Elements and principles of design are very important to teach for the basics of art education. But does that mean that we should use them all of the time if they are just seen as basic? We continue to talk more on post modern principles created by Olivia Gude.
Every artist knows or at least should know of the elements and principles of design. Most of us see the as "ingredients" to creating or analyzing an art work. But they are not the only ones that matter anymore,. Let's put them on the back burner for a while, and introduce post modern principles with in the classroom. These principles were challenged by Olivia Gude.
Painting by Anita Bice
Basic Recipes
“I knew that a curriculum based on the bland and formal 7+7 would not engender in teen artist the commitment to get out of bed on chilly Saturday mornings.”
As Gude has stated above, there is a belief that the formal elements and principles of design are important through out her articles, but they do not necessarily help create. The 7+7 don't really help students get motivated to create and explore their surroundings. What I like to call the Basic Recipes for design are the elements and principles of design.
Elements:
Line
Shape
Color
Value
Form
Texture
Space
Principles:
Balance
Contrast
Emphasis
Movement
Pattern
Rhythm
Unity
These to me as an education stand in their own little corner. They are important for basic artistic knowledge within the classroom, but they do not drive students to carry on and experiment. The hefty 7+7 above create an important foundation within the art classroom, but unlike most classrooms my teachings won't be based so much on them. The crew 7+7 are important, but they are basic. They help to identify a process, or they can assist when analyzing a piece of work. But in my opinion, they should not be the only solid foundation within the art classroom.
Trying New Things... Post-Modern Principles
The Post-Modern Principles challenged by Olivia Gude have been used within her workshops and other open classrooms around the country. She finds that with these post-modern principles we can create new criteria for our classrooms. If we have curriculum based on generative themes then in turn we will have our students relate their experiences with other students and communities. A topic Gude mentions in her article mentions "I wanted the spiral workshop to give students a sense of participating in the unfolding of contemporary culture". Much like Gude I want my own students to be able to use the principles to create an understanding of the always changing events happening today.
Using art as an investigation tool can help aide their understanding of contemporary times as well. It can help them to see others, other cultures with a different lens. But it isn't just about the art world, we also want to focus on students research that creates new visual and conceptual insights. Using the following Post-Modern Principles can help.
Appropriation
Juxtaposition
Recontextualization
Hybridity
Layering
Gazing
Interaction of text + Image
Representin'
Using these principles along with but not limited to the 7+7 help to introduce students to affirm choice making, and the students will earn the skills to participate and shape contemporary culture conversations.
“...Art examples and projects in school art curricula should not be reductive representations of theoretical principles, but should reflect the complexity of actual art.”
Further reading can be found in Gude's article:
Reference:
Gude, O. (2004). Postmodern Principles: In Search of a 21st Century Art Education. Art Education,57(1), 6-14. Retrieved December 8, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194078
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