marți, 21 mai 2019






The Visual Arts Issue



• A Matter of Taste 

• The Most Visited Museum in the World 

• Andy’s Pop Art 

• The Popularity of Art 

• The Art Student’s Puzzle 

A Matter of Taste



Conversation & role play activity
Look at the images and discuss the questions below.
·       Are these pieces art?
Compare and contrast. Give your opinion and fundament your views.



Is graffitti art? What about crafts?   
Do you enjoy taking photographs? Do you consider photography an art form?
Do you think of cartoons and comics as art?
Are movies a form of art?
Is fashion design a form of art? What about architecture?

Role play

Role-plays are one of the ways for using English in lifelike situations and practice your conversational skills.  You take on a different role or personality. For example, you may be asked to take on the role of "an angry neighbor" which may be out of character for you.

STEPS:
  • Get together with a partner.
  • Decide who will be A and who will be B.
  • Read your role card and your partner’s.
  • Pay special attention to the language structures/ vocabulary suggested.
  • Start a conversation with your partner based on the situation given.
  • Try to both ask and answer questions so that no one dominates the dialog.
  • Speak as much as possible, and remember to round off the conversation naturally.
  • Finally, exchange role cards and take on the other side of the dialog.
A
You are at a an Art Store with a friend , looking at some prints. Your friend has a taste for Fine Arts and will help you choose the right reproductions for your apartment. You are a young vibrant person who loves  modern things in decoration, architecture, etc.

Suggested language:

This painting is sort of…
I think/ believe/I’m (not) into…
I’m (not) really crazy about…
Do  you think…?
To each his own.
B
You have a taste for Fine Arts. You  are at an Art Store with a friend of yours who needs help to get the right reproduction to decorate his/her apartment. You just found a great print of Michelangelo. Nothing compares to classic art.


Suggested language:

Don’t you think/like/ find…?
…was painted by…
Just look at …
I love/hate…
To each his own.

The Most Visited Museum in the World




Discussion, reading & video activity

  

·        Do you like to visit art museums?
·        Do you visit museums when you go to another city? 
·        Have you ever been to any famous art museums?   
·        Do you have a favorite painting or sculpture?


Video Segment
WorldSiteGuides - Length= 8 minutes

Watch & read the information and facts on the most visited art museum in the world. Say whether the statements below are True or False.

link: http://youtu.be/4wB9WTHaZUo



1.During the 14th century the Louvre was a palace. 
2. Many people consider  Francis I as the founder of the modern Louvre.
3. The construction of the modern Louvre began in 1451.
4. Catherine de Medicis was the mother of Francis' second son.
5. The Tuileries Palace was found in In 1564. 
6. Francis I united the Tuileries with the Louvre.
7.The Tuileries Palace was burned and destroyed during the reign of Napoleon III.
8.In the mid 17th century the Louvre began to serve more as a museum and as a residence for artists.


9. Louis XVI agreed to display part of the royal collection to the public.
10. The museum opened for the public in 1793.
11.The Louvre’s architectural style is Baroque.
12. The museum obtained the majority of the works from donations.
13.Looking at the outside of the Louvre you see some sculptures
14. The most famous piece of art is a painting.
15.Another main feature of the Louvre is its yard.
16.The approximate time someone needs to visit the Louvre is an afternoon.
17. Napoleon Bonaparte was responsible for the grand renovation of the Louvre.
18. More that 15,000 people visit the Louvre every day. 




Reading, research & video activity
Research Reading





Andy Warhol was the star of the Pop Art movement. His "Campbell's Soup Cans" and "Gold Marilyn Monroe" made him famous worldwide, and his studio, known as "The Factory," became a magnet for artists of the 60s counterculture.




Go to www.warhol.org/collection/aboutandy/biography  and find information about Andy related to the terms and names below.

·        Photolithography   
·        Materialism
·        Post-war
·        Carnegie Mellon University
·        New Yorker
·        American Institute
·        Lexington Avenue


Video Segment
Watch the clip and answer the questions below.
Length: 1.55 minutes        LINK: http://youtu.be/fAqvmvrzdsM







1)What is the name of the museum where the exhibition “Andy Warhol, 15 minutes eternal” is shown?

2)How is this museum different from others in terms of the activities it offers?

3)Can you name examples of the different architecture and features at this exhibition?



4)What can children do at this museum? Check the activities mentioned. 

v Assemble an activity box to take home.
v Paint on the walls
v Watch films about Andy Warhol’s life
v Attend a silkscreen workshop
v Wear the original Andy Warhol’s glasses.
v Do manual crafts
v Take some of the paintings home
v Hang your drawing/painting on a creative corner


Did you know?  Andy Warhol himself did an exhibition in 1983 at Bruno Bischofberger gallery in Switzerland, where paintings were displayed at a child's eye level.


The Popularity of Art



Discussion & listening activity
A)Pre-listening:  discuss the question below and give examples or justify your views.


How much artistic success is about the actual quality of the work and how much is just luck or chance?

Good Art Is Popular Because It's Good. Right?
NPR Listening – length:  7.47 min

B)Listening: listen to the National Public Radio interview and say whether the statements below are TRUE or FALSE.



1.The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world because there is something special about the painting. It deserves to be famous.

2.Anybody who visits the Louvre Museum can easily see and appreciate the Mona Lisa.

3.Princeton Professor Matthew Salganik developed an experiment to see how much of success should be attributed to quality.

4.Always people’s attention attracts more attention, until many believe that something is really special, mostly because other people believed so.

5. Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world and it's hard to imagine that something different could have happened.

6.In his experiment with songs Salganik created different environments online where people could choose his prefered songs out of 48.

7.Surprisingly, everybody chose the same song in all different worlds.

8.Not many different things have an impact on success and failure. A huge hit isn't a matter of chance.

9.Chance plays a big role in success in our lives.

10.SALGANIK  thinks that his discoveries helps you understand people and treat them better.

The Art Student’s Puzzle



Vocabulary/Game activity
Use the clues below to complete the crossword puzzle.





ACROSS 
1. A picture of the countryside or a similar sight. 3. A person who poses for an artist. 5. A water-based paint that is translucent. 6. A tool with hair, used to apply paint. 8. A type of balance in which elements are equal in size or shape. 10. A public showing of works of art, or other objects. 11. A form of visual art that commonly uses graphite pencils. 12. A board that a painter holds and mixes pigments on. 14. Something made to enclose a picture. 16. A synthetic paint made from a resin and that dries very fast. 19. Colors that are directly opposite each other e.g., red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple. 22. A tool for organizing colors and representing their relationships. (2 words) 26. A mixture of a pigment and liquid. 28. A technique of creating a work of art by mixing paper, fabrics, string or other materials. 29. A finished work made by a painter. 31. Name for the group of colors formed by red, yellow, and blue. 32. A color with a certain amount of black. 33. A large painting on a wall. 34. A basic drawing used later to create a more detailed work. 35. Any material used by an artist to produce a work of art. 36. The "line" at which the sky and the earth appear to meet. 37. A piece in which only one color is used.

DOWN 
2. Art with no realistic forms from the physical world. 3. A work with great artistic value and done with extraordinary skill. 4. A sheet with a design cut into it to copy shapes. 7. The common name of a color. 9. Art created in the present day. 13. Colors with a high visual temperature like red, orange, and yellow. 14. The element or object in a work of art on which the viewer's attention is focused. (2 words) 15. A picture of someone’s face or upper body. 17. Colors with a low visual temperatures like green, blue, and violet. 18. A painting representing inanimate objects such as bottles, fruit, and flowers. (2 words) 20. An institution devoted to the study and display of objects of interest or value. 21. A painting with a view of the ocean or sea. 22. A piece of white cloth with a structure, used to paint on. 23. The part of a composition that appears to be farthest from the viewer. 24. The area of a picture that appears closest to the viewer. 25. A room or building devoted to the exhibition of works of art. 27. A color with a certain amount of white. 28. The organization of the elements in an art work, following certain principles of design. 
30. Burned wood used for drawing.





The Visual Arts Issue - Solutions



The Most Visited Museum in the World

1.F A royal residence   2.T  3.F 1541   4.F wife of Francis' second son  5.T  6.F Napoleon III   7.F during the reign of the Paris Commune.  8.F In late 17th century  9. F Louis XV  10.T   11. F French Renaissance  12.F From the church
13. T  14.T  15.F the pyramid.  16. F   17. F  Francois Mitterrand  18. F  Around 15.000

Andy’s Pop Art 

1.ArtScience Museum   2.They have activties for children.  3.The exhibition is made for children, the labels and pictures are lower on the wall to meet children’s eyes, the door or entryway is specially for children.
4. Assemble an activity box to take home.
Attend a silkscreen workshop
Do manual crafts
Hang your drawing/paiting on a creative corner


The Popularity of Art

1.F People believe that there’s something special about it.  2.F The room which houses the Mona Lisa is crowded with people holding cameras like paparazzi trying to get a picture of a small rectangle on a wall behind bulletproof glass.       3.T   4.F This is a supposition   5.T  6.T     7.F Different songs become popular in these different histories.   8. F  After you meet a basic standard of quality, chance is the thing.  9.T   10. T

Full Transcript:  http://www.npr.org/2014/02/27/282939233/good-art-is-popular-because-its-good-right


The Art Student’s Puzzle

Across:   1.landscape  3.model  5.watercolor  6.brush  8.symmetry  10.exhibition  11.drawing  12.pallete  14.frame  16.acrylic  19.complementary 22.color wheel  26.paint  28.collage  29.painting  31.Primary  32.shade  33.mural  34.sketch  35.medium  36.horizon  37.monochromatic
 
Down:  2.Abstract  3.masterpiece  4.stencil  7.hue  9.contemporary  13.warm
14.focal point  15.portrait  17.cool  18.still life  20.museum  21.seascape  22.canvas  23.background  24.foreground  25.gallery  27.tint  28.composition
30.charcoal

miercuri, 2 ianuarie 2019

The 4 Ways Sound Affects Us

Julian Treasure    Video Activity TED - 5.40 minutes

 
A fascinating TED lecture about sound and its effects. The speaker Julian Treasure, is a sound expert, author of the book Sound Business, and chairman of The Sound Agency.

Part 1. VOCABULARY Warm up: Match the terms and definitions.

1.soundscape
A. respiration, inhaling and exhaling.
2. brainwaves
B. ability to perceive.
3.physiology
C. a natural or artificial acoustic environment.
4.breathing
D. functions and activity of the body.
5.consciousness
E. electrical impulse originating in brain tissue.


Part 2. Watch the TED lecture clip and say whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.
A) Most of the sound around us is unpleasant, much of it is accidental.
(B) Our relationship with sound is not  conscious.
(C) Sounds sometimes affect hormone secretions, breathing, heart rate and your brainwaves.
(D) Music is the most powerful form of sound that we know that affects our physiological activity.
(E) With practice, you can learn to understand two people talking at once.
(F) People who can't get away from noise find their health damaged.
(G) At present science is used in the design of soundscapes.
(H) Music is the often used inappropriately in commercial sound.
(I) Even if you're listening consciously, you cannot take control of the sound around you.

Part 3. Listen again and find the reference for these numbers as in the example.



4
e.g. “the ways sound is affecting us all the time.”
12

hundreds of thousands

1/3

28

30

1.8

86

5




Answers here!

The Music Issue - Answers



The 4 Ways Sound Affects Us

Part 1.
1.c   2.e   3.d   4.a  5.b

Part 2.
(A) F  “most of the sound around us is accidental,  much of it is unpleasant.” (B)T  (C)F it affects these “all the time”   (D)F it “affects our emotional state”   (E)F “You can't understand two people talking at once”   (F)T   (G)T  (H)T   (I)F “If you're listening consciously, you can take control of the sound around you.”

Part 3
12 = cycles per minute is roughly the frequency of the breathing of a sleeping human.
hundreds of thousands =  years we've learned that when the birds are singing, things are safe. It's when they stop you need to be worried.
1/3 = productivity of workers in open-plan offices, compared to working in quiet rooms.
28 = miles per hour, the speed at which a person listening to techno music will never drive. (Fast, loud music makes you drive faster)
30 = the percentage shops are losing business with people leaving shops due to unpleasant sound.
1.8 = billion times a day, Nokia ringtone is played
86 = percentage you reduce commercial impact when sound is incongruent or has no use.
5 = minutes a day, the lecturer recommends listening to birdsong.