2014 is European Year against food waste... As an arty activity, design a FRIDGE MAGNET with a splendid slogan and brilliant image on the theme of not wasting food!
Send your entries (on a Word document) to: ortisbateau@gmail.com
Have fun!
Showing posts with label In the news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In the news. Show all posts
25 November 2014
08 November 2014
‘The Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red’
The field of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London has caught the
public imagination. But does such a beautiful memorial to those killed blind us
to the horror of the First World War?
Contemporary art provokes many responses among the public, but
overwhelming and heartfelt approval is not often among them. However, last week
tens of thousands of people visited an art installation at the Tower of London.
So many, in fact, that buses were diverted and the nearest underground station
closed to avoid dangerous congestion.
The work is made of hundreds of thousands of ceramic poppies planted in
the dry moat of the Tower. Its title is ‘The Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red’
and each poppy commemorates a British or colonial serviceman or woman killed in
the First World War. The first of 888,246 flowers was planted on 5th August,
100 years since the first full day of Britain’s involvement in the war. The
last will be installed on Armistice Day, 11th November.
Each poppy was sold online for £25 and the £15million raised will be
divided between six service charities. (After Armistice Day the artwork will be
dismantled and each poppy delivered to its sponsor.)
Not everyone admires it however. Jonathan Jones, the art critic of the
Guardian newspaper, called it a ‘prettified and toothless war memorial. It is
all dignity and grace. There is a fake nobility to it, and this seems to be
what the crowds have come for – to be raised up into a shared reverence for those
heroes turned frozen flowers. What a lie. The first world war was not noble.
War is not noble. A meaningful mass memorial to this horror would not be
dignified or pretty. It would be gory, vile and terrible to see. The moat of
the Tower should be filled with barbed wire and bones. That would mean
something.’
Many object to this view. A writer in the Daily Mail observed that ‘I
saw the poppies back in the summer and wanted to bring my children before the
whole thing disappears. I could think of no better way to impress upon them the
enormity of the Great War than to show them this crimson moat and explain that
every single one of the 888,246 poppies equals a real person who lived and died
for this country.’
Remembering and forgetting
Some think commemorations like this simply disguise the revolting
brutality of war. Dressing it up as some holy, national sacrifice hides the
ignorance, selfishness and stupidity which brought about the unnecessary death
of millions of young people across the world.
On the other hand, many have been deeply moved by this work and feel
conscious of the link it makes to those members of their families who fought,
and some of whom died, in wars over the last century. To remember them in this
way is not to glorify war, but to appreciate what they did to try to ensure
peace for future generations.
The above article was published in THE DAY.
To do (in pairs!):
- Translate into French the above article and list new words and phrases (LEARN THEM!)
- Research what the Tower of London is.
- Send a short comment to either THE DAILY MAIL or THE GUARDIAN expressing your opinion on the installation in the Tower of London (click on the links below the photo above); keep a copy of your message for your ring binder!
- Describe a war memorial that you know and say why you like or dislike it.
- Give a 60-second oral presentation on ONE of the following topics:
- "War memorials should show the horror of war!"
- "War memorials should show that it is sweet and fitting to die for your country."
26 October 2014
09 August 2014
It's a fix(ture)!
- Explain this post's title.
- Think up a title or comment for this sculpture (such as: "Strong winds with a risk of squale" or "Neighborhood watch just turned nasty..." or "Is it a fallen angel shark?" or "Squale!" or "Down with the Joneses!").
- Imagine a short dialogue between the owner of the house and his neighbor about the sculpture...
- Find other works of art that include sharks.
- Send a comment to this blog post explaining why you love or hate sharks!
- How effective is the Headington Shark as public art?
29 January 2014
01 May 2013
Cocky!
Click HERE to read the Guardian article on which the text below is based!
Click HERE to view a BBC News report!
Click HERE to go to the official website on the Fourth Plinth!Click HERE to view a BBC News report!
Another
Fourth Plinth Cock-up?
In its fifteen year history as a site for temporary contemporary sculptures, the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square has been the cause of much fuss and bother. The empty plinth in front of the National Gallery has hosted, among others: the marble sculpture of a disabled woman, a mock equestrian sculpture, and the members of the public themselves who, for an hour each, were able to become living statues.
Katharina Fritsch's sculpture of a big blue cockerel has also ruffled feathers. Some have
said it is nothing but a feeble distraction, totally inappropriate in a square
which honours Britain's greatest naval victory of the Napoleonic wars (the cockerel
is the national symbol of France!). The Düsseldorf-based artist’s unnerving sculptures
seem indeed to arrive from another world. There is no logic about her elephants,
outsized apples, mice, and men in bright suits; her creatures are fanciful and
dramatic and unrelated to their contexts. But is art not also meant to disrupt?
In the end, though, it's just a weird, oversized, royal blue barnyard bird, and it's been cheering us all up!
In the end, though, it's just a weird, oversized, royal blue barnyard bird, and it's been cheering us all up!
Questions/to do:
- Translate the text above.
- Do you agree that art is "meant to disrupt"?
- What should the purpose of a public sculpture be?
- What do you think of Fritsch's art?
- Describe your favourite Fourth Plinth shortlisted sculpture, and say why you like it so much.
- Take part in the vote!
Assignement:
- Get the children from a Primary school to vote on their favourite Fourth Plinth shortlisted sculpture.
- Run a workshop for the Primary school children: they have to imagine their own sculpture for the Fourth Plinth (they have to draw it on an A3 piece of paper).
25 March 2013
15 October 2012
14 October 2012
03 October 2012
29 September 2012
08 August 2012
25 July 2012
24 July 2012
20 July 2012
06 June 2012
06 May 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)