An artwork when seen in close-up but resistant in long-shot

An artwork when seen in close-up but resistant in long-shot

* ​Guerrilla art


The journals below include:
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  In other words, it is an exercise in which everything in the room is turned upside down to bring new ideas and inspiration to students. Novelty initiatives like this often break down prejudice, spark innovation, and help realize constructive interests and values for everyone. “(“We turned your world upside down, contemporary Art Practice in the High school classroom and spaces beyond, by Jack Watson.”)


 In this sense, the role of a social movement in artistic activities can be defined as follows.


 “The continuity of social movements in the arts and their ability to adapt to the ever-changing boundaries of public space has led educators and theorists in art education to promote the potential for social and critical engagement in public space art-making (Darts, 2004 ; Lacy, 1995; Pinder). , 2005; Richardson, 2010; Thompson, 2004).”


 Guerrilla art is meaningful in that art is not just beauty, self-expression, or community activity, but contributes to changing the world by inciting social and political movements through it. I remembered that Picasso boldly painted historical and political paintings like Gueronica and said that a painting is a political document.


 For generations, traditional arts education has, for a variety of reasons, favored a formalist approach that promotes media manipulation and craftsmanship while ignoring content and practices relevant to students' lives (Gude, 2000). Therefore, it has nothing to do with the lives of the masses and has turned its back on numerous conflicts and problems in reality, focusing only on the technical and aesthetic aspects, so art has gradually lost its power and has become distant from reality. With this in mind, Guerrilla Art, as the journal notes, enables students to develop higher-level critical thinking skills that go beyond traditional art projects and typical academic experiences through discussion, brainstorming, strategizing action, and ultimately creating meaningful projects.


 In this understanding, I was able to discover the role, effect and importance of guerrilla art. So I came up with guerrilla art for children in Myanmar. It is a class titled ‘An artwork when seen in close-up but resistant in long-shot’.

 This idea was suggested earlier by one of my students, Joyce, and we put it into practice together in class.

 One person first sketches on a piece of paper. After that, divide the paper into 3 equal parts at regular intervals. It is then distributed to each student. Color in the sketch in your own style and imagination without time limits. You cannot see each other's progress and must not discuss while drawing. Then, when the coloring is complete, put the pictures together like a puzzle. Below is a picture drawn in different styles, but it turned out to be a beautiful picture.

 Below is a picture of a different season, coincidentally matched. This painting was drawn by Olivia, Joyce and me.

First, divide the paper into regular intervals as shown below. As these papers get bigger, there will be more and more papers that can be distributed to children.

 And then, as shown below, draw a three-finger signal that means Myanmar's democratization movement and resistance.

  This finger signal is the act of raising the three fingers of the right hand, the index, middle, and ring fingers, and raising them above the head. This gesture appears in the movie 'The Hunger Games: Panem's Flame' (2012). In this film, the citizens of the dictatorship country 'Panem' spread three fingers as a sign of resistance to power. It is a personnel law against totalitarianism. People see these three fingers as meaning freedom, election, democracy, or the French Revolution's freedom, equality, and fraternity.

However, I am also from Korea and went through the military dictatorship, so I know very well that children can be in danger if they do this officially. So, I thought of a way in which the dictatorial powers could not be aware of it, but these pictures could be gathered and become a symbol of resistance that could show a big sign like SOS sign on the isolated beach.

 In order to do that, we first need to disassemble the picture of this finger symbol along the corresponding lines. It's like spy codes.

Then distribute them to each child activist and have them paint a picture in their color. The process of painting cannot be seen or discussed with each other.

Then, when they are all drawn, put them back together like a puzzle in their original state as shown below. The more activists and the smaller the picture is divided, the greater the excitement and pleasure of guessing.
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   In the end, people will see the picture as a political document in which countless hopes and resistances of each person come together to create a huge symbol. This is the guerrilla art I devised for Myanmar children. Through this class, we hope that students will rise to the challenge and know that their courage has been rewarded.