Contemporary Trends In Art

Spotting And Defining Trends

I want to thank my good friend Jeff Hall, lead art teacher at Maggie Walker Governor's School,  for this organized approach to teaching students how to notice current trends in the art world.

Objectives: 
The student will:

• explore contemporary art individually
• examine various sources from gallery visits, magazines, websites, and social media
• learn to effectively evaluate the quality of a source
• articulate a trend that is present in at least four artists’ work
• present your findings in a persuasive essay and presentation

This is the Semester Exam for All Art 45 students.


Step One:  Paying Close Attention

• Over the course of the first semester, visit art galleries, read art magazines, follow art blogs, and artists on social media
• Keep a record of innovative themes, techniques, and installation used by artists
• Document where you are seeing these artists and consider carefully the quality of the sources.  Not all sources are created equal.
• You are looking for trends within the past six years to today.

Step Two:  Determining Your Trend

• Next, begin to formulate your trend by analyzing your research.
• Synthesize two or three possible trends.  Consider each of them a hypothesis which you will try to prove.
• As you are trying to prove your trends, remember to consider your sources.  Not all sources are created equal!
• Differentiate the stage of an artist’s career.  A trend might seem new to you, but it may have been around for 25+ years and isn’t really a contemporary trend.
• You are looking for at least four leading, emerging, or promising artists.
• Pick the trend that you feel has the most proof to back it up and develop a name for the movement.
• Identify the pioneers of this field.  They should NOT count as one of your four artists.
• Interesting article about when Warhol saw Lichtenstien’s work at Leo Castlelli’s gallery
• Another article about the critic who coined the term “pop art”

Step Three: Posting Your Trend

• Be as specific as possible when describing the trend you are researching. Use this spreadsheet to view the trends that have already been posted.  Please don’t use the same trend as someone else.  First come first serve.
• Post your proposal for your trend using this form. Make sure that you are not “overlapping with another student”.  

Step Four:  Writing a Persuasive Essay

• Write a two-page persuasive essay about your trend.
• Discuss the evolution of this trend.  From where did it emerge?  Who were the pioneers?
• What technologies, if any led to it’s development?
• What are the characteristics of this trend that make it unique?
• Make sure to include a minimum of four artists/artworks to support your trend.
• Make sure to give your trend a name.  All good trends have names, right?
• You will need to include a minimum of one primary source, and two secondary sources referenced in your essay.  Please site your sources.
• This paper will be due with on the same day as your presentation.

Step Five:  Presenting Your Research 

• Then you will create a five minute persuasive presentation convincing us of your trend.  From where does it come? What are it’s characteristics?
• Include compelling visuals that support your argument.
• Cite your sources for this presentation.
• Be prepared when it is your turn to present.

Rubric

• Essay 50 points
• Persuasiveness of essay – 10 points
• Evolution of the trend researched and presented – 10 points
• Four or more artists represented – 10 points
• At least one primary source cited, At least two secondary sources cited - 10 points
• Correct gramar and spelling in essay – 10 points

• Presentation 50 points
• Characteristics of movement presented- 10 points
• Effectiveness of visuals to communicate trend – 10 points
• Persuasiveness and clarity of presentation – 10 points
• Comfort with material/oral presentation skills – 10 points
• Resources cited at the end of the presentation – 10 points

Resources:

• Top ten contemporary trends in art.  Part of an article from 2006 ArtNews magazine that sets the tone for ideal outcomes for this project.