Reflection in the Mirror (LS-HR-360)
Self-portrait before, selfie today
An introduction to the topic is made through a video about the role of self-portraits in the past and the role of selfies today in which students argue their own critical attitude guided by questions. They give an overview of the artist’s work through periods, bearing in mind the aesthetic and social-historical context in which (s)he acted. They adopt the terminology of art in English. They explore self-portraits through the works of painters from different periods and relate them to their own view of themselves. By completing the task of extracting key features of self-portraits and through quizzes, students have the freedom to demonstrate on the one hand the ability to synthesize the essential, and on the other hand to confirm the involvement and monitoring of all activities in online teaching.
Timelessness of an artist
The self-portrait allows the artist’s timelessness to be present in various media, especially with today’s generations who grow up with the Internet and know the possibilities of technology, the ways to use it, and connect it with the presentation of themselves through the art of a certain period. In each of the self-portraits shown, the student draws conclusions about the stages of simplification from flatness to Picasso geometrization. Such changes do not affect the quality of experience of individual personalities.
They evaluate the character traits of the reflection in the mirror by spontaneous experience. Through selfies, they create their own view of themselves that corresponds to one of the researched categories of self-portraits.
Digital tools in the creative process
Everyone at home has time to create one self-portrait in the style of cubism and one selfie in the style of pop art. This way they understand the role of selfies in today’s society. The questions open up a discussion and promote critical thinking. The answers are very helpful because they show how well the students are familiar with the topic. The discussion reveals the peculiarities of using the self as an artistic theme. Students have the opportunity to experiment in compositional variations of the applications offered until they create their own imaginary character. They express their creativity using different applications. They explore the creative process through creative play.
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CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana Collections and provided by the Wellcome Collection.