Description This unit will introduce art as a form of language by considering intent, perspective, and audience. The unit will tie the idea of art as form of storytelling beginning with ancient Mesoamerican legends, the presence of Mesoamerican cultures in Mexican art, and how this form of (visual) storytelling still exists in urban street art.
(1) Ancient Legends Told by Codices Alphabet vs. pictorial manuscripts
Alphabet vs. pictorial manuscripts e.g. theme of conquest
Visions of Empire: Picturing the Conquest in Colonial Mexico
The Toxcatl Massacre
A Greeting Involving La Malinche
Cortés sealing his alliance with Tlaxcalan lords, from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala
“Las Dos Fridas”
“Allá cuelga mi vestido”
Mural de Rivera con temas indígenas
“Maíz”
Remember the codices?
Art in the Streets of Oaxaca 2006 Teachers Movement (history and context) Urban art in Oaxaca today
The Missing 43 (young men studying to be teachers at the Ayotzinapa teachers’ school; disappeared in September 2014)
Urban Street Art in… Atlanta, Georgia (murals made by Latin American & Spanish artists): jones.com/zambombazo/gustos-y-colores- arte-urbano-en-atlanta/ jones.com/zambombazo/gustos-y-colores- arte-urbano-en-atlanta/ Community of Pilsen in Chicago: Students share murals from their own neighborhoods
Assessments Reflection journal Illustrated codex Written manuscripts using preterit and imperfect
Essential Questions Goals for the assignment that students make codices and written manuscripts: What do you want to share about: Your own history? Your identity? Your daily life? Your community? A global issue that is important to you?