The Braindead Megaphone

Introduction  In this lesson, we will read George Saunders essay The Braindead Megaphone, and look at a variety of artists who attempt to bring subjects historically ignored by news media to the forefront. 90 minute Block Specialty class (no defined SOLs)

 

Cognitive Objectives   Students will read and discuss George Saunders essay on the current state and role of news media in the United States. Students will analyze a variety of works by political artists on the subjects of the AIDS epidemic, womens rights, consumerism, and gender stereotypes.

Materials and Advanced Preparation   Copies of Saunders essay, The Braindead Megaphone, for each student. Powerpoint on political artists.

Teaching and Learning Sequence

Introduction/ Anticipatory Set (10 minutes)   I will review the concept of culture jamming with students: What is it? What is its purpose? What kinds of things to culture jammers target? I will show students a five minute video. It is from a local news program, reporting on a guerrilla art attack by the Barbie Liberation Organization, or BLO. The group surgically exchanged the voice recordings inside speaking GI Joes and Barbies, and placed them back on store shelves. The video features toy experts who call the ploy an act of terrorism on unsuspecting children. o Is this terrorism? Is the ploy truly an aim at disturbing children? o Is it a successful project? (Consider the fact that their act was reported on) o Why choose Barbies and GI Joes? o Is the BLOs basic premise true? Does the media (on its own) challenge gender stereotypes, or does it merely enforce them? I will explain to students what we will study today: we will read an essay by George Saunders that is critical of contemporary news media, and look at artists and art groups such as the BLO that challenge ideas promoted by the media, and bring issues to the forefront that are ignored in the news.

Lesson Development (75 minutes)    Before commencing, I will get a rough idea of the class media consumption: I will ask how many students regularly watch or read the news. We will read The Braindead Megaphone as a class, stopping at the end of each section. I will ask students to paraphrase each section once we have completed it, to identify his overarching metaphors (for example, a man with a megaphone at a party as the mass medias role in suffocating intelligent discourse). I will stop whenever it seems that a word or phrase is unfamiliar to students (it is fairly complex in diction and tone). Throughout the essay, I will pause to see if students remember events that the article discusses, such as the O.J. Simpson trial, the discussion leading up to the Iraq War, etc. At the close of the essay, I will have students to recall any news stories they have seen recently that illustrate what Saunders describes as the dumbing down of media. I will ask students if they can identify any types of stories that the media might omit and why. Students may state things like o Stories that may be damaging to the news company or its corporate affiliates (primarily advertisers) o Stories that are potentially very touchy for the American public (i.e. things people dont want to think about) o Things that are too complex or dont have any definite answers. I will explain to students that we will look at a few artists who attempt to bring these sorts of stories to the forefront. I will pull up the slideshow on political artists. o Krzysztof Wodiczko  Polish migr to the United States.  Creates public art displays through projection.  Most often involves images of hands and faces.  Brings typically private conversation into the public sphere.  Often has victims and families of victims speaking candidly about their lost loved ones, their communities...  QUOTE: "What are our cities? Are they environments that are trying to say something to us? Are they environments in which we communicate with each other? Or are they perhaps the environments of things that we dont see, of silences, of the voices which we dont, or would rather not, hear. The places of all of those back alleys where perhaps the real public space is, where the experiences of which we should be speaking, where voices that we should be listening to, are hidden in the shadows of monuments and memorials." o Jenny Holzer  American artist known for her use of advertising and news media technology in the creation of political art.

   

 

Primary mode of expression is text, using technologies most often used for advertising and news media  Projected works, billboards, LED Screens  Truisms series: http://mfx.dasburo.com/art/truisms.html o Barbara Kruger  Began in magazine publishing.  Created visually graphic posters and billboards that addressed issues of power and feminism. o Gran Fury  A band of individuals united in anger and dedicated to exploiting the power of art to end the AIDS crisis  Formed in 1988  On Gran Furys method:We are trying to fight for attention as hard as Coca-Cola fights for attention.  GF puts political information into environments where people are unaccustomed to finding it. o AfriCOBRA  African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists  Formed in 1968  Gerald Williams: "We came to the realization that there was not the existence of a consistent, unequivocal, uniquely Black aesthetic in visual arts as there was in other disciplines, notably music and dance  The Wall of Respect  Closure (5 minutes)    I will ask students to recall what kinds of political art we have looked at (what methods, what topics) I will ask how these artists relate to the issues discussed by George Saunders. I will remind students to study for the test, and point them to Schoolspace where two review slideshows have been posted.

Homework  Study for the test. Formative Assessment  I will check students understanding through questions during the reading and lecture.

Summative Assessment  The students will be tested on the material next week

References y y y y Simon Wilson and Jessica Lack, The Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms The Braindead Megaphone, an essay from George Saunders book, The Braindead Megaphone Nina Felshin, But is it Art? The Spirit of Art as Activism Google image search.

Appended Materials y y Slideshow Copies of the essay