AP Art: Summer Assignments checkup

The first 5 summer assignments were due last week and I'm almost finished going through all the work and responding with notes.  Here's a few great examples from Dana (above-Chronicle), Mikenzie (below- Inspiration John Baldessari), Lena (below- Self Portrait without showing your face), and Gabby (below- Decay).  Most of what I've seen so far has been great and might just need small tweaks to be complete but some of the work needs a bit more so make sure you give yourself time and don't wait to the last minute!  There are a few people who's work I haven't seen so be sure to get it in as soon as possible via email, instagram, or dropbox! Hope everyone has enjoyed their summer so far, lets have a great second half- looking forward to seeing some more great work- nice job!

School's Out for Summer!

Now that the grades are completed and art room 161 is packed up for summer, here's my last post for 2012-2013.  Above is a great montage of images and video from this year's Art Honor Society that was put together by our president Jess and I which I wanted to share, she did a great job this year! 

I also wanted to sat congratulations to all my seniors who are graduating next week, I wish I could be there but I'm actually part of Mt.Sinai's graduation ceremony as part of my 20 year high school reunion.  I just want to say thanks to all of the club members and cabinet members who worked hard to make this such a great year in our clubs and a special good luck to Gabby who was chosen by the Japan Society to travel to Japan for 3 weeks this summer after working on the Going Global project- Godspeed!

One last assignment: Metamorphosis

The end of school means the beginning of something new so for any of my students that are looking for one last theme, here it is: Metamorphosis.  The word comes from the Greek word for transformation and being that we are all going through an evolutionary transformation of sorts it seems fitting as the final assignment of the year.  Any seniors taking it on should include a short written reflection piece explaining your personal metamorphosis and what you took for the classes.

Last Day of Classes 2013

Today another school year comes to a close, it was a pleasure getting to know all of you and I hope everyone found some skills, ideas, and learning that made an impact.  Above is a short video montage of this year's AP Studio Art class which is mostly comprised of seniors so I'd like to wish good luck to you all and I hope your creative paths treat you well!  Have a great summer!

Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way.  — C. JoyBell

 

AP Art: Art Show 11 Sam, Sabrina, Gabby, and Alli

Today was our final AP Art Art Show of the year and we ended big with work from: Sam, Sabrina, Gabby, and Alli.  The was a festive crowd, a fire drill, and all the new AP Art students from next years class who met to learn about the class and the summer assignments.  The shows will be up through the testing week so make sure you get a chance to see their terrific and unique pieces!

Studio Art: Organic drawing and sculpture

Last week in studio art we did an earthworks project taking a note from artists like: Vik Muniz, Andy Goldsworthy, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Smithson.  Above is an really cool example of a 3D earthwork from Allison in 7th period and below is an image from 4th period's outdoor ink drawing.

 

Media Art: Public Service Announcement

Last month all of Mr.Needles classes joined together and contributed to creating a public service announcement for the school addressing the greater awareness of the language we use in school.  Here's the final PSA, there are still a few qwerks to work out but it makes a strong message.  Thanks to all the students who helped take photos, edit, and brainstorm- well done!

Poster Competition: DESTRUCTIVE DECISIONS

The prom was last week and now we have just 4 days left of class so our final assignment is creating a poster for an alumni created competition shown above.  The prize is $500 and it's open to everyone at Smithtown East and West.  We brainstormed concepts on Friday so now it's time to create an eye catching design that makes an impact!

Photography: Portfolio and final assignments

 

We have just 5 classes left in photography so we are working on our final assignments which is the 9 picture portfolio and the Shanti Peace poster contest.  Here are 3 great portfolios from the semester from Erica (above), Kayla (b/w below), Jenn (color below).  We've done over 20 photo assignments in 20 weeks so you have a number of choices to pull from.  Our last assignment will be a reflection piece which should illustrate some of what we've learned over the class.

AP Art: Senior Art Show 10: Melissa, Kevin, Jess, & Clay

Yesterdays AP Art Show opening featured a foursome of artists: seniors Melissa & Kevin and juniors Clay & Jess in two seperate galleries.  The vast amount of work showed off the progress each of the artist have made over the year and the different indivual styles they developed.  Friend, parents, relatives, and teachers stopped down to see the show and congradulated the artists on their work. We now have just one week of class left and one final show on Wednesday.

Photography: Light Painting

This week in photography we did some long esposure light painting and above is a great shot by Erica and below is a shot from Mr.Needles demonstration.  The results were eclectic thanks to different techniques and cameras used (above is the SLR and below is the Lightbomber app on the iPhone). 

AP Art: Senior Art Show 9 Saylor

 

This week was Saylor's show which was based on astrological signs and includes many of her drawings and a few photographs.  The earthy theme seemed to fit the weather and time of year and now with just 7 class days left we have 2 more shows of 4 students each to end the year!

AP Art: 2013-2014 Summer Assignments

The 2013-2014 AP Art class will have a short meeting next Wednesday June 5 at 2:05pm in room 161 to discuss the schedule and summer assignments which are posted below. If you cannot attend for any reason make sure you see Mr.Needles and complete the 16 assignments by the first week of class because they are a large part of the first quarter grade and the AP test itself.

As an example of what a finished work should look like in terms of the art/design principals above is an example of the first assignment (listed below) by Clay and below are examples of Clay's concentration pieces and one of the winning Shanti Peace Posters by Aidi a from a few years ago.  If you have any questions about the assignments feel free to email me or come speak with me, other than that remember to enjoy the work and don't stress out because it usually means death to creativity!

Summer Assignments:

All assignments can be done in any medium, technique and style you desire but should be 2-Dimensional work (flat) not 3-Dimensional (sculpture) work in any media that is 18”x24” or smaller and should be entirely original (do not use other people’s pictures, characters, or content in any way).

Part I: Breadth Assignments:

(these 5 assignments should be sent to me via instagram- #needlesclass eor mail tneedles@smithtown.k12.ny.us by August 1 for feedback. These works will also count towards your 1st Quarter grade and will be critiqued during the first week of classes.)
 

1. Self Portrait (without showing your face)- The important thing here is to reveal something about yourself without using your face. In fact, you need not use any part of your body at all in this assignment. Instead, you are challenged to portray who you are in some alternative way. What image can you create or invent that would tell us something about you - your personality, your interests, your character, your inclinations, your talents, your passions, your obsessions, your desires, your needs, your likes and dislikes, your essence?

2. Grandiloquent–  Read the definition below and create a work that has a theme of the term in some way. (adjective using loft or pompous words; marked by the use of impressive-sounding but mostly meaningless words and phrases; bombastic."poets in the 19th century tended to write poetry filled with grandiloquent phrases")

3. Decay- Create a work that incorperates the theme of decay in some way in any media. The theme is open to your own interpretation.

4. Chronicle- Take a part of your life (anything from a single 24 hour day to a week of summer is great to a year of your life) and make an art piece representing that period of time. You can incorporate text or leave it abstract but be creative and do not simply document, make it creative.

5. Inspiration- Take a look at this list of 100 Artists from Art 21, choose any artist and create a piece responding to (not copying or in their style) their work.  The list includes everyone from artist who use traditional media such as: Cindy Sherman and Richard Serra to artist like: Ai Weiwei, Marina Abramović, and Laurie Anderson who do performance pieces.  Video clips are available for each artist on the website so do a bit of research, find something in one of the artists that you connect to and create a piece on it.

Part II: Concentration Assignments:

Create 10 works in a theme of your choice in a medium that you want to work with for the AP test (pencil, photography, mixed media, ect.). Examples from the past include "A Day In The Life", "A Reinterpretation of the Past through Steam technology", and "Perspectives of the Brooklyn Bridge" so it's really wide open but if you want to run your idea past me before you begin I'd love to hear it. Here's a link to the College Board website which has information about the test with examples of Concentration pieces that have scored well in the past: AP: Studio Art

Part III: Shanti Peace Poster

Create a 8"x10' poster for the Shanti Peace Poster Contest, the theme is peace and you are free to use quotes from Ghandi and/or Martin Luther King if you wish. Here's a link to the three winning Smithtown designs from last year's contest: 2011 Peace Poster

Art Honor Society: Final Meeting of the Year

Last week we had our 2013 induction ceremony and volunteered with an art therapy table at the Smithtown L.I.F.E. fair (pictured above) so this Wednesday is our final meeting.  We will be discussing the elections for next year's cabinet, the summer assignments for the AP Art class, and the end of the year awards and scholarships.  The meeting will also host our first 4 AP person art show.

Photography: Experimental Photo

We are beginning our Experimental Photo section this week and our first assignment is the skewed image assignment in which you take a color image rotate part of it and make one section black and white.  This is due today and next week we will be painting with light and double exposing images.

Studio Art: LongHouse Reserve Student Annual VI

This week we will be working on pieces to enter into the LongHouse Reserve Student Annual VI.  We have a week to complete and edit the work which should be inspired by the experience and work at the Longhouse and I will be collecting it on Tuesday so it can be judged and submitted. The theme is "Outside of the Box" and there are different categories such as: photography, film, mixed media, painting, drawing, and even media like poetry and dance, take a look at the link above for more information. Above are a few of the photos that I took during a recent visit and there are virtual galleries on the Longhouse website.  Last year we had a student, Kyle Stroveglia, win one of the top prizes for his drawing of Fly's Eye Dome designed by Buckminster Fuller.  The final deadline for work is Tuesday, June 11, 2013.

 

Art Honor Society: 2013 Induction Ceremony

This week was our annual National Art Honor Society induction ceremony and we welcomed 12 new members in a ceremony in the little theater.  We watched a short video our president Jess put together showing pictures from some of the activities we took part in this year and reviewed what we have done.  We also mentioned some of the scholarships & resources available from the NAHS looked at some of the activities coming up next year.

AP Art: SKYPE in the classroom with Jen Yu

Yesterday we had a chance to SKYPE with artist Jen Yu from Hamburg, Germany who is currently an artist in residence there Künstler zu Gast.  Jen is a Smithtown East AP alumni and went on to graduate from MICA.  She works in a variety of different media, take a look at some of here recent work on her website: cargocollective.com/jenyu.  She talked to the class about here work, her method, what she has learned from living in Germany, and gave the soon to be graduates some advice!

Art Honor Society: Chelsea Field Trip

The final Art & Media Art Honor Society Field Trip of the school year was Friday and it was a great to to visit the galleries in Chelsea!  We stopped in to see 8 different gallery exhibits, took a walk on the high line, and grabbed a great lunch at Chelsea Market.  Today we will have the Art Honor Society after school in the little theater and induct our 15 new members.

 

Brought my art students to #Chelsea to walk the @highlinenyc & see the @jrart & #JoseParla show @brycewolkowitz:vine.co/v/bEIHKqQLbrg
— Tim Needles (@timneedles) May 18, 2013

Inside Out and our PSA Project

This week we are compiling all of the JR Inside Out images we took last week and creating our PSA.  Above are some of the images I took in classes and they are all included in the PSA so makes sure all your images are black and white and saved in our public folder for tomorrow!

Art on HBO This week

Inside Out: The People's Art Project Trailer

On Friday we had a chance to see some of JR's work in person and tonight the film about his work premieres on HBO at 9pm.  The documentary is entitled Inside Out: The People's Art Project, and it was an official Tribeca Film Festival 2013 selection so if you have a chance check it out!




This week the YoungArts MasterClasses will also air on HBO (the schedule is below) and for any students that are interested we will be once again entering the competition at the beginning of the school year. The National YoungArts Foundation identifies and supports the next generation of artists, and contributes to the cultural vitality of the nation by investing in the artistic development of emerging young talent in the visual, literary and performing arts. YoungArts awards winners with prizes and a Masterclass with notable artists in Miami each year.
 

May 21 / Encore Presentations

6:30 PM Patti Lupone
7:00 PM Bobby McFerrin
7:30 PM John Guare

May 22 / Premiere Episodes

6:30 PM James Rosenquist
7:00 PM Bruce Weber
7:30 PM Kathleen Turner

AP Art: Organic Sculpture

In AP Art class our first post-AP test assignment was creating an entirly organic sculpture and here are some of the results from Gabby (above) along with Ali, Clay, and Lindsey (below).  Today I'll have everyone sort through their portfolios and statements and make sure that is organised before we start the new assignment.

Media Art: Creating a PSA with a message

Our media class will be editing a PSA for the School Improvement Team about the language we use in school next week. We will create a pixilation of about 1000 Smithtown East students for the film and stress the importance about thinking before you speak and understanding the impact your words have.  Before we begin we'll look at a few successful PSAs for inspiration so lets start out with the very poetic approach above.

AP Art: Senior Art Show 8 Brianne

We are coming to our final AP Art: Senior Art Shows but Brianne's show didn't fail at making an impact yesterday with over 70 works arranged in layers hanging from the ceiling, on the floor, and on the boards.  Her drawings and photographs impressed her teachers, a number of whom such as Mr.Kelly and Mr.Willman who stopped by after school for the opening along with the Art Honor Society and friends.

Media and Art Honor Society: Spring field trip

This Friday is our Media & Art Honor Society spring field trip and one of the show's we'll be seeing is JR's.  Above is a great video showing how he did the Times Square pasting last week.  Make sure you have you permission slip and check by tomorrow if you plan on joining us, it should be fun and informative!

Photography: Final Exam

In Photography class we have our final exam on Wednesday and here is a quizlet to help you review: Photography Review.  Additionally with just 16 days of class remaining this week is out 5 week notices so make sure all of you recent assignments are up to date.  Above is a great environmental portrait of me teaching class last week by Erica.