Composing the Masterpiece
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Bento Box Painting
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For the first assignment, students will create images that represent their values and experiences and display these on a personal bento box. These images will then act as a storyboard to inform the writing of their college essay.
In the first Bento Box painting the images come from the students fining source images on the internet, magazines or their own photographs. They must come from source images so their work doesn’t look like stick figures. On my painting top left to right: Dibenkorn model, Rolled Gold, Tape Cassette (Beatles), Hot Wheels, $20 chip, cloud, lollypop, severed finger with my grandmother’s ring, my old swiss army knife, can opener, toothpick, 3 pink doughnuts, a hotdog with yellow mustard, knife and an egg, Italian flower delivery truck and half a time released capsule. |
Click here to see student work.
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Students created images that represent their values and experiences and display these on a personal bento box. These images will then act as a storyboard to inform the writing of their college essay. This book contains their images and writing.
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Haruki Murakami Inspired Paintings
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Click image to enlarge
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Click here to see student work.
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This project combines the beauty and imagination of Hikaru Murakami’s Japanese magical realist writing with the art of Joaquin Torres-Garcia Bento Box style of painting. There are intersections and similarities between these two artist. The students will paint and write their way in and out of these two mediums. Students will immerse themselves into the intensely visual world of Murakami and his contemporaries. The descriptions of extraordinary visuals that pepper his writing defines his craft. The students will emulate his craft by writing, drawing, and painting stories of their own creation that delve into a social issue of their choice.
After the students read a Murakami text (or other Magical Realist), they will make Bento Box paintings of the imagery. Then the gallery walk of ideas begins. All the students will look, question, and appropriate images and ideas from each other’s work or possibly glean an original image from something that inspired them. These collections of images and ideas are the fuel for their magical realism short story about a social issue of their choosing.
In both the writing and the art, students will be assessed and will adjust their work according to critique. First, we will hook them with doing and then use critique from peers and teachers to improve the work. They will be evaluated according to this iterative process.
The students will self-publish their writing and images in a class book using Blurb. The book and the website will exist forever, and the exhibition of the work will be at the corporate San Diego headquarters of City National Bank and at Birdrock Coffee Roasters in Little Italy.
After the students read a Murakami text (or other Magical Realist), they will make Bento Box paintings of the imagery. Then the gallery walk of ideas begins. All the students will look, question, and appropriate images and ideas from each other’s work or possibly glean an original image from something that inspired them. These collections of images and ideas are the fuel for their magical realism short story about a social issue of their choosing.
In both the writing and the art, students will be assessed and will adjust their work according to critique. First, we will hook them with doing and then use critique from peers and teachers to improve the work. They will be evaluated according to this iterative process.
The students will self-publish their writing and images in a class book using Blurb. The book and the website will exist forever, and the exhibition of the work will be at the corporate San Diego headquarters of City National Bank and at Birdrock Coffee Roasters in Little Italy.
Magical Realism Choice Books → [list subject to change]
Kafka on the Shore by Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Murakami
Norwegian Wood by Murakami
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
Beloved by Toni Morrison [challenge book]
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov [challenge book]
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Dia
Kafka on the Shore by Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Murakami
Norwegian Wood by Murakami
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
Beloved by Toni Morrison [challenge book]
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov [challenge book]
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Dia