Contemporary visual arts stories: what stories do you have to tell? What has happened in your life that has made a difference to you?

What are your defining moments? What role can the computer play in telling your story? These are questions that I asked my computer arts students to answer in Stories, a unit based on the PBS Art:21 series. Art:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century is a PBS documentary series about contemporary visual art in America and the artists who make it.

The artists profiled in Stories tell tales--autobiographical, fictional, satirical, or fantastical--through architecture, literature, mythology, fairytales, and history. These artists provoke us to think about our own stories, the characters and caricatures, the morals and messages that define our real and imagined lives.--PBS Art:21

Throughout history, storytelling has evolved from verbal, to pictorial, to the forming of letters and words. Technology has evolved in how each generation tells their stories. For example, consider the impact of the printing press, Morse code, and the telephone. In more recent times, storytelling has gone from radio, to television, to cell phones, and now to the computer and Internet.

Using elements of traditional storytelling and traditional art, incorporated with today's technology, creates a unique form of artistic communication that students can easily use.

Traditionally, when students think about stories, they think about books and reading. But, when they are introduced to art ists like Kara Walker and Trenton Doyle Hancock, students read a new chapter on how stories can be told through art.

Creating Visual Art Stories

Students were asked what personal stories they had to tell and to consider how they were going to tell them through computer arts. Were they going to tell their stories using icons, photos, text, symbolism, or audio? Not only did students have visual problems to solve, but technical ones as well. How were they going to use their chosen digital media to express their stories when they had very limited knowledge of the programs/media?

Each student used traditional storytelling tools to create a unique and successful digital story. For example, Morgan's artwork mixes visual metaphors and text, and then places them in a sequence (triptych) that the viewer can "read."

Using multimedia and computer art can create a unique story for each viewer to experience, depending on the interaction.

I chose to incorporate the themed stories into my curriculum because I wanted a new outlet for students to express themselves in ways that would be personally meaningful. Everyone has a story to tell, and I want to give my students the chance and ability to do so. I invite you to try the same.

Tiffanie Davis currently teaches computer graphic design, commercial art, computer art, computer animation, and digital photography at Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. [e-mail]

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students conceive and create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the communication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use.

WEB LINK

www.pbs.org/art21/