Times They are a Changin'

An Art Room for the 21st Century

A Contemporary view of the 21st Century Art room Sheryl Lamme

I f it is indeed true that our notions of the real and the possible are shaped in cultural discourses, art teachers have the potential to change the world. Olivia Gude

Art Education’s role in society has changed powerfully over the years. As we face the return to being a visual culture, students now need the tools to closely examine and interpret their world. Technology has, in many areas of study, eliminated the need to learn a skill set. Instead, as they wade through a vast sea of technological information, students need critical thinking skills and the ability to both discern and appropriately use the information they encounter. Art making must present playful opportunities that challenge students to master the use of materials, facilitate problem solving, personal response, and greater degrees of exploration. The art room is the ideal setting for the continuing development of Gardner’s Five Minds, a place for acquiring those skills needed to thrive in the ever-changing future.

While some art teachers have readily embraced this change, others cling to the safety of teaching what they have always taught. State standards and Grade level expectations create a need to develop lessons based solely on demonstrating an understanding of the elements and principles of design, art vocabulary, art history, and successful execution of art processes. Art making, though a pleasant experience, lacks depth and meaningful connection.

I have created a contemporary view of the way the twenty-first century art room should look. I plan to display this piece along with a brief artist’s statement at my school’s annual back-to-school open house. I want parents, students, staff, and administration all to realize that art is so much more than making pretty pictures. When the time is right, I also plan to share this piece with art teaching colleagues in my district, and perhaps at an MAEA conference.

References

Carroll, K. L. (2003). Better Practice in Visual Arts Education: Vol. IV. (J. L. Tucker, Jr.). Baltimore, MD:

Maryland State Department of Education.

Churches, A., Crockett, L., & Jukes, I. (2010). The Digital Diet : Today's Digital Tools in Small Bytes. Charleston, SC: 21st Century Fluency Project Inc & Corwin Press.

  

Duncum, P. (2010). Seven Principles for Visual Culture Education. Art Education, 63(1), 6-10. Gardner, H. (2008). Five Minds for the Future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Gude, O. (2004). Postmodern Principles: In Search of a 21st Century Art Education. Art Education, 57(1), 6-14.

Gude, O. (2007, January). Principles of Possibility: Considerations for a 21st Century Art & Culture Curriculum. Art Education: the Journal of the National Art Education Association, 60(1), 10-17.

Home Visits [Video file]. {2003}. Retrieved fromhttp://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/osorio/clip2.html{2003}.

Developing the Ethical Mind

Popplet

Easy to show on a mind map, difficult to put into words!

Philosophy of Art Education

Art offers a way of understanding oneself and it enables connections between art and

our own culture and the cultures of diverse peoples. –Eliot Eisner, Stanford University

Due to the continuing rapid advancement in technology, students of the 21^st Century face challenges that previous generations could not have imagined. Culturally diverse global citizens with global responsibilities, bombarded with a constant barrage of media input, art education provides the ideal platform for students to both make sense of their world and to respond to it in kind.

My students will explore media; traditional as well as digital. They will have the opportunity to play with the materials, processes and techniques, to examine potential, and limitations. They will explore and consider copyright and copyleft. I will encourage deep exploration and imagination, ever posing the question, “What if?”  I will provide opportunities for the synthesis of knowledge, encouraging my students to explore and solve problems in a variety of ways.

As an elementary art educator I will introduce my students to the use of Duncum’s principals: power, ideology, representation, seduction, gaze, intertextuality, and multimodality. I will build on this framework developmentally, guiding students through the exploration of visual media ranging from fine arts to the applied arts.   My students will learn to deconstruct visual culture, and analyze its meaning.  Students will then create art, with an understanding of the message it communicates.

As much as possible, taking into account the age of my students, I will employ Gude’s postmodern art making practices into lessons: Juxtaposition, Recontextualization, Layering, Interaction of text and image, Hybridity, Gazing, Representin’, Imagining a future, Elaborating Fantasies, and Believing as strategies for making and understanding contemporary art.

I will use Gude’s Principles of Possibility: Playing, Forming Self, Investigating Community Themes, Encountering Difference, Attentive Living, Empowered Experiencing, Empowered Making, Deconstructing Culture, Reconstructing Social Spaces, Not Knowing and Appropriation when planning units of study to foster meaningful representation of personal experience and in doing so, contribute to the development of respectful and responsible global citizens

Carroll, K. L. (2003). Better Practice in Visual Arts Education: Vol. IV. (J. L. Tucker, Jr.). Baltimore, MD: Maryland State Department of Education.  

Churches, A., Crockett, L., & Jukes, I. (2010). The Digital Diet : Today's Digital Tools in Small Bytes. Charleston, SC: 21st Century Fluency Project Inc & Corwin Press.

Duncum, P. (2010). Seven Principles for Visual Culture Education. Art Education, 63(1), 6-10.

Gardner, H. (2008). Five Minds for the Future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Gude, O. (2004). Postmodern Principles: In Search of a 21^st Century Art Education. Art Education, 57(1), 6-14.

Gude, O. (2007, January). Principles of Possibility: Considerations for a 21st Century Art & Culture Curriculum. Art Education: the Journal of the National Art Education Association, 60(1), 10-17.

More on the Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers

As I peruse my book collection, it seems that I have compiled several books relating to found lists....hmmmm, what's that saying about me? In addition to Milk Eggs Vodka I also possess a la Cart, where not only does Hilary Carlip collect found list, she takes matters a step further and actually puts herself in the shoes of the list maker. Check out this link, the video intro says it all.

http://www.alacartthebook.com/

This book by Kerry Miller is a 'curated collection' of Passive Agressive notes, you get to envisualize the writer. Miller's website offers a huge collection of these notes. Here's a link to one of my favorites. Warning, this site is addictive.
http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2007/06/03/when-phds-get-frustrated/

Another favorite from Miller's book

Milk Eggs Vodka

   

 In his book A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink suggests several techniques for increasing the power of empathy, the ability to put yourself into the shoes of another. As I went to bed last night, today's presentation circling in my brain, ping, pinG,piNG,pING,PING, from the deep recesses of my brain there came a connection I feel compelled to share.
    I remembered Milk Eggs Vodka, no not my shopping list (though it well could be) but a delightful book by self-described, maker, breaker and collector of things, Bill Keaggy. Here's what Keaggy has to say about this book, basically a collection of various, found lists:

"These found grocery lists are rare specimens. I have a collection from around the world that numbers in the thousands, but it has taken years of hunting and gathering. People are very protective of their grocery lists. I call it selective littering. Seems most folks would sooner dump their car ashtray in the grocery's parking lot or toss a week's worth of soda cans and fast food bags on the ground outside the store (and they do) rather than leave their list in a shopping card. It's because grocery lists are supposed to be private. Never mind that all of us have to go through the checkout in public. Our lists are supposed to be private, and that's why it's so enjoyable to look through them -- unless one of the lists happen to be yours." 

 Reading through these random lists offers a voyeuristic view into the life of the list maker...the paper, the list, the spelling, strange little doodles, all work together telling a short story about the list maker. Some funny, some perverse, others sad, all provide an opportunity for story. Empathy building? I'm not really sure, but in reading these lists you can't help but put yourself in the shoes of the list writer even if only for a moment.

Keaggy's other collections are delightful as well. http://www.keaggy.org/

Makes you think...

Are You Smarter than a Curator?

http://smarterthanacurator.org/

Support a good cause and get a free sticker!

A Teaser

At the request of Amber, here's a sneak peek at a patriotic Miss Debby. You'll see and hear more later.

Google Art Project

Don't know how I managed to miss the debut of this website. You MUST checkout the video. I just finished visiting three different galleries around the world - talk about globalization. I love how you can transition from looking at works of art to being able to participate in a virtual tour. The zoom feature allows you to focus your attention of details such as van Gogh's brushstrokes. WOW!

The Power of Telling a Good Story

http://web.networkforgood.org/nonprofit-911-032211-recording/

This link was shared by the Missouri Arts Council, primarily directed towards non-profits seeking funding, however I found the statistics backing up the use of a good narrative to be quite interesting.

Facilitating Critical and Aesthetic Inquiry

Engaging Students with Art Objects

Teachers who employ active strategies to engage learners with objects facilitate sensory involvement and personal response, preparing for the development of skills and concepts. ~ Karen Lee Carroll

The author tells us that when selecting works of art that one must take into consideration the goals of the lesson, as well as the developmental and skill level of the student.  Appropriately selected art objects and the tools facilitating thought and response lead to engagement and other levels of inquiry.

The following non-verbal strategies are offered as means of heightening engagement:

·        visual analysis  - analyzing and responding to art

·        sound and movement - utilizing kinesthetic learning

·         category, verbal cues, and search strategies - sort, categorize, defend

·        Creative dramatics - locate the drama in art and role play or act out

·        Creative writing - alternate between words and images

·        Game strategies - vary in nature, have benefit

This section of Carroll’s book gave me a tremendous amount to think about. In attempting to digest the information I found myself applying the advice suggested for Emotive Writing (in response to a work of art) - Sustained or frequent exposure to a work such as looking at it daily, perhaps before going to sleep and upon waking, allows the viewer to muse on the work prior to responding. (p154) I read it, went to bed trying to take it all in and then, woke up and reread the whole section. It all makes perfect sense, there’s just so much for me to absorb, so much room for improvement in what I have been doing for the past eleven years. In his book, Five Minds for the Future, Gardner points to research confirming that it takes up to ten years to master a discipline (p3). I’m discouraged think that I’ve spent so much time mastering only a part of my discipline! The good news is that I think I can scaffold onto what I already do, tweak here and there, and sl-o-o-o-w down big time. I’m excited at the prospect of personal growth, both for my students and for myself as we head down the pathway toward greater meaning and greater engagement!

One of the suggestions for using visual analysis was the use of tools to isolate parts of an art work. My particular choice of tool at the moment is technology. Here’s an example of a PowerPoint activity I have recently done with students. The objective of this lesson was learning how to research for key information. The group researched an artist, wrote clues, and then created the PowerPoints which slowly revealed either a portrait of the artist, or a piece of their work. We then used the SmartBoard to share the PowerPoints with the class. Students were engaged and enjoyed the activity. I would like to believe that they retained more of what they learned had they created a traditional research activity. I think this activity could benefit from the aforementioned tweaking to facilitate even greater visual analysis. Hmmm...maybe I've made it farther down that path than I realized!

who am I

Blue Jay by Xavier, the Boy Who Did Not Write

Looks like I imagined the speech bubbles, never-the-less, here's the story that brought me to tears.

The Dinner Party - Judy Chicago

This particular Judy Chicago Dinner Party lesson offers a great opportunity to explore feelings, monuments, respect, and story. An art making activity follow-up could include students designing a place setting for an important woman. Very young children could use crayon or paint to create a design on a paper plate. Older elementary students could create a  ceramic plate or vessel decorated to reflect the contributions of their selected person.

Investigating Materials and Ideas

Teachers who orchestrate thoughtful investigations of materials help students develop a repertoire of ideas about materials and expertise in using artistic media and processes. ~ Karen Lee Carroll

Exploration + Wide range of processes + 2D and 3D materials = increased development of ideas and expression for all!

Carroll tells us that experimentation with materials permits students the opportunity to explore the limits and abilities of that material.  Experiences, which challenge students to master the use of materials, foster problem solving and lead to greater degrees of exploration. Ideas arise from this exploration. As students gain experience with the material, the process, and the ideas for it’s use, problems presented should become more complex. Skills can be further developed and built upon. Lessons should engage, invite growth, and a development of mastery and voice.

The author provides several specific strategies for the investigation of materials and ideas. A sampling of these include:

Explorations of a theme or subject matter in different media, having students reflect upon the visual qualities and ideas for use of the media. (Munday)

Encourage students to collect and group objects, and have them explain the groupings. ( London)

Organize art material by specific places providing opportunities for exploration. (Flynn)

Test the limits of exploring a single medium or material with different grade levels or groups. Exhibit all of the works, showing the range of possibilities. (InSEA presentation)

Now that we’re to the nitty-gritty art making section of Carroll’s book I found myself tearing through the pages. I could not read them fast enough. I felt elated affirmation when I encountered practices, which I already employ. Woo! Hoo! I do – do some things right!!! I identified areas ripe for improvement in my teaching. I am excited to implement change and look forward to the formation of Elegant Problems.

The specific strategies for investigations of supplies and materials offer fantastic suggestions, I plan to test the limits of a single medium, perhaps clay or paint, with different grade levels of students and exhibit the possibilities. 

I wish my room were large enough and class sizes small enough to allow for the collection, and subsequent storage of, objects. Likewise for the suggestion to offer different supplies to be organized by table or area. In order for this to work I would have to assign different supplies to different tables, there’s simply not enough space in my room to allow for much movement.

Here’s a little snippet I’ve lifted from the ‘About Me’ section of this blog:

An art teacher to grades K-6, and sometimes artist myself, I am continually redefining what I enjoy creating and have come to terms with the fact that oftentimes I prefer the acquisition of needed supplies to the actual process of creating. Hmmm, is it any doubt that I selected the Investigation of Materials and Ideas for my reflection? This week I’ve heard much discussion centering on ‘academic crushes’. My own crush lies in an obsession with materials. I obtain them through catalogs, websites, thrift shops, and trash cans. I organize them into groups by type, color, and size. I hesitate to use them because then I’ll no longer have them. I don’t qualify for hoarder status yet, but sometimes I think it’s a sickness.  ;-) Perhaps as JooYoung suggested in her blog, I too, could benefit from exploring the suggestions in this book.

Kiki Smith~Art is a Way to Think

   

Annunciation

Alice II

Search

Rationale and Goals

It is important for students to understand that art can tell stories. The goal of this lesson is for elementary students to gain a deeper understanding of between the art they create and the story it tells. They will gain a deeper understanding of body language, and understand the connection between their body language and that of those around them.

Enduring Big Idea

People can make art to share feelings and tell stories. Students will examine selected examples of Kiki Smith’s work and identify the feelings / moods portrayed via the body language of the subjects.

They will create a paper-mache sculpture of a person which expresses a feeling or mood.

Essential Questions

What is body language? How do different emotions look? How does it feel to be happy, sad, afraid, mad, etc.? How does your body language impact the way others feel? How could you express feeling in a sculpture?

Knowledge Base and Key Concepts

Kiki Smith is a contemporary American artist who has created a diversity of narrative subjects. Students will know that art can be made to show feelings and to tell stories. Students will know that, as Smith says, “Art is a way to think.”

Objectives

The student will be able to:

Describe how art communicates thinking. Describe the ways that artists visually convey feelings. Create a figural sculpture, which conveys a feeling or emotion.

Though many of Kiki Smith's images are not appropriate for the bulk of my students, I felt that her history would pique the curiosity of my older students, grade 5-6. Smith describes her family as being like the Adam's Family, that they lived in a huge old house which contained all of the clothing of her deceased grandparents, and family relics such as teeth and a death mask of her grandmother. She says that other children thought that she and her twin sister were odd, that people accused them of being witches. She's a little kooky, a little spooky, and very cool, (What's not to love about that?)

 I liked the idea of exploring body language and felt that it would offer opportunities for the simultaneous development of different representational skills - working from observation, expanding  vocabulary for visual form, tapping the narrative impulse.

Developing a Repertoire of Skills for Visual Perception and Artistic Response

Tapping the Narrative Impulse

“…developing a visual vocabulary for story telling, exploring narrative formats, and pursuing different ways of generating stories provide substantial learning in art while serving, at the same time, a very personal and human need.” ~Karen Lee Carroll

Carroll tells us that the narratives of everyday life lead into opportunities for students to “reflect upon and find meaning in their experiences.” Memorable events, observations, themes, identities, and experiences all provide opportunities for the development of visual stories. Other art forms, works of art, and stories of all types are ripe for cultivating visual storytelling.

The visual narrative vocabulary can be developed in many ways:

as required to illustrate key components of the story such as time of day, weather, the creation of character and setting.

Incrementally as students develop the need, in manipulation of material / problem solving, and in response to the need for a greater degree of complexity in regard to sophistication and content.

“Different visual forms accommodate story in different ways.” The author references sequential story – books, scrolls, storyboard, cartoons and animation. Examples of other forms such as quilts and collages offer the story elements as a whole. Single forms can serve as prompts for stories. Contemporary media provides even further opportunities for narrative.

Carroll places words and images in a symbiotic relationship, each feeding and enriching the other.

The following event took place in my art room this past year. I had little to do with the way this story unfolds, but consider myself privileged just to have been an observer:

     Second grade students were completing a project which had stretched over the course of several class periods, as they finished I allowed them to select a piece of free draw paper. On this day, Xavier finished his work, selected free draw paper, and labored away, head down, pencil in hand. He worked for at least thirty minutes, ignoring the chatter of those around him. At the end of class he presented me the paper. “Mrs. Lamme,” he said, “I’ve written a story.” One side of his paper featured an elaborate drawing of two birds engaged in a speech bubble conversation. The other side of the paper revealed a full-page story complete with a beginning, middle, and end. There was dialog, and the story made sense.  What makes this event so profound is that this particular second grade student had to repeat first grade, had been through a battery of tests, and had developed, to anyone’s knowledge, very little written language skills other than the ability to write his name! Tears came to my eyes as I took receipt of this precious gift. His classroom teacher was dumbfounded and had trouble believing what took place.

It seems that for some reason Xavier had stored these verbal narrative skills somewhere deep inside himself and up until he found a need to use them in illustrating a story completely of his own design, he simply did not use them at all.  It was his choice to tap into the narrative impulse! A perfect illustration of Duncum’s principle of intertextuality and Carroll’s verbal / visual symbiotic relationship! A perfect illustration of the very best day an art teacher can ever hope to have!

Oh, by the way, just in case you were wondering, spurred by his first successful story writing experience, Xavier continues to both write and illustrate. He aspires one day to be an author. Godspeed, my little one!

Jack is Back!

Michael Lamme poses in front of Jack-In-the Box silhouette somewhere on the island of Oahu

I wanted an image with a personal connection for the purpose of analysis by Duncum's seven principles, sure hope a tiny bit of Kahmi hasn't rubbed off on me! I only had access to a small portion of my own images, but felt that this one would work nicely. It does, after all, meet the criteria of 'Cultural and Social' context. Last summer, while vacationing in Oahu, we drove past this Jack in the Box restaurant and our son proclaimed that he must have his picture taken in front of this image.

Let's see how Duncum's principles look...

Power - This image, the Jack in the Box, is owned by the Jack in the Box Corporation. Their power would be influencing people to purchase, not especially good for you, fast food. I would say that despite tossing out a few healthy options, they aren't really concerned with your health, the bottom line is profit.

Ideology- the image itself is abstracted, allowing any viewer to put themselves in Jack's place.(A purposeful omittance!) The ideology and representation work hand-in-hand with this image....just like Duncum says, they are aligned. The body position of the silhouette is one of dominance, AHA! Power comes back into play! 

Seduction- Not as obvious in this image, but I am guessing that the seduction would be in the suggestion of a powerful man. The stereotype involves the fact that Jack is attired in a suit, traditionally, OMG a symbol of power YET again, and success. Will those who dine on Jack in the Box food be powerful? successful? There's also a certain arrogance to this image, captured perfectly in my son's facial expression as he strikes the pose.

The Gaze- I am brought to wonder, when considering Gaze, why this image is purposefully lopped off at the knee? Does the abstraction of which includes just the torso of this powerful masculine image imply  these are the powerful bits? 

Intertextuality / Multimodality - Though I rarely consume fast food, and equally as rarely view TV, previous associations led me to recognize this image as 'Jack in the Box' and recall the slogan 'Jack is back'. I also remember Jack's near slide into failure after the e-coli scare of the 90's. Interesting to see this assertive stance as Jack in the Box struggles to regain the success they once knew.

Visual Culture Art Education Debate

Plenty of Room Left in the Art Bin…

Seven Principals for Visual Culture Education

According to Duncum, current K-12 art curriculum places far too much emphasis on the Elements and Principles of Art. He maintains that they hold importance in the formal qualities of images, but adds that they are inadequate to organize a curriculum which meets the needs of 21^st century students. He offers seven principals as a starting point - Seven new ways of understanding a world of unprecedented imagery.

Power – Key in that it intersects with most of the other principals.

All images:

      make a statement in regard to ideas, values, beliefs.

       serve interest for whom they were created.

       are interpreted.

Corporations produce the bulk of images, they benefit from the formation of status groups, and the images they produce reflect the ideologies of those in power.

Ideology – Referring to ideas, ideals, beliefs, values, and which the author claims are “ground in over time.” Ideology is the way individuals make sense of the world. Images can offer ideologies, which offend, offer support; they can be contradictory and contestable.

Representation – Closely aligned with Ideology and involves what images represent, how the representation occurs, and what is failed to be represented. Body language, the gaze, panning, and camera angle are part of representation.

Seduction – Appeals to our fulfillment of deep seated desires. Duncum says that Ideologies come wrapped in seductive form, making them difficult to resist.

The Gaze – How we look at images and the circumstances in which we look. Individuals bring with them a predisposition to see things in certain ways. Understanding the Gaze brings about an understanding of both self and society.

Intertextuality – All images relate to other cultural texts. Both the image maker and viewer make connections via associations -past and present, and offer opportunities for the exploration of Ideology, Representation, the Gaze, and Multimodality.

Multimodality – No image is purely visual. Word, music, sound, and text anchor meaning.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Paul Duncum,

      Where were you this year when I was locked in a conference room with six other elementary art teachers and the Fine Arts Coordinator, rewriting the art curriculum? It was a dreadfully boring experience: identifying Power Standards, deciding when line, color,____________ (fill in the blank with your choice of Element and / or Principle)would be taught, for how many sessions, what would be assessed, how and when. “Hey” I spoke up, “ We need to base our curriculum on Big Ideas and themes relevant to the lives of our students.” Mr. Duncum, I kid you not, I thought I was at great risk for bodily harm! My colleagues hemmed and hawed…."Too much work, we’ll be tying ourselves to something set in stone, we can’t move away from the elements and principles; the very backbone of art education.” I brought up Visual Literacy, Visual Culture, and technology. It was as if I were speaking a foreign language, one in which they expressed only a polite interest in. They then angled their chairs ever-so-slightly away from me and resumed the painful task. I felt saddened, but there is great power in numbers. The Coordinator offered no support. A retired administrator and former music teacher, he just wanted the job done, as quickly and quietly as possible.

       I feel quite certain that had I been armed with the ammunition of your seven principals I might have spoken-up louder, longer, and less readily accepted defeat!  It will be five years before we rewrite the curriculum, five more years to plan my attack. In the meantime, sir, and this will just be our little secret, I plan to do as I damn well please, my students deserve no less.

Your devoted follower,

S. L. Lamme

Survey of Art Education - Reflection 6/6

Ding-Ding-Ding....in this corner Michelle Marder Kamhi and in the opposing corner Paul Duncum!!! 

According to Michelle Marder Kamhi, art education needs rescued from Visual Culture Studies. Ms. Kamhi defines visual (fine) art as paintings and sculptures as ‘re-creations of reality whose purpose is to concretize ideas and values in an emotionally compelling form’. Kami does not consider modern art, installation art, video art, crafts, and photography art. Furthermore, she argues that the Visual Culture movement has a social / political agenda. Ms. Kamhi believes the influence of Visual Culture studies will ‘further debase the general level of culture, but may extend far beyond the arts themselves.’

The article I read was Visual Culture Isn't Just Visual: Multiliteracy, Multimodality and Meaning 

by Paul Duncum   http://vassarliteracy.pbworks.com/f/Duncum_visual_cultural.pdf

 “There are no exclusively visual sites. All cultural sites that involve imagery include various ratios of other communicative modes and many employ more than vision”.~ Paul Duncum

Duncum presents a strong argument for art teachers to expand from the long advocated, traditional focus of solely the visual, to a more contemporarily relevant focus on visual culture.  He strongly advocates the need for Art Education to include multiliteracy – ‘the making of meaning through the interaction of different communicative modes’ (p253) and mulltimodality –  ‘all cultural sites but especially ones like television, and the internet, include a range of modalities, especially language, images, and sound.’ Giving the examples of watching a TV show with no volume, or viewing a web page with the text blocked out, he emphasizes the importance of importance of these modes working together. He goes on to say that cultural sites such as: magazines, malls, theme parks, packaging, advertising of all forms are all venues which utilize a combination of images, sounds, music and language. Duncum says, they” saturate our cultural landscape, and impact our everyday thoughts and decisions.”(P252)

Duncum asserts that the visual must be acknowledged as a part of communication, and stresses the importance of the dynamic interaction among differing sign systems.  He does not deny that the visual is a unique in it’s communicative code, however goes on to stress that “The visual was never exclusively visual”, (p258) the cultural meaning of a work of art has always depended on the viewer’s prior knowledge, experience, the artifact, and the title of the work.

In conclusion, Duncum proclaims that an education in visual culture, one, which teaches an understanding of multimodal cultural sites, might be the most important subject taught.

My reaction… I am definitely going to have to put my money on Paul Duncum for this match. I agree completely with everything Duncum has to say about Visual Literacy.  The more I learn about Artistic Thinking, technology, and multimodal applications for art the greater need I see for the development of a blended literacies approach to education. Art communicates, whether it is Michelangelo's David, or, to use Ms. Kamhi’s example, Mattel Toys' Barbie and Ken dolls. (The Barbie dolls may be communicating a far more serious message in regard to little girls and body image than David ever did to any man or boy!)

Borrowing a few lines from my closing to last semester’s course, Visual Literacy and Visual Culture, “In this age of continual visual bombardment, one must sift through, interpret and make sense of what is real. The passage (p ix) of the Smith-Shank book, Semiotics And Visual Culture: Sights, Signs, And Significance introduction, is stuck firmly in my mind, if we passively interact with images, we accept the messages without critical examination. Perceptions that grow and develop without conscious attention to content and context, and un-interrogated responses to visual input are dangerous to democracy. If the mission of education is to prepare students for successful lives, I believe Visual Literacy should play a key role in education!