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Collaborative Modernist Art Project
English Department
Westford Academy
Mr. Mahoney
The Group Mission – Make it new!
For this project, you will develop an original piece of “Modernist Art” using The Great Gatsby and your contemporary world as your inspiration. As a group you will present your art to the class as we exhibit your work around the classroom. We will develop a museum exhibit atmosphere so please respect your work with your effort.
The Group Effort: An Original Work of Art
I. In a group of 3-4 students you will use your dialectic journal notes and our course blog to brainstorm the central themes from the Modernist Era present in The Great Gatsby. Review your notes. Which themes caught your attention during active reading sessions? As you scan the blog, which themes and representatives of Modernist Art did you find most captivating?
II. As a group come to a consensus about which theme you would like to illustrate through a creative visual project. Select this theme for analysis as you would an essay topic. By the end of this session you should develop a thesis statement for this project. You will use this thesis statement as you introduce your artwork and creative visual to the class during the exhibit.
III. Have each member of the group identify a passage from the novel which supports or showcases the presence of this theme. If you were writing an essay you would most likely use this quotation within a body paragraph to support your analysis. No two group members should have the same passage. You will later discuss your selection in your meta-cognitive reflection.
IV. Discuss modes of artistically rendering your theme. How will you create a visual for this Modernist theme in The Great Gatsby? Consider images, shapes, lines, textures, placement, colors, and symbols. Consider the values of the time period.
V. Create your original work of art. You may choose any of the following mediums:
• Collage
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Drawing
VI. Design a museum plaque for the exhibit. The museum plaque includes the title of the work of art, the artists, the thesis statement (identifying the theme) and the passages from
The Great Gatsby selected by each group member to help develop the idea.
VII. Each student will write a meta-cognitive reflection based on the group’s creative process and the individual’s participation and role. The meta-cognition should address the student’s thought process, his/her understanding of the theme, and how his/her selected passage develops or represents that theme.
Meta-cognitive Mechanics: MLA Format, 12x New Roman Font, Double Spaced, 1-2 pages.
Okay, I hope this is where we're supposed to post comments on the project! Personally I enjoyed it, it was a nice way to wind down the unit on the Great Gatsby in a slightly more relaxed way than just leaving off with the big essay. Having the opportunity to express ourselves creatively is something that i feel we very infrequently have a chance to do anymore, and this was a nice opportunity. Definitely do this project again next year!
ReplyDelete-Callie Cunningham
I definitely think it is a good project. I feel like modernism is a pretty large part of US literature and just being exposed to Great Gatsby really wouldn't be enough. I feel like spending the extra 1-2 weeks reading and working with other modernist works really helped in my understanding of this period in the US. This project was great because I wasn't really that sure if I really had the big ideas of modernism understood completely until I started thinking of my project and then it all seemed to click for me and allowed me to realize much more about what truly made up modernism. I would say do it again next year!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyes the prohect very much. I felt that it really helped me completely grasp the idea of modernism since before the project I was not fully aware of all of its components. I did not think that it was too difficult to find time to do it and the time I did put into it I enjoyed. I liked the creative aspect and being able to express idea that way rather than just writing everything down on a peice of paper. I believe that this project should be used again next year.
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely do the project again next year. If we had just ended on The Great Gatsby and moved on, I do not think I would have had a firm grasp on Modernism. It was great to see a variety of Modernist works, also. The project itself helped firm my grasp on Modernism since I was the once creating it with those ideas in mind. I agree with Callie, the project was a nice way to end the unit instead of just leaving it at the essay.
ReplyDelete- Jackie Marhefka
I really liked the project as well. Definitely assign it again next year. As other people said, it was a fantastic way to end the Great Gatsby unit.I think the project forced us to think in modernist terms which helped me to achieve an even better understanding on modernism. The only thing was I wish I had a little more time, because it took me a really long time to produce my painting, and I felt that I had to rush my write up a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone else said. It was a fun project and I really liked learning about modernism. I feel like I understand it a lot better from reading a few different authors. Also creating and analyzing a piece of art helped me bring everything together. Its also really cool to see what other people did and how they interpret things. I agree with what Callie and Jackie M. said about how its a lot better than ending Gatsby with just a paper.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am not very artistic, nor do I enjoy drawing or painting that much, and honestly when this project was first mentioned, I began to dread it a little bit. However, when I sat down to think about what I could do, it really wasn't bad at all! I greatly appreciated the fact that we had the long weekend to do it. That was important because it allowed me to spend most of my Sunday working on it. I went out and bought the materials, constructed it, and wrote the write up without worrying about other homework, the time, and rushing, since there was no need. There was one point when I was getting frustrated because my snowmen kept rolling around everywhere and they wouldn't stay glued properly, and I thought to myself how grateful I was that it wasn't due the next day. I know that I would've rushed everything in general, much more if I had had a lot more homework and studying to do, but luckily I had all day to work on the one project. Under those calm circumstances, I was able to produce something I was proud of, and as many people said, I definitely had a much better understanding of modernism. So, if you assign this project next year, I would strongly suggest giving the students a weekend to do it.
ReplyDeleteI'm reflecting on the piece of artwork created by John Bates. It depicts a figure with no body about to walk through a door, so the viewer just sees a jacket, tie, and pants seemingly floating in mid-air. Upon analyzing the painting, I can infer that the body-less figure clad in ornate, elaborate clothes symbolizes the growing desire for material wealth and possessions in 1920's America, and in turn the decline in moral values. People cared only for what one owned, rather than appreciating the qualities of the person to whom the material objects belonged. Thus, the set of expensive clothes walks into what is likely a party (to adhere to John's quote which talks about Gatsby entering a party), leaving the actual body behind. However, the painting is open to multiple interpretations depending on how one views it, rendering it a true modernist work.
ReplyDeleteTo address the project as a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed receiving the opportunity to think creatively and put our ideas on paper, rather than ending the topic with an essay. Since modernism is such an important aspect of American literature, I feel it was only fair that we spent extra time learning and discussing the various modernist works in order to gain a true appreciation of the time period. The project allowed us to be in a modernist writer or artist's shoes, and this served to expand our understanding of the essence of modernism. All and all, I definitely recommend assigning this project next year.
-Andrew Graham
I want to comment on Erin Hughes's piece of art, a photo showing a man, presumeably Gatsby, sitting in solitude, while ghostly figures walk behind him. I think that this really nicely and clearly illustrates what is stated in the quote- both Gatsby "living too long with a single dream", and the ghosts drifting, as Gastby is resolutely stuck in his own world, focusing on solely his dream, separate from the people around him. I liked how this photo in part spoke for itself, but at the same time, if you hadn't read the quote, would make you wonder what caused the man to be in that solitary state.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this was a fun project. I think that allowing us to explore the movement using our own creativity, rather than just analyzing others, is a good way to end the unit and furthur our knowledge of Modernism. I know that, as I did my own project, I ended up analyzing and looking much farther into the quote than I had planned, and therefore I believe that the project improved the understanding I had for the Modernist movement. I think that assigning this project in the future would be a good idea as well.
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ReplyDeleteI thought the picture Sean drew of the hollow men was well done. The picture is of a faceless man who has just taken off his gas mask during war. It was interesting how Sean was able to symbolize the idea of how these faceless "hollow men" become this way after being sent to war. His quote of how "how there are no stars in the valley of dying ashes," illustrates the idea of how war causes people to be forgotten,as they become lost in history. There are also no trademarks or emblems on any objects in the picture, which symbolizes the idea of not only being forgotten, but also having no significance.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed doing the project far more than writing a long essay or taking a test. I am no artist, but I still found the project interesting to do, because I have not done one like this before.
To be completely honest the first impression of the project was rather intimidating. Create art that will be compared to that of Pablo Picasso or write a short story to measure up to the genius of writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S Elliot, and Ernest Hemingway. However, after a couple of numbing minutes you realize that although your work will fall short of such high expectations, you have to start somewhere. So you begin. In the end I found the project to be rather interesting, fun, and insightful into the creation of modernism, and not as daunting as it seemed.
ReplyDeleteI was particularly interested by Sean’s depiction of the hollow men. Instead of stuffing them with straw like I had envisioned, he applied another modernist aspect to his work. By leaving the soldier faceless it creates a disturbing aura around the idea of warfare, and by dehumanizing the solider Sean is addressing the lost sense of identity experienced by the individual. The symbolic act of pulling away the mask offers the idea of post war disillusionment and highlights the importance of facing reality. Its basic principles incorporate the message of The Hollow Men by T.S. Elliot well in a modernist style.
One of the projects that caught my attention was a photo, titled, "A Withering Wildflower". It is a picture of a single, dying flower in a cold, grey field. The Valley of Ashes quote clearly outlines the scene, "This is the Valley of Ashes - a fantastic farm where ahses grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ahses take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air" (Fitzgerald). The quote and melancholy picture describe a dismal scene that best represents the fractured, post-war society. The wild flower, once blossoming, is now fading away like the rest of the lanscape; illustrating feelings of solitude and hopelessness. Like the Valley of Ashes, the picture portrays the moral and social decay of a once flourishing society.
ReplyDeleteI found this project to be very informative and enjoyable. I really liked to have the opportunity to visually explain my ideas and be creative. The creative art reinforces our understanding of modernism, as we are exploring the different influences of modernism through our own creativity. In order to create a modernist piece oursleves, we had gain further insight to modernists and their influences. I felt this project was an interesting and effective way to understand the Modernist movement.
The one peice of art that caught my attention was the one with the white suit that gatsby wore walking through the door by John Bates. I thought it was very creative how he depicted the suit walking with no one inside it showing that the Great Gatsby was just a hollow man of sorts. This ties in greatly to the story as Gatsby's image is a major part and i think John painted the scene very well. I enjoyed the project as it gave us a chance to lay back and relax. I also think that art work is not something that is assigned very often and it was refreshing to see something that you could do on your own. However I would have enjoyed it more if the project was assigned a couple weeks earlier or before break, as i was very busy over break. All in all I enjoyed the project.
ReplyDeleteThe project that I saw today that most impressed me was titled "Power Lines". It was a recreation of the ideas presented within The Hollow Men. The painting was very dark and the colors were dripping. These two combined, I felt, captured the idea of disillisionment. The world is bleak and lacks hope, which is what the men in the poem experience. In the center of the painting, there is a shadowy figure of a man. The shadowy man within the abandoned and bleak landscape, shows a loss of identity to me. Finally the crying head in the corner with black tears represents the overall loss of hope and the tears coincide well with the dripping landscape, as if the entire canvas is crying. This picture was very well done and accurately displayed the ideas of Elliot in his poem.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed working on this project. I personally enjoyed drawing what I truly envisioned when I read The Hollow Men. I feel that having a art project allows students to express their ideas that would otherwise be lost in the excessive writing of essays with required lengths. I would definitely reccommend this project for next year because it is different and is an enjoyable shift from plain literally analysis through writing.
I enjoyed the chance this project gave us to be creative. It was a nice change from the ordinary memorization of a particular era, and allowed us to actually experience the modernist time period. I also liked having an opportunity to see the more creative side of my classmates.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of artwork that struck me in particular was a piece titled "Savages." (My apologies to the creator - I don't remember who you are!) I liked the portrayal of the scene from the Ice Palace in which, "The volume of the voices grew; the great cavern was phantasmagoria of torches waving in great banks of fire, of colors and the rhythm of soft-leather steps. The leading column turned and halted, platoon deploys in front of platoon until the whole procession made a solid flag of flame, and then from thousands of voices burst a mighty shout that filled the air like a crash of thunder, and sent the torches wavering. It was magnificent, it was tremendous! To Sally it was the North offering sacrifice on some mighty altar to the Grey Pagan God of Snow." I really liked the medium and the portrayal of the mass of anonymous people (represented by stick figures) under the flames. I thought the depiction of the "North offering sacrifice" was perfectly done here. I really think the "magnificent" and "tremendous" description would fit this picture, and it was perfectly in the modernist style.
I thought this project was a nice change from normal projects. Being able to create a piece of artwork representative of the modernist movement allowed me to understand the movement better and was a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteThe piece of modernist art that interested me was "Trapped by Coldness" by Erin Gilgen. I found the drawing to portray the quote, "...enveloped in a sudden icy terror..." perfectly. Looking at the art, the detail immediately struck me. The expression on (what I assumed to be Sally) held so much emotion. The terror referred to in the quote was brought out very well in her face. In addition, I found the interpretation of Sally being "trapped" very intriguing. The drawing shows Sally behind a layer of ice, as if she was infact trapped behind this "icy terror" and could not escape. The feeling of hopelessness in the piece of art is depicted with detail and modernist aspects.
I liked that this project was different from writing an essay and we could do something creative. It seemed difficult at the beginning, but it was actualy fun to complete.
ReplyDeleteI liked the image "A Wilting Wildflower". I thought it represented the valley of ashes very well, and the look of the people and buildings there. I thought it was and interesting visual to the "grotesque gardens in the quote. I liked how the flower seemed to be gray and crumbling like the people in the valley of ashes. I also thought the blurred background demonstrated the valley of ashes well, because the people and things there seem blurry and meaningless.
This project was a nice break from traditional english projects. Usually they all involve writing, which is really no surprise in an english class, but this one had another aspect which was nice. I am by no means an artsy type, but I can fake it pretty well, so this project was a blast.
ReplyDeleteA project I enjoyed was "Power Lines" by Michael G. they art was very well done and did a good job conveying the dank, industrial mood I personally think of when I think of modernism. It was appealing to me, and did a great use of mood in a mixed media format. very thought provoking almost to the point of concerning to look at; top form.
(Also I believe my post is accompanied by a picture of Tigger. Y'all can go ahead and be jealous.)
I greatly enjoyed this project. To me, it was a really nice change from writing only essays on a unit we have studied. Creating a piece of art for an english class is an opportunity that we don't have very often as high school students, which made this project fun for me. Yes, the project did take time out of what we claim to be extremely busy schedules, but I think it's important to go this extra step to think about the modernist movement, and of course it is fun too. I would definitely recommend this project for future years, as long as this much time was given in the future; I was glad to have Thanksgiving weekend!
ReplyDeleteOne piece of art that I patricularly liked was Sarah's painting based on The Great Gatsby. I noticed that the faces of Daisy and Jordan were missing, showing a loss of identity that is prevalent in the modernist movement, and also thought that the light, airy colors used in the painting acted as a symbolic setting for the scene, depicting a relaxed, airy feeling in the room, and the light, and perhaps naive personalities of Jordan and Daisy.
I liked this project. It was a nice change to an essay or a test, and it allowed us to be creative with something. I enjoyed thinking of things in a completely new way and showing what my thoughts were without having to worry about anyone understanding them. I think though, in the future, the project should be given with a weekend other than Thanksgiving to finish it on. I have no criticisms of the project itself though.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the other projects, "A Withering Wildflower" is the one that really caught my eye. The quote that went along with it was so simply depicted in the image. When I read the description of the valley of ashes in the novel, I had a picture just like that photo in my head. It captures how how the dreariness spreads to all aspects of life.
At first, I was a little bit skeptical of the project. How could we possibly convey a modernist attribute through art? I wasn't exactly sure if I'd be able to do that. But soon, after thinking about what I should do, I figured it wasn't as difficult as I'd initially thought. All it took was a trip outside where I could experiment with different images, until I came across the perfect picture and the perfect idea. I really enjoyed it because I love photography, and I could really express that through my project. It allowed me to apply my own interests into a school assignment, and that was rewarding. I definitely think you should do it next year. It's more than just sitting on our computers and typing up an essay.
ReplyDeleteOne of the art work pieces that interested me was titled "Cold Fire Warm Ice." I enjoyed this because it could really be interpreted in so many different ways, depending on who is looking at it. It also really applied with the quote because it literally displayed the "ragged edge of the universe." I also enjoyed the color scheme, and that it changed from warms to cools to contrast the difference between the west and the east. I think it displays the modernist movement because of the "ragged edge of the west" demonstrating how the post war "Big Boom" sent people to the east to become involved in business, much like Nick Carraway.
When walking around the room, I was very impressed by "Solitude", by Katie Pazienza. I really liked the all subtle detail she put into it. From a quick glance it looks like a plain sketch of a woman sitting alone on a rock, looking up at the stars. However, upon closer examination one can see that inside of the stars are people. I thought the quote Katie chose from “the Hollow Men”, “ And voices are in the wind’s singing, more distant and solemn than a fading star” (Elliot) was great at presenting the modernist attribute of alienation in her work. I imagine those people in the “fading stars” to be so far away mentally and physically that the woman is in every sense of the word alienated from others, and the voices of the star people are so subtle and distant that they get lost in the noise of the wind.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this project because I am a creative person and I love projects. Though it did take me a while to finally decide on what to do, I was very motivated to get started right away and test out my new ideas. This initiative energy would definitely not have been there had we been writing papers because a creative project just lets one use any medium to represent their idea, not just words on paper. The creative freedom made me really want to try hard and succeed at my idea, therefore I put more effort into learning about the modernist attributes. This project was very helpful with respect to learning more about modernism and its characteristics because, to be honest, I was not entirely sure what they were before the project, but in having to put them to use myself, I really got into them and analyzed the different aspects. I would definitely recommend giving this assignment next year, and I would keep the amount of time the same. It took me a while just to get a solid idea that I loved and really wanted to work with, and then on top of that I still had the whole following through and actual acting on those ideas part to do.
One of the modernist art projects that really grabbed my attention was Sean's depiction of the faceless soldier. I thought that his illustration portrayed the modernist attribute of post-war disillusionment very well. It really showed how soldiers did not have an identity, and how they just did what they were told. I also thought his quote was very appropriate from the "Hollow Men". Specifically I admired how Sean made the soldier who fights on the front line, which is more significant because the soldier was risking his life for a cause that is probably not know to him.
ReplyDeleteLike many of my fellow students, I was intimidated by this assignment because art and I don't go to well together. However, after thinking about the assignment a little, I realized that it was not as daunting as it seemed. In fact, it was a breath of fresh air from always writing an essay or taking a test. I particularly liked the fact that we got to create our on modern art. I think that helped me understand the movement a lot better than just looking at published modern. Obviously we need to look at works from great's such ad Fitzgerald and Picasso, but this project really solidified my understandment of the modernist movement. Overall this project was enjoyable and I recommend that you assign this again next year.
The artist who created the abstract collage titled “Heat Wave” did a fantastic job of connecting it to a quote out of the short story “The Ice Palace” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The quote talks about how the countryside in the south is during the summer and how the flowing heat is “like a great warm nourishing bosom for the infant Earth” (Fitzgerald), this quote is represented in the abstract collage. The background of the collage is a patchwork of red, orange, and brown colored squares. These warm colors give you a sense of heat and the way in that they are arranged reminds me of the farm filled countryside. On top of this background is a line of words that stretches diagonally from one corner to another. These words include “summer, mom, smile, shine, home, heart, sun, love” all words that remind me of happiness which the south represented for the main character from “The Ice Palace”. Another aspect of this collage that excellently connected it to the quote was a picture of the Earth being held by a woman’s arms. This created the idea that the Earth was a baby inside a pregnant women’s belly. I thought this connected directly to the part of the quote calling the Erath an infant. All of these aspects of the collage combined connected it perfectly to the quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald from his short story “The Ice Palace”.
ReplyDeleteOverall I really enjoyed this project on modernism. At first I was nervous that all of us would have to make a painting or sculpture because I really don’t have any artistic skill but as soon I learned that we could write a short story I was relieved. Creating a short story was a lot of fun and very enjoyable. You should definitely do this project next year.