Visual Culture Database Form ARTE 344 Fall 2020

Provider: Emmanuel Hernandez

VCDB #:
5
Big Idea/Subject:
Peer Presure
Major Theme:
Pressure through social
media
Medium/ Presentation:
60”x60” acrylic on timber
Visual Components:
colors, repetition,
symbolism, texture
Category:
Pop art

Authorship: Kelly Jade King

Title: Social agenda
Original Location: Australia 2016
Description/Interpretation Not much information can be found on King’s piece “social
: agenda” but based on the imagery and title we can assume
her work was built around the pressures caused by social
media. The imagery involves a cluster of yellow rubber
ducks, such as the type you would find a child playing with
in the bathtub, except for a blue duck. The nonconformity of
the blue duck indicates to us as the viewer that this is the
focal point of the piece and incorporates a lonely aspect to
the overall feel of the painting. When one analyzes the piece
long enough the details of the yellow ducks’ eyes reveal
common symbols used in social media such as, @ and #.
Use in Teaching/Guiding If I were to use this piece as an example in art class, I would
Questions: ask my students the following

 What stands out about this piece the most, what

would you say the artists intended focal point was?
 What feelings or emotions could you draw from this
piece?
  Does the lack of an artist statement inhibit us as
viewers from appreciating this piece? Does all art
need an artist statement to be considered art?
Class assignment:
Given a sheet of 18”x24” multimedia paper and acrylic paint,
students will create a narrative revolving around the idea of
social pressures using an everyday object as reference.

As an exercise on texture, light, and shadow, students will

find an item (preferably an item that fits in their hand) and
replicate it repeatedly like the rubber ducks in the example
and create a narrative on the issue of social pressures.

Although this may at first seem challenging, I would

recommend and encourage out of the box thinking.

For example, the painted object does not have to be the same
color or size as the referenced object, accuracy should be
more focused on the form, texture, and light casted on the
object.

A utilization of color theory or the incorporation of text may

prove helpful in the narration of the students work.
Source: http://kellyjadeart.com/?page_id=582