"Worthy" Art

how is social media affecting the way we interact with art?

So you're at an art museum. Good for you! It's full of masterpieces of all shapes and sizes. But why are you there? is it to appreciate, perhaps even analyze, the art? or is it to take a selfie to prove you saw that famous painting? and if that's the reason, is that ok?

That's what we're going to delve into this week.

Module summary:

explore the impact of social media on art
discuss this impact: is it elevating or distracting from art?
visit the Denver Art Museum and interact with art in different ways
create a portfolio reflecting on the experience

essential questions

Where do we start when researching?
What kinds of sources add depth to research?
How do we synthesize multiple sources to present an argument?

goals

Students will understand that when starting research, it is important to brainstorm questions and criteria
Students will understand that strong research includes a variety of sources - websites, magazine articles, books, documentaries, scholarly articles, etc.
Students will understand that intentional note-taking allows us to organize and make connections between information to structure an effective argument.

activities

Tuesday

read and annotate "Museums woo a new generation with 'Instagram worthy' art"
review syllabus and expectations for the week
watch "Art in the Age of Instagram" TEDx talk
generate discussion questions from article and TED talk (open-ended questions)
use questions for group discussion: what should we make of the impact of social media on how we experience and understand art?
review expectations for museum and scavenger hunt

Wednesday