The Connection Point

What is the connection point these days for most kids and art?  The kid who isn’t in love with Van Gogh or Monet but art class is on their school schedule. What can the teacher do to make an interesting connection to spark some sort of bond with the student and the learning?

Each generation reinvents art in its own fashion. Because art is an act of description (in some form or another), the description will reflect the generational idea of the association being made.  I don’t think this is a strict reflection of the generations being “described” but for certain an interpretation portrayed in a language that is always in a state of transformation. 

For example, The Simspons “Remastered” by David Barton. I think this is an interesting way that an art teacher might go about demonstrating an artists’ work or the techniques that an artist might use when giving students knowledge of art history.  The connection point would be the contemporary characters of the popular sitcom. It’s a way to excite and attract some more attention of some students’ that may not be engaged in the practice of art. 

David Barton has digitally recreated a handful of The Simpsons in the styles of  famous painters. Manipulated with photoshop, Barton reworks Apu into Salvador Dalí, Homer with the brushwork of Rembrandt, Groundskeeper Willie in the style of Van Gogh and Marge asThe Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer; or in Marges’ case a necklace.