Shannon Myers

Professor Amber Ward

ART 133
9/24/15
Unit Paper #2
The Big Idea that I found in this unit was that there is visual culture all around us that
needs to be interpreted and understood, and to be able to do this as both a student and teacher
you need to have different ways to interpret so that any fellow colleagues in a class might be able
to understand. I think that Gude was most helpful for me as a reader because it gave me an idea
of how further a project and make it more of a statement rather than just a piece that I would
normally create. I think that the most applicable project for me this unit was when we as a class
chose different maps from around the world and used the clear paper over it to make the piece
more powerful and have a specific and purposeful meaning rather than just for pure aesthetic
purposes.
I feel like I would use this Big Idea as a consistent one. I think that Gude had some really
evolved ideas on how to get anyone to think outside of the box. I never really truly thought of
using art as a for of investigation, but when Gude brought that up I really liked it when he said,
not as exercises, but as research that produces new visual and conceptual insights. (Gude,
2004, pg. 8) This thought can be utilized because it could help students and teachers not do the
same things that happen in art classes, but it gives the teacher and students more freedom, to
express and find themselves through art, which may be one of the reasons that a student is there
in the first place. I also like Gudes Founding Principles. These are helpful because they create
questions that bring up the overall questions of, Is that art? As well as, Why is that art?
Gude, O. (2004). Postmodern principles: In search of a 21st century art education. Art Education, 57(1), 6-14.