Prepping for a Field Trip
Discussion through works of art encourage how to approach ambiguous and complex ideas, thoughts, and feelings. The MFAH offers a democratic space where students and teachers can develop, practice and articulate these habits of mind. Remember that the quality of the conversation is what is important, not finding the artist’s “answer.” Slow down and take the time to make careful observations. Talk about what you notice, and try to avoid jumping to conclusions and interpretations. Be sure to give enough time for silent looking and thinking.
This Curriculum Connection also includes Frederic Remington, The Call for Help (At Bay) and Pablo Picasso, Woman with a Large Hat.
Work of Art
Houston native Melissa Miller explores the human condition through allegorical landscapes filled animals in the rocky countryside of central Texas. The artist’s daily observation of her local landscape inspires her powerful paintings of imagined scenes. Her narratives resemble the fables of Aesop and Charles Perrault where animals stand in for humans as metaphors for morality and ethics. While Miller’s fables range from lighthearted courtships to mortal struggles between species, the artist ultimately aims to both depicts animal’s interactions in their native environments and her frustrations with her own world.
Although at first glance Miller’s Tapestry appears as an idyllic pastoral scene, upon closer inspection the wild dogs, broken farm equipment, trash, and skeletal remains expose a scene of abandonment and isolation. Through her handling of composition and color, Miller creates an image of despair and neglect that surround that harsh reality of farm life. The animals appear isolated within a landscape dotted with the ruins of farming equipment. Rust and discoloration inform viewers that these once powerful machines are now disregarded and decaying while their sharp points and rough edges emphasis their mincing and dangerous nature. The juxtaposition of the man-made objects within a rural landscape upsets traditional understanding of a landscape painting.
Miller focuses the viewer on this desolate landscape through her lack of a horizon line. In doing so, the artist creates a feeling of isolation by depicting the animals that inhabit the same physical space yet do not interact. Additionally, the cool color palette of greens and blues casts a sense of unease onto the scene. Painted with visibly thick brushstrokes, the blue ground serves as a backdrop for the more realistic images of the animals. Moreover, it takes them out of the ordinary realm of dirt and grass and places them into an unknown space where Miller can comment of issues that are bigger than the everyday actuality of the farm.
Miller showcases her familiarity with the history of art through references to the stacked, vertical composition of medieval tapestries, the cool tones and isolated elements of Giorgio Morandi’s still-lifes and the flatness of Japanese scroll painting. Yet beyond these formal ties to the past, Miller’s deep connection and concern for the native landscape of Central Texas leads the artist to create a painting that speaks to the destruction of the natural environment by the hand of humans. The forgotten relics of machinery acts as reminders of human presence while the barbed wire fence that runs through the lower half of the composition informs viewers this is a marker of someone’s property. The fence with its potentially dangerous barbs places the blame of the destruction of the land onto the human need to own property yet their disregard to maintain and care for the land.
While the artist focuses on Central Texas, this scene of despair could be experienced in many farming communities across the United States. As curator Alison de Lima Greene stated, “In an era when we are becoming increasingly aware of our careless stewardship of this planet, Miller quietly warns us of what is at stake.” Through her allegorical scene that depicts the consequence of human inference with a natural environment, Miller reminder viewers of their responsibly as caretakers for our native surroundings.
Conversation
- What do you notice about this painting? Look closely at the background, middle ground, and foreground.
- Notice the various groups of animals. How would you describe their interactions with each other?
- Describe the location. Can you tell this is a dilapidated farm? What are the signs of this devastation in the painting?
- What types of objects are depicted in ruins? Are these objects typically found in nature or are they man-made?
- Consider how the groups of animals and objects are arranged in the painting. Compare this composition to a traditional landscape that includes a horizon line. How does the exclusion of the horizon line allow viewers to focus on the land itself?
- Compare the blue/green background with the images of the animals. How would this artwork be different if the background was painted realistically?
- What other visual clues are juxtaposed in the artwork? For example, animals are placed within groups but do not interact.
- Explain how the stacked, vertical composition projects a sense of isolation. What other words could describe the tone of this painting?
- How do the sharp points and rusted surfaces of the machinery add to a feeling of unease?
- Notice the blue tones used throughout the work. What associations do we have with the color blue? How would the mood of the painting change if the artist used more red tones?
- What do you think the artist is trying to communicate to the audience with the juxtaposition of the depilated man-made objects placed within the rural landscape?
- How do the contractions in the image add to the feeling of tension?
- What personal connections can you make with this image? Are you reminded of something when you look at it?
- Have you been to a farm or driven by a similar scene? How would it feel to be standing in the middle of this scene?
- While there are no humans depicted in this painting, how does the artist reference human presence?
- Are there bigger issues to explore here? For example, man’s interactions with the land, the loss of small farms through communities.
- How does this painting make a statement about humans’ responsibility as stewards of the land?
- What do you see in this painting?
- What stands out most to you?
- Does anything in this painting seem odd or “not right”?
- Why would the artist use these colors? Are they realistic?
- How would this painting feel different if the colors were bright?
- Where on the map do you think these animals are?
- What relationship do you think these animals have?
- Would you normally see animals like this together?
Subject Matter
Self-confidence and self-discipline are very important qualities to develop before attending a museum field trip. Students must be confident enough to interact with the docents, ask questions, and share what they know to have a richer visit. They also must possess self-discipline since they are in a new setting and will not always have their classroom teachers to lead the discussion. Allowing students to be docents will help them take ownership of the field trip and will ultimately enhance their museum experience.
Assessment
Using art history to prepare for a Museum Field trip, hang printouts of the works of art around your classroom. In front of each artwork, leave a card with questions that will provoke conversations. Divide the students into groups and assigned them to start at one artwork. Students can take turns being a docent (leading a group discussion) and talk for 3-5 minutes. If they ran out of questions, instruct students to try and extend the conversation.
Sample Directions:
- Talk about the art until I tell you to switch
- Follow all the “visiting an art museum rules”
- A new group member will act as docent at each artwork. There are cards at each artwork with questions for the docents to ask.
- You will be graded on participation in the conversations AND on following the art museum rules.
Sample “visiting an art museum rules:”
- Stay 3 feet from the artwork at all times (out of arm’s reach).
- No pointing, unless your hand is 3 feet or more away from the artwork.
- Stay with your group
- Answer the docent’s questions.
- Ask questions.
- Keep your voices low so that only your group can hear you.
- Be respectful of other people’s opinions.
Resources
Resources Available to Order
Check our online collection module for further information.
