative Arts:

Music (creating a soundscape)

Drama (improvising around emotions)

Grant Stevens

Stages 2 and 3

Digital art (4D)

Digital art (2D):

Word cloud

Shape poem

English:

Talking and listening (discussing and listening to others, exploring ideas, collaborating)

Learning to read (written and visual text)

Learning to write (Acrostic poems)

Creative arts:

Music (creating an ostinato)

Daniel von Sturmer

Early Stage 1 and Stage 1

Fibre art (2D)

Class mural (2D or 3D)

Performance art

Digital art (4D)

English:

Talking and listening (describing, responding, listening and taking turns in conversations, sharing ideas, following instructions)

Mathematics:

Two dimensional shapes (exploring and manipulating 2D shapes, naming 2D shapes)

Creative arts:

Music (moving, listening and responding to music)

  1. Watch the video artwork.

  2. Watch the artist-talks video and ask students to read, or listen to the teacher read, the Artist’s statement (click on the image of the artist in the top left corner to access these in Artist’s introduction).

  3. Discuss the Artist’s introduction in terms appropriate to the student group.

  4. Complete the activities below the video player on the front page of each artist resource before beginning the numbered sequence of activities listed to the right.

When working in the activities:

  • click on linked text with a plus icon to reveal additional instructions and information

  • click on highlighted words to access the glossary which explains terms.

Teachers will need to access YouTube videos for students where necessary and set up blogs and determine who will have access.

The Grant Stevens resource focuses on Stevens's Macaroni video artwork. It addresses Stages 2 and 3 NSW Board of Studies Visual Arts outcomes. The following information will assist you to use this resource in your classroom.

Stage 2 outcomes Indicators

Artmaking

VA2.1

Represents the qualities of experiences and things that are interesting or beautiful by choosing among aspects of subject matter.

Students:

  • talk and think about their intentions for artmaking and recognise how these affect their selection of ideas and words

  • consider possibilities and determine specifications for a collaborative work

VAS2.2

Uses the forms to suggest the qualities of subject matter.

  • experiment with digital manipulation of words to make visual representations

  • emphasise or exaggerate qualities of the subject matter eg the size and colour of words in the word clouds and the font type, size and colour in the Shape poems

Appreciating

VAS2.3

Acknowledges that artists make artworks for different reasons and that various interpretations are possible.

  • discuss the reasons Stevens has made Macaroni (who, when, where, why and how)

  • share their thoughts and ideas about Macaroni

VAS2.4

Identifies connections between subject matter in artworks and what they refer to, and appreciates the use of particular techniques.

  • use their real world experience of words to understand how Stevens uses words to communicate

  • explore ways that words are used in the world and how Stevens uses words and technology in his artworks
Stage 3 outcomes Indicators

Artmaking

VA3.1

Investigates subject matter in an attempt to represent likenesses of things in the world.

Students:

  • make artworks about things in the world (themselves) using media such as computer software to manipulation and animate words

  • explore subject matter of personal and social interest eg how words can define one another

  • use words to reflect on things that influence them and to understand and communicate who they are in relation to their worlds

VAS3.2

Makes artworks for different audiences, assembling materials in a variety of ways.

  • discuss and define specifications for a collaborative artwork with a specific purpose

  • understand how the specifications for the collaborative artwork can affect how they go about their own contribution to the work

Appreciating

VAS3.3

Acknowledges that audiences respond in different ways to artworks and that there are different opinions about artworks.

  • respond to artworks recognising how artworks can be valued in different ways

  • identify reasons why Macaroni was made

  • talk about Macaroni and understand that the work might be valued in different ways by class members

VAS3.4

Communicates about the ways in which subject matter is represented in artworks.

  • discuss the artist's intention and the meanings of the work

  • discuss Stevens's intention and the techniques he has used to communicate meaning

  • take into account the artwork (Macaroni), the artist (Stevens), the world (Stevens's childhood) and the audience (how they interpret Stevens's world through the words)

  • considers Macaroni as part of a wider range of artworks and art forms

Learning activities
Activity Teaching and learning focus Ideas for implementation

Defining Grant Stevens

  • detail of the artwork

  • the artist's intention

  • digital art forms

  • the relationship between artist, artwork and world

Project Macaroni for students to see as a whole class or ask individual students to watch at a computer. Pause the video regularly for students to study the words. Words could be listed in categories suggested by the dot points.

Questions about Grant Stevens

  • looking for more detail

  • realising that other class members might interpret the artwork differently

  • the relationship between artist, artwork, world and audience

The purpose of this activity is to assist students to share information and assist one another to discover detail they may have missed in previous viewings of Macaroni.

On completion of the activity ask students to reflect on Stevens's artist statement and in particular his question: 'Can words communicate everything about who we are?'

Work with students to identify and study other artists who work with text. You could link to the artists below or complete a web search for further information:

Rosalie Gascoigne

Vernon Ah Kee

Imants Tillers

David Carson

Ian Burns

Activity 1

Define yourself

  • exploring how words can define and communicate ideas about people and their worlds

The next three activities are word-based activities where students create acrostic and shape poems. Students can use the poetry formats and work at their own level. Poems might be descriptive or more conceptual depending on the educational stage, literary skills and experience of individual students

Students could write their acrostic poems using software such as Microsoft Word and Word tools such as Font size and colour, Case, Text effects and Word Art options.

Alternatively students could produce their poems with coloured pencils or inks on paper.

Tips for creating an acrostic poem are available on the Power Poetry website.

Activity 2

Define a friend

  • exploring how words can define and communicate ideas about people and their worlds

This activity is similar to Activity 1 but asks students to consider things they like about a particular person.

Students can write their acrostic poem using software such as Microsoft Word and Word tools such as Font, Font Size, Font Colour, Font Case, Text Effects and Word Art options.

Alternatively students could produce their poems with coloured pencils or inks on paper.

Tips for creating an acrostic poem are available on the Power Poetry website.

Activity3 Manipulate words

  • understanding how people have different opinions and interpretations

  • experimenting and communicating with visual representations of words

  • the relationship between artist, artwork, world and audience

You might wish to revisit Grant Stevens's artist statement and ask students to discuss the words they have chosen in relation to Stevens's comment: 'This makes me wonder how we make decisions about the things that are important to us, and separate them from those that are not'.

Project the Wordle website for the class to view. As a class, work through the process to make a word cloud. When complete, discuss how the class decisions are reflected in the final product.

Ask students to produce their own word clouds.

Create a shape poem requires more advanced technology skills. If this activity is too advanced for your students they could work on two layers of translucent paper (one for the initials and one for the words). Students could use drawing/and or collage materials to make the initials on one layer of paper and then place the words on another layer of paper positioned over the top of the initials.

Activity 4

Define your class

  • working collaboratively

  • detailing specifications

  • creating an artwork that meets specifications

  • the relationship between the artist, artwork and world

Students should work collaboratively to produce a work that defines the class as a whole. It is important that they explore options for their collaborative work and make decisions about what will be consistent throughout the work.

As they work on their individual contributions to the collaborative work, remind them of the agreed specifications to ensure the unity of the work.

Activity 5 Exhibit the work

  • organising an exhibition

  • the relationship between artist, artwork, world and audience

The student exhibition could be on a small or large scale. Students could invite viewers to an exhibition or exhibit on the school website or class blog. The teacher will need to set up a class blog and decide who will have access.

Students could discuss the tasks to be completed to organise an exhibition. Tasks could be allocated to individual students and/or groups of students.

About Grant Stevens

https://www.grantstevens.net/

Technology tutorials and support

The Learning tools selector is a web application that supports teachers to make informed decisions about the technologies they use with their students.

https://app.education.nsw.gov.au/learning-tools-selector/