DAIJ November 21, 2007

No art blog of mine could be complete without a mention of Describe, Analyze, Interpret and Judge.  I think that this four step process or framework might be one of the most important things I can imprint in a student’s brain.  It’s really quite an easy scaffold that can be used to discuss visual arts of all formats (including movies, tv shows, advertisements) as well as literature.  Here is a “cliff notes” version of the process:

Describe – Tell me what do you see.  If students don’t respond you can encourage them to share by breaking the idea down into smaller chunks.  What colors do you see?  What shapes do you see?

Analyze – Tell me how you think the artist made the piece.  This is where you can discuss what medium are used.  How long to you think it took?  What was the process? 

Interpret – Tell me why do you think the artist made this piece.  What is the artist trying to say?  Art is about communication, so what’s being communicated.  For younger students, I will insert a mini art history lesson at this stage.  Art is never created in a vacumm, so for students to understand the why’s of an artist’s piece I think they need to have the history around the piece.  What was going on in the world at that time?  What was going on in the art world at that time.  But this is also a stage where kids should be encouraged to have different interpretations.  OK, maybe a piece doesn’t communicate “that” to me, but it can communicate “that” to you.

Judge – Tell me do you like the piece and why.  This stage has to be supported by evidence.  Opinions can vary but all people have to learn how to support their opinions with evidence.  I also explain that there’s a difference between liking a piece of art and wanting to have it hang in your living room.