May 24, 2002

POP TURNED ART
Creating Art Out of Popular Culture

Grades:  6-8,9-12

Subjects:  Fine Arts

Related New York Times Article
"A Warhol Retrospective Comes to Los Angeles, By BERNARD WEINRAUB", May 24, 2002

OVERVIEW OF LESSON PLAN:: In this lesson, students will learn about the art of Andy Warhol and consider the line between art and life. Students will then create their own artistic renditions of popular culture themes and images in order to explore their influence on our lives.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:   45 minutes

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

  1. Write in journals on the question of "what is art?"
  2. Learn about the Andy Warhol Retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles by reading and discussing the article "A Warhol Retrospective Comes to Los Angeles."
  3. As a class, brainstorm pop culture themes; create artwork based on a popular-culture theme or image.
  4. Finish art work and write an explanation of why it's art; display art in class exhibit.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

  1. WARM-UP/DO NOW: Prior to class, place a Campbell's soup can on a desk in the front of the room. As students enter, have them respond to the following prompt in their journals (written on the board prior to class): Is this art? Why or why not? After one minute, present a reproduction of one of Warhol's famous Campbell's soup can paintings and ask students to answer to same questions about this painting. After students write, have some students share their writing, and conduct a short discussion about what can be considered "art."
  2. As a class, read the article "A Warhol Retrospective Comes to Los Angeles," focusing on the following questions:
    1. Who are some of the celebrities to have their portrait rendered by Andy Warhol?
    2. According to Jeremy Strick, why is Warhol "appropriate for L.A."?
    3. What "unprecedented move" was made by the City of Los Angeles?
    4. What is Heiner Bastian's opinion of Warhol?
    5. What was Hilton Kramer's opinion of Warhol?
    6. What is Ivan Karp's opinion of Warhol?
    7. Who helped Warhol become famous and how?
    8. According to Warhol himself, how can one learn all about him?
  3. As a class, brainstorm current popular culture images. Some categories that can be used as a guideline include people (e.g. Britney Spears) objects (e.g. Beanie Babies), and themes (e.g. the Internet). After brainstorming, each student chooses one item from the list (or another pop culture image) to use as a basis for a work of art. Students should refer to the Andy Warhol Slide show at The New York Times Web site( http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2002/05/22/arts/23warh.slideshow_1.html)for ideas about how to represent their chosen image. Students may use any medium and style to convert their image into a work of art. Like Warhol, they may chose to simply render the image in an "artistic" medium (like Warhol's soup cans), or transform it through this medium (like Warhol's portraits).
  4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: At home (or in a later class), students complete their work of art. Students also write a brief (1- to 2-page) explanation of the significance of this image in popular culture and why they chose to represent it artistically. Artwork can be displayed in the classroom, and other classes can be invited to attend the "exhibit."

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated on initial journal writing, participation in group discussions and brainstorm, and thoughtful completion of artwork based on popular culture with accompanying written explanation.

VOCABULARY:
iconic, retrospectives, reciprocating, unprecedented, consumerism, vigorous, chronicler, duality, controversy, bizarre, entourage, obscured

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  1. Create a work of art in the style of another famous postmodern artist, such as Jackson Pollack, Roy Lichtenstein or Cindy Sherman. Research this artist's style and look at a sample his or her work before beginning your own work. You may want to use images that are related to those commonly used by the artist, or choose those that hold significance for you.
  2. Research a famous postmodern "artist" in a medium other than visual art, such as a choreographer (e.g. Martha Graham), author (e.g. Don Delillo), musician (e.g. John Cage), etc. Give a presentation to the class with samples of the artist's work and an explanation about how he or she revolutionized his or her field.
  3. Conduct a poll of your classmates and teachers to see which famous people they recognize from Warhol's portraits. Choose three to five portraits to use in your poll, and ask questions about the identity of the people, as well as other "vital statistics" about them. Compare your results based on the age of the respondent and chart them. Include in your poll at least one person whom you did not recognize at first, and post a short biography of him or her with your poll results.
  4. Recreate one of Warhol's works in a different artistic style (e.g. cubism) or medium (e.g. computer graphics) than the original. You may choose to retain the same dimensions, shape, and orientation as the original, or you may alter it completely, leaving only an aspect of the original image.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Economics- Conduct research to find out how much various famous works of art have sold for in auctions. Then conduct a mock auction using this information in order to illustrate which artists and works are considered most "valuable."

Health- Talk with mental health professionals about the relationship between the art people create and their self-image. Learn about psychological testing that uses people's artwork to assess their psychological status. Try conducting one of these tests with a friend and attempting to analyze it (keeping in mind that only a professional can truly and accurately analyze such data).

Language Arts- Write a short story based on Warhol's concept of the "15 minutes of fame." Your story may be about a real person or event that gained short-lived fame, or a possible fame-gaining event that may occur to you or someone else in the future.

Media Studies- Watch the movie "I Shot Andy Warhol" or "Basquiat" to learn about the lifestyles of Andy Warhol's inner circle of friends. After watching the film, write a journal about whether or not you would want to live the type of lifestyles depicted in the film and why.

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The New York Times Company
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