Friday, June 6, 2008

Larger-Than-Life Artistic Expression

Thank you to Pearl Nagoshi for sharing these examples of artistic expression.
  • The first is called "Human Statue of Liberty" and was taken at Camp Dodge in Iowa. The depiction of the Statue of Liberty required 18,000 servicemen. What an incredible tribute to liberty! This would be a wonderful image to use in classrooms to teach about the Statue of Liberty, war, and symbolism. For more information about the art and photography behind this picture, visit the Snopes entry. More examples are available here.
  • The second is a series of Japanese rice fields turned into artists palettes. Note that the rice field art requires large-scale pixellation. Examples of the process for developing these artistic renditions is available here. What crops would be amendable to this type of art and how could the crops, themselves, serve as symbols of the pictures they are depicting? For example, using wheat to depict the Dust Bowl could provide a rich opportunity to discuss the historical relationship between feast and famine in U.S. history.