Literature, Life-Writing, and Identity

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 17.02.03

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Background
  2. Rationale
  3. Goals
  4. Identity
  5. Identity through art
  6. Strategies
  7. Activities
  8. Resources
  9. Bibliography
  10. Appendix A
  11. Endnotes

Curating an Identity: Exploration and Expression in the Elementary Art Room

Robert Graham

Published September 2017

Tools for this Unit:

Resources

Artist, Artworks, and Artifacts

The following artworks and museum resources can be used to understand and discuss how artists’ express identity visually

The Golden Touch by Patrizio Travalgi (2015), installation.21 This installation is a collection of objects brought to the artist by participants of his workshop. I was a participant of the workshop. We were asked to bring a small object that we felt a connection with, a representation of ourselves. The object I brought was a jaw bone of a white-tailed deer. The bone was part of my personal collection of natural things that I find in my travels and life. The Golden Touch is a representation of all the participants’ identity. The gold leafing adds value and reflectiveness, changing each object by increasing its worth and by causing the viewer to see themselves in each object.

The Jungle by Wilfredo Lam (1943), gouache on paper.22 This work can be interpreted as a display of the multiple identities a single person may exhibit. The figures are emerging from a dark and busy background.

MoMA Learning,23 an educational section of the Museum of Modern Art’s website that is devoted to identity in art can be found at www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/investigating-identity. The page is collection of artists and artworks focused on the different aspects of identity and the way it is expressed.

“Red” the illustration and character from the book Red, A Crayon’s Story.24 In the book the character is introduced to us at Red. A crayon who is actually blue but wrapped in a red label. Throughout the book the character is challenged with what others expect of him versus what he truly is.

The Sanderson Museum25 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, is a personal collection of items. Almost all of the items displayed have some sort of explanation written by the curator himself, Chris Sanderson. The museum is a representation of how objects can be an expression of identity.

Self-Portrait at 5,224,667, Jonathan Borofsky (1993), ink on paper.26 At one point in his career Borofsky decided to start counting from one to infinity on paper.27 This work is the artist representation of himself at the number 5,224,667. The work is not a traditional self-portrait, but rather a scribble of lined filled in with pattern, drawing, and shading. I interpret this work as how the artist felt after counting to such a high number. Use this piece to discuss the more abstract ways of thinking about identity with students.

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