Visual Piece |
Artist Statement
For my project, I chose to study the recent undertakings of the Jefferson County School Board to review their schools’ curricula. Though they’re taking this action for seemingly moral reasons, like a desire for more patriotic teachings and an aversion to unlawfulness, I argue in my op-ed that their suggested curriculum revisions are actually immoral because they’d relegate student and teacher liberties and would contribute to an uneducated, conformist society.
My poster depicts a boy, blindfolded by the American flag, walking amidst flaming debris. In my op-ed I stressed that kids are shaped by the education they receive, so they will always somewhat perceive the world from the perspectives they studied in school. Thus, the blindfold symbolizes how the boy’s worldview is obstructed by the sometimes falsely-based nationalistic values he’d learn under the proposed curriculum changes. He’s walking through an almost war zone-like setting to show that there has been turmoil and atrocity in our country’s history, and that, more often than not, we’ve caused it. So to be blind to that, only to enter a world that knows otherwise, would put him at a tremendous disadvantage.
For rhetorical appeal, my poster integrated pathos (emotion) and ethos (credibility). Pathos is present in the depiction of the boy being subjected to imminent danger. Most people are morally opposed to harming children, and this objection can be used to sway the audience to the side I’m arguing. Ethos is introduced with the Howard Zinn quote. Since Howard Zinn is a respected historian, quoting him is more rhetorically impactful than, for instance, quoting a classmate. Having credible quoted material contributes to the collective credibility of my art piece.
Overall, the tone of my poster is fairly sinister. This is due to the cruelty and severity of the image, as well as the implication that to revise the curriculum would be to treat the students identically to the many oppressed groups in our history: unequally and untruthfully. This thought isn’t a pleasant one, and therefore contributes to the ominous atmosphere present in my poster.
By separating the boy, flag, and quote from the rest of my poster using shadowing and perspective, I was able to offset and emphasize them. I chose to do this simply because I wanted to distinguish them from a background that utilized a similar color scheme. Also, I wanted to make these aspects of my poster sharper and more three-dimensional so they would look a little more real, and my audience could consider that while the impacts of the the curriculum changes wouldn’t necessarily be tangible, they’d still be real and significant.
I’m pretty proud of my poster. Since I’m not the most artistically-oriented person, I put a lot of effort into seeking out critique and advice. Originally, my plan was to gel transfer my background onto canvas and paint over it. I was unfamiliar with the process of gel transferring, so to ensure my actual project would work I went through two test runs to try out different techniques. Even though this didn’t work out and I had to resort to my backup Photoshop document, I’m still happy with how it turned out because I persevered through the difficulties brought on by the art piece. I’m also proud of the way I represent my issue because outside of school, education isn’t as much of a stressed topic for a lot of people, so I wanted to bring the Jefferson County School Board issue some urgency and significance to people who don’t think they’d be affected by it. I think I succeeded in doing this.
My poster depicts a boy, blindfolded by the American flag, walking amidst flaming debris. In my op-ed I stressed that kids are shaped by the education they receive, so they will always somewhat perceive the world from the perspectives they studied in school. Thus, the blindfold symbolizes how the boy’s worldview is obstructed by the sometimes falsely-based nationalistic values he’d learn under the proposed curriculum changes. He’s walking through an almost war zone-like setting to show that there has been turmoil and atrocity in our country’s history, and that, more often than not, we’ve caused it. So to be blind to that, only to enter a world that knows otherwise, would put him at a tremendous disadvantage.
For rhetorical appeal, my poster integrated pathos (emotion) and ethos (credibility). Pathos is present in the depiction of the boy being subjected to imminent danger. Most people are morally opposed to harming children, and this objection can be used to sway the audience to the side I’m arguing. Ethos is introduced with the Howard Zinn quote. Since Howard Zinn is a respected historian, quoting him is more rhetorically impactful than, for instance, quoting a classmate. Having credible quoted material contributes to the collective credibility of my art piece.
Overall, the tone of my poster is fairly sinister. This is due to the cruelty and severity of the image, as well as the implication that to revise the curriculum would be to treat the students identically to the many oppressed groups in our history: unequally and untruthfully. This thought isn’t a pleasant one, and therefore contributes to the ominous atmosphere present in my poster.
By separating the boy, flag, and quote from the rest of my poster using shadowing and perspective, I was able to offset and emphasize them. I chose to do this simply because I wanted to distinguish them from a background that utilized a similar color scheme. Also, I wanted to make these aspects of my poster sharper and more three-dimensional so they would look a little more real, and my audience could consider that while the impacts of the the curriculum changes wouldn’t necessarily be tangible, they’d still be real and significant.
I’m pretty proud of my poster. Since I’m not the most artistically-oriented person, I put a lot of effort into seeking out critique and advice. Originally, my plan was to gel transfer my background onto canvas and paint over it. I was unfamiliar with the process of gel transferring, so to ensure my actual project would work I went through two test runs to try out different techniques. Even though this didn’t work out and I had to resort to my backup Photoshop document, I’m still happy with how it turned out because I persevered through the difficulties brought on by the art piece. I’m also proud of the way I represent my issue because outside of school, education isn’t as much of a stressed topic for a lot of people, so I wanted to bring the Jefferson County School Board issue some urgency and significance to people who don’t think they’d be affected by it. I think I succeeded in doing this.