Grade 12 Art - Day 3 "Social Justice" Continued...

"Social justice art, and arts for social justice, encompasses a wide range of visual and performing art that aim to raise critical consciousness, build community, and motivate individuals to promote social change. Art has been used as a means to record history, shape culture, cultivate imagination, and harness individual and social transformation. It can not only be a means to generate awareness, but it can also be a catalyst to engage community members to take action around a social issue. Social justice art, consequently allows people to develop agency to interrupt and alter oppressive systemic patterns or individual behaviors. The processes by which people create and engage with art equips them with analytic tools to understand and challenge social injustices through social justice education (teaching for social justice), community building, and social activism/social movements. Examples of visual and performing social justice art includes: drawing, painting, sculpture, murals, graffiti, film, theater, music, dance, spoken word, etc."

- wikipedia

Using art for the purpose of Social Justice can take on many forms.  Here is a simple graphic with a strong message:

On a more local level, here is a video produced by high school students aimed at trying to shed some light on the truth surrounding the Jane and Finch area of Toronto:

Moving forward with our Social Justice mixed-media collages, I would like you to start to print, draw. and create imagery that will be glued to your canvas hardboard.  By now, you should have some thumbnail sketches that will serve to help create your final composition!

Grade 12 Art - Day 2 "Social Justice" continued

"The medium of mixed media collage lends itself well to developing a visual vocabulary for describing and translating my experiences. I live a life that calls me in many different directions – My life is a path of seeking order in chaos, peace in conflict, wholeness in fragmentation, creative action in the context of destructive action. Collage is a both a process and a medium in which I can most naturally give voice to that creative tension. I use the fragments of my life (found and created images) to translate my experiences into something else, something hopefully better than what existed prior."

- http://www.spiritmorphstudio.com/artist.htm

In today's lesson, we continue with our Social Justice assignment.  I would like you to draw three conceptual sketches that portray a social justice or environmental issue, based on our definitions from yesterday's handout.  Please come and see me with your sketches before we move to our final version of this project.  Remember: mix your media!!

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/2f/18/3f/2f183fa5d69e4c322624b502765e7253.jpg

Grade 12 - Day 1 "Social Justice Issues"

http://www.spiritmorphstudio.com/bacchus2006.htm

Social Justice/ Environmental Issues Mixed Media

"For as long as I can remember I've seen, felt, and otherwise known the world on a visceral and psycho-kinetic level, all sensations blending with one another. It's this transformative experience I'm expressing and commemorating in my work, which I hope to awaken for others in the sharing of my work."

Definitions: 

Mixed Media: A technique involving the use of two or more artistic media, such as ink and pastel or painting and collage, that are combined.

Social Justice: preventing human rights abuses and ensuring adherence to the law.

Focus: Issues of minority groups, especially international justice, poverty, women's and children's issues.  International justice particularly refers to war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

Topics: Social, Cultural, Political, or Environmental.

Step One: I will provide you with a list of artists that incorporate social justice issues into their work.
Step Two: Research and focus on one artist whose work involves a social justice issue and complete the questions provided.

Untitled, by Radcliffe Bailey, 2000, mixed media and collage on paper, 80 1/2 x 60 in. (Courtesy image/Radcliffe Bailey and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York)