Artists’ books: a journey
(Robyn Dean)
Purpose
The aim of this unit is to encourage students to think creatively about books as communication devices.
Overview
In this 10 week unit, students working in small groups will be introduced to artists’ books. They will create their own artist book of a journey they have undertaken.
Procedure
Prior to the commencement of the unit, teachers need to orientate themselves with the concept of artists’ books. This can be achieved by reading the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) Artists’ books sourcebook (see below) and viewing artists’ books from the State Library of Queensland collections online.
78 kb]Student worksheet:
More resources
Books
- Lester, Alison 2004, Are we there yet? Penguin/Viking, Camberwell, VIC.
- Bodsworth, Nan 1991, A nice walk in the jungle Puffin, Ringwood, VIC.
- Amazing journeys, (series) Heinemann, Chicago, IL.
- True stories: Point non-fiction, (series) Scholastic, New York, NY.
- Morgan, Anna 2001, Handmade books and albums, David & Charles, Devon.
- Wilkinson, Rick 1994, Incredible journeys, adventures into the unknown, Allen and Unwin, St Leonards, NSW.
Website
Assessment
Students are expected to produce an artists' book about a journey they have undertaken. A portfolio containing objects and materials collected for their book’s design and production is to be maintained, showing their initial ideas and notes. At each stage of the design and production process, students are asked to reflect on the decisions they are making about their ideas, materials and the objects and the reason for them. In this process of self-reflection, students are encouraged to analyse their work in terms of:
- the choices they make
- what that led to
- how it could have been done differently
- how it might be improved
Focus is on the cyclical process of reflection, action and analysis by each student in a non-threatening and sharing exercise. The group context will stimulate students to improve their design and thinking. As a group activity, individual students are not formally assessed in this unit.
Last updated: 27th September 2011
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