The Real Anatomy of Technology
Title: The Real Anatomy of Technology
Type of Project: Guided Exploration
Project Description: The Renaissance was a period in art history where exploration, deeper understanding, and a desire to know how things worked was sought. Artists such as Michelangelo would take their studies of the human form to the next level by dissecting cadavers to learn how the body works and gain an understanding of how they could bring more realistic life into their sculptures of the figure. In this assignment students will be taking a look at the interior of something else that has seemingly taken a life of its own in our day and age: electronic devices.
Processes and Activities: Students were shown a slideshow featuring work and discovery of artists from the Renaissance through the Baroque era in art history. We discussed how artists were beginning to disect cadavers in order to truly understand the interior workings of the human form.
Evaluation Criteria:
1.The artwork shows an even balance of subject matter, transitioning from an exterior view of an electronic device and balanced with the imaginary interior of the electronic device.
2. Composition is balanced, neat, and clean. The paper is clean and the focal point is on the object. There is evidence of centering and balancing the drawing on the page
3. Drawing is neat, well crafted, thoughtfully and creatively sketched out. You carefully considered proportion and linework to create this imaginary item as realistically as you could.
4. Colored pencil techniques are brilliant and bring the drawing to life! Shading, layering, and texturizing techniques are used to create rich surfaces on the drawing.
5. Creative solution to the assignment. You worked to create a unique artwork that has taken a life of it’s own! You took risks with this project and worked to make it one of a kind.
6. Artist Statement is thoughtfully written, with reflection on your process and explanation of the drawing being a priority.
7. Evidence of research is apparent through the sketches done in your sketchbook. A process and risk taking was considered as you worked toward your final product.
8. Use of class time, care of materials, attitude and care toward assignment. Clean up is immaculate every day. You came prepared and worked hard toward making this assignment amazing! You were a dedicated artist and used the class time solely for the purpose of developing this project to greatness.
Type of Project: Guided Exploration
Project Description: The Renaissance was a period in art history where exploration, deeper understanding, and a desire to know how things worked was sought. Artists such as Michelangelo would take their studies of the human form to the next level by dissecting cadavers to learn how the body works and gain an understanding of how they could bring more realistic life into their sculptures of the figure. In this assignment students will be taking a look at the interior of something else that has seemingly taken a life of its own in our day and age: electronic devices.
Processes and Activities: Students were shown a slideshow featuring work and discovery of artists from the Renaissance through the Baroque era in art history. We discussed how artists were beginning to disect cadavers in order to truly understand the interior workings of the human form.
Evaluation Criteria:
1.The artwork shows an even balance of subject matter, transitioning from an exterior view of an electronic device and balanced with the imaginary interior of the electronic device.
2. Composition is balanced, neat, and clean. The paper is clean and the focal point is on the object. There is evidence of centering and balancing the drawing on the page
3. Drawing is neat, well crafted, thoughtfully and creatively sketched out. You carefully considered proportion and linework to create this imaginary item as realistically as you could.
4. Colored pencil techniques are brilliant and bring the drawing to life! Shading, layering, and texturizing techniques are used to create rich surfaces on the drawing.
5. Creative solution to the assignment. You worked to create a unique artwork that has taken a life of it’s own! You took risks with this project and worked to make it one of a kind.
6. Artist Statement is thoughtfully written, with reflection on your process and explanation of the drawing being a priority.
7. Evidence of research is apparent through the sketches done in your sketchbook. A process and risk taking was considered as you worked toward your final product.
8. Use of class time, care of materials, attitude and care toward assignment. Clean up is immaculate every day. You came prepared and worked hard toward making this assignment amazing! You were a dedicated artist and used the class time solely for the purpose of developing this project to greatness.
Nicole
In the beginning of my Real Anatomy of Technology project my instructor asked us to be creative and think “outside of this world”. This sparked an idea to actually give the project an outside of the world appearance. After researching through multiple artists I found a man named Bob McCall. Bob paints artwork of space and gives action in art a whole new meaning. This motivated me to take a step into the space theme even though I didn’t want intensity and action in my drawing. In my artwork I have a satellite with with human characteristics all around. My wings have a stretching outward appearance, where in taking a closer look you see the concept of arms. On one wing there is an open patch looking into the wing, here there are veins flowing sharp and defined throughout the image. On the other wing are muscles which are smooth and long. These images aid in the perception that the wings are real human arms. I also included an eye looking out over the space. This eye represents the lookout protection and guidance to where it leads us. Lastly there is a brain and spinal cord revealed. This shows that this satellite needs control and the brain and cord are there to do so. A satellite can be used for the symbol of communication. The human body is a very social item and comparing it to a satellite make the connection complete.
Malorie
I chose to draw a skeleton because I wanted to challenge myself with shading techniques and learning the difficulty of drawing multiple small and odd shapes. My art piece is done in color pencil and Ebony pencil.
When I did the shading on my skeleton I used an Ebony pencil first then went back over the shading with a red color pencil to add more color and more of a pop to the shading of the bones. The only section without red color pencil shading are the back side of the ribs which are shaded in just Ebony pencil to give the effect that this set of ribs are on the backside of which the skeleton is facing.
I drew my skeleton taking off on a jetpack heading out in space. The straps on the jetpack however, are jumper cables connected to his ribs as if he is the source to the energy to run the jetpack. The jetpack was also first shaded with Ebony pencil then I went back over it with a blue color pencil to add more color and depth to the jetpack. Lastly at the bottom of the jetpack there are flames coming out which help support my skeleton taking off. The flames are shaded from a dark red, to a bright firetruck red, followed by orange, and lastly yellow.
For my background I have a black silhouette of a town. Followed by the shading in the sky which is shaded black at the top, to purple, then blue, and lastly a highlight of the town's lights in orange and yellow. The sky also includes a bright corner moon in the top right hand corner which is shaded like the skeleton and jestpack. First, with Ebony then layered on top with yellow color pencil.
During this project I learned how to layer shading when it comes to an Ebony pencil and color pencil. I also learned to give highlight when it comes to shading the sky around a silhouetted town.
When I did the shading on my skeleton I used an Ebony pencil first then went back over the shading with a red color pencil to add more color and more of a pop to the shading of the bones. The only section without red color pencil shading are the back side of the ribs which are shaded in just Ebony pencil to give the effect that this set of ribs are on the backside of which the skeleton is facing.
I drew my skeleton taking off on a jetpack heading out in space. The straps on the jetpack however, are jumper cables connected to his ribs as if he is the source to the energy to run the jetpack. The jetpack was also first shaded with Ebony pencil then I went back over it with a blue color pencil to add more color and depth to the jetpack. Lastly at the bottom of the jetpack there are flames coming out which help support my skeleton taking off. The flames are shaded from a dark red, to a bright firetruck red, followed by orange, and lastly yellow.
For my background I have a black silhouette of a town. Followed by the shading in the sky which is shaded black at the top, to purple, then blue, and lastly a highlight of the town's lights in orange and yellow. The sky also includes a bright corner moon in the top right hand corner which is shaded like the skeleton and jestpack. First, with Ebony then layered on top with yellow color pencil.
During this project I learned how to layer shading when it comes to an Ebony pencil and color pencil. I also learned to give highlight when it comes to shading the sky around a silhouetted town.
James
For this project I started by sketching out different ideas over and over again. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do for quite a while and almost felt like I was behind. I all of a sudden had a thought about the concept of beauty and destruction. I contrasted these two both in the representation of the phone (my choice of technology). The destruction aspect is shown in the following ways; the phone is given a life-like representation in the form of a heart. This heart is shown as the energy receiver. The person on the left is shown as the energy source. The heart has a vein growing out of the surface of the heart and breaks through the screen, then connecting to the person's’ lower eye. The vein is taking blood from the victim as a source of energy for the phone. The blood also represents the hard work that people put into making this form of technology. The yellow glowing charger that connects to the person's head is shown “fanning out” to represent the phone getting its power from the person itself. People are so connected to their phones that it basically presents the fact that phones do get their energy from humans, almost similar to the way people feed off of attention, you just can’t get enough. Lastly there are headphones which represent the control phones have over us. It doesn’t want to let go of us because we are its power source.
In the aspect of beauty I have chosen to use color in my artwork once again. The color shows the mysteriousness and the curiosity that lures people in to buy and use these phones. Some of the most colorful and alluring objects aren’t exactly the safest for a person because under all of the colorful exterior, the real anatomy of technology is what sets beautiful far from destruction.
In the aspect of beauty I have chosen to use color in my artwork once again. The color shows the mysteriousness and the curiosity that lures people in to buy and use these phones. Some of the most colorful and alluring objects aren’t exactly the safest for a person because under all of the colorful exterior, the real anatomy of technology is what sets beautiful far from destruction.
Alysa
To begin with this Real Anatomy of Technology project, I studied the realism brought forth by Donatello and Michelangelo. With these artists styles in mind, I began to create rough sketches of my ideas. Initially, I planned to only create the cell phone with pieces cut out of it, because I thought it was a good representation of a ‘necessity’ in our life that could be thought of as part of our body as it is always in our hand or pocket. But, with further sketches I decided this approach of just the cell phone was to plain. My project needed something more, so I decided to add headphones. This addition allowed me to utilize my space more effectively. The next confrontation I came across was which way I should dissect the cell phone to show the most anatomy. With the help from my instructor, I decided a front facing view would not only allow for more anatomy to be placed, but it also split the page nicely into thirds with the headphones. The next issue that came to my attention was what I should use for the anatomy of not only the phone but also the headphones. The headphones came to mind quickly, as you place them over your ears to listen to the music, so quite literally I replaced the earbuds with actual ears. The crowning of the headphones was a little more tricky. I decided that music flows from your ears to your mind and body, just like veins bring the blood from the heart to the body. Meanwhile, the cell phone I decided to treat as a human skeleton, including a spine, rib cage, heart, and the contents of the abdomen area. A cell phone in a sense functions just like a human body, with certain programs having to maintain certain jobs. Essentially this piece shows my take on the control a cell phone has over our lives today and how quite similar everyday objects are to our own anatomy.