Activity
Create an Abstract Dreamscape
In this activity, you will create an art piece inspired by the work of Bernice Bing.
Objective: Students will be exposed to East Asian art traditions through the lens of a 20th-century Chinese American artist, Bernice Bing.
Writer Shannon Lee, in her article “The Other Art History: The Gay, Lesbian, and Female Abstract Expressionists (Part II),” states, “Bernice Bing was widely influenced by calligraphy and Zen practices. Much of Bing’s work involved spiritual components connecting to East Asian philosophy and aesthetic practices. She used the exploration of these to support her individual perspective of being an American-born, culturally Chinese artist, who experienced feelings of otherness from both groups.Ultimately Bing created artwork that represented her intersectional identity, and unique devotion to spirituality.”
2.VA:Cn11: Compare and contrast cultural uses of art from different times and places.
Visual Arts 3.0: Understand the historical contributions and cultural dimensions of the visual arts.
4.VA:Re7.2: Interpret art by analyzing use of media to create subject matter, characteristics of form, and mood.
6.VA:Re7.2: Analyze ways that visual components and cultural associations suggested by images influence ideas, emotions, and actions.
5.VA:Re7.2: Identify and analyze cultural associations suggested by visual imagery.
Associated standards
HSS-7.5: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of medieval Japan.
Projector
Speakers
Computer
Artworks: Bernice Bing Powerpoint (download in from sidebar above)
Asian Art Museum resource: Zen Buddhism
YouTube video: 3 Minute Zen Introduction
Zen Artworks Powerpoint (download in from sidebar above)
Visual Vocabulary of Brushstrokes
Art Extension
Follow instructions in the Asian Art Museum resource: The Spiritual Life of the Samurai: Meditation and Brush Painting
Upper Grade Level Extension