Week 10 - Neo-rationalist Theory

What is it?
To put it very simply, neorationalism is simply taking other artists ideas or styles and making them your own. It is pretty much imitating another artist's style to make your own work.

This seems to be a pretty natural theory to use with children due to the fact that they already use imitation to learn things. I think it would be important to stress the "make it your own" aspect of this theory so that students would not feel so constrained in their projects.

INTEGRATED LESSON PLAN

Becky & Nayelli
Neo-Rationalist Theory and Poetry
Exploration: Students will explore the Neo-Rationalist Theory
Objective: Students will be able to understand the concepts of the Neo-Rationalist Theory and how it applies to writing.
State Standard:
Grade: 2 Fine Arts
Standard: 2
Objective 1- Identify significant works of art that have the appearance of depth.
Grade: 2 Language Arts
Standard: 8
Objective 1- Prepare to write by gathering and organizing information and ideas.
Question of Inquiry: How can you apply the Neo-Rationalist Theory to your own art, by taking concepts or ideas from other artists and using these aspects in your own creativity.
Arts Discussed: Alexandra Nechita, Picasso, Jackson Pollack
Other Subject Connections: Language Arts: poetry
Teacher Visuals/ Supplies: PowerPoint on Neo Rationalist Theory, Tempur paint, Paper, Paintbrushes
Preparation: Prepare paint and brushes for students to recreate their own Jackson Pollack
Student Materials:
• Tempur Paint
• 8x11 paper
• Brushes
• “Art smock”—Jackson Pollack recreations are messy :)
Lesson Sequence:
1. Discuss the idea of Neo-Rationalism in simpler terms: we adopt ideas from other artists and recreate them in our own way.
2. Discuss Alexandra Nechita and how she is named the “Petit Picasso.” Discuss how she adopted Picasso’s techniques in cubism and invented her own way of art.
3. Ask students if they think this theory of creating their own work by adopting others’ ideas is good or bad. Discuss that some theories are neither good or bad. Discuss the way in which we adopt others ideas in other ways other than art: hairstyles, fashion, recipes, interior design, literature, movies.
4. Discuss that imitating, assimilating then innovating is a way we learn
5. Discuss how we can find our own inspiration through many different mediums.
6. If you wanted to tie in Neo-Rationalism to other cores, you could talk about poetry. You could read a Shel Silverstein or Dr. Suess poem and then have the students recreate their own poem using the same style/format that Silverstein or Dr. Suess uses.
Assessment:
• Discuss Jackson Pollack’s technique of creating his art
• Have students recreate their own Jackson Pollack artwork, but emphasize that they can choose to use any colors of their choice, just adopt the technique of applying the paint to the paper.
Resources:
http://www.sojournmusic.com/2008/07/22/imitate-assimilate-then-inno...
Teaching Creativity:
http://www.goshen.edu/~marvinpb/arted/tc.html
Alexandra Nechita and the Petit Picasso:
http://www.lewisbond.com/nechita/about_nechita.html
Video on Alexandra Nechita:
http://www.cnn.com/exchange/blogs/ypwr/2007/11/alexandra-nechita_26...

POWERPOINT LINK

My Thoughts:
This was a very interesting lesson plan. We discussed whether we thought Alexandra Nechita should be famous just because she painted like Picasso. We talked about the time and effort that artists go through to become known. We discussed how Alexandra Nechita is trying to get away from the "petite picasso" label and is trying to make a name for herself. There were two options we decided on:
1) She does not deserve the fame/recognition because she is only praised for her similarity to Picasso.
2) She may not have deserved fame at first, but she has pursued her artistry and has been trying to create a name for herself. The key is that she is still working and not trying to ride off of her laurels.

I really liked how we tied the neo rationalism into poetry becuase that is how you learn to write poetry, you imitate others. I did it all the time in school. It would be fun to try to have students add art to the poetry by creating an illustration of the poem by using another artist's style.

I also loved making the Jackson Pollock imitations. VERY fun. I would love to be able to get a huge piece of fabric and have my students all be able to dribble and splatter the paint on it to get an idea of what it was like. However, it would have to be a VERY structured activity so the students would not make a mess of themselves. Smocks would be
a wonderful idea.

Prototypes

Imitation

Real Deal