DESCRIPTION: Students imagine that they arrive from outerspace and learn about life on earth through art.

OBJECTIVES: Students learn how art can reflect a culture and gain an understanding of the art museum's role in preserving a culture.

PROCEDURE: Art can tell us a great deal about the society in which it was made--what the people look like, how they live and what they do. As art helps us understand a society it can help us to understand ourselves.

Let's see what the artworks here at the Walker Art Center tells us about life on earth in the 20th century. Let's close our eyes. Now imagine that you are from another planet and pretend that your spaceship is about to land on earth, a planet about which you know nothing. As your ship gently touches the ground, you go to a window which slowly opens. As you look through the window of your spaceship all you can see is the work of art in front of you. So this is Earth. What do you see? What are the people like? What can you tell about the way they live? Are there any indications of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, entertainment?

As you look at and think about the images here, do you think that you would like to know the people of this world? Why or why not? What kind of clues tell you about the culture you are examining? Do these images tell you something about the culture as a whole or just quirky parts of it? How does that help you understand the culture as a whole? You now have a decision to make. Will you stay or will you close the window and go to another planet?

VARIATION: Art reflects where/when/who it comes from. For example, we are in Minneapolis, the United States, and we live in the 1990s. So, if you are sending one painting back to your fellow aliens, what other objects would you include with it to help explain not only what the meaning of the artwork is, but also something about its cultural location? (Note: If you use this variation, you need to describe the artwork they are looking at, providing accurate art historical information, to steer them toward factual information about the artist.)

MINNESOTA GRADUATION STANDARDS:
(1) Read, View, Listen
(2) Write and Speak
(3) Literature and the Arts
(5) Inquiry
(7) People and Cultures

Age level: Appropriate for all ages (simplified version for the younger visitors).
Artworks used: Representational paintings or sculptures.
Props needed: No props needed.
Related to Minneapolis Sculpture Garden: No
Notes: You can use any scenario that encourages them to see with fresh eyes. Archaeologists of the future, time travel, aliens from another planet, or people closer to home from Russia, China or Africa.


© 1998 WALKER ART CENTER