P.A.C.E.
The six blind men and the elephant
A Journey through images and words
IV E prof. Elianda Cazzorla
Liceo artistico Modigliani Padova
December 2007
The 52.nd International Art Exibition Venezia
Think with the Senses- Feel with the mind
52 Biennale alle
Corderie:
African tapestry
made with metal
whiskey bottle
tops.
Artist: El Anatsui,
born in Ghana
1944, lives in
Nigeria.
Transformation of
recycled materials in
a tapestry enhanced
by matching colours
and the meticulous
an infinite number of
metal pieces stitched
with copper wire.
52 Biennale at the Gardens
Pavilion of the Northern
European countries:
Finland, Norway, Sveden.
Theme: Welfare – FareWell.
Artist: Lars Lamberg,
Work: “Libertè”, Oslo
The Swede Lars Ramberg,
born in Oslo in 1964, brings
an unusual installation to the
Venice Biennale: three typical
Parisian toilets, each painted
with a colour from the
Tricouleur with one of the
French revolution mottos,
fraternitè, egalitè, libertè.
Inside you can hear the
Marseilleise. The work comes
from the National Museum of
Art, Architecture and Design
in Oslo, where it is actually
used as a public toilet in the
museum courtyard.
Between the two
proposals selected by
the teacher the
students choose the
work from the Northern
European pavilion,
considered an upside
down point of view in
which the three terms at
the basis of modern
democracy are
contained.
Why are they up there?
The work proposes an
unexplored and original
idea of Welfare.
The texts used to support the
critical analysis of the work of art
• Angelo Beolco, Parlamento de Ruzante che iera vegnù de campo,
Scena II e III 1509
• Gino Strada, Pappagalli verdi, pag. 52-53 (foto di guerra e racconto
di guerra)
• Gino Strada, Pappagalli verdi, pag. 66-68 (Bloody Friday: la
memoria nell’album di foto)
• Bertold Brecht, Generale il tuo carro armato è una macchina potente
1945
• J.J Rousseau, Discorso sull’origine della disuguaglianza
sociale1754
• Dichiarazione dei diritti dell’uomo e del Cittadino 1789
• Dichiarazione universale dei diritti umani 1948 approvata
dall’assemblea generale Onu
• Fabrizio de Andrè, Smisurata preghiera, da racconto La sagra di
Magroll- Il gabbiere di Alvaro Mutis, Einaudi 1999
• Gino Strada, I cessi di Oslo, Articolo su Smemoranda 2007• Gianni Rodari, Il cielo è di tutti, Einaudi 1980
In class: Reflecting on “Liberte’” and finding the
relationship with the texts proposed by the teacher
The written test in
class: Individual
reflections
The results
From the texts studied to a new written text,
through the work of art examined
• A short story by Jacopo Ranzato
• Articols by Laura, Luca and Monica.
In the painting class room
The big day:
Monitoring
1. Images and Wisdom
The six men and the elephant
What does the teacher do?
The teacher reads in an expressive way and stimulates
the students’ reflections with guiding questions.
What do the students do?
The students work in small groups comparing ideas,
looking for a meaning for the story. Following the
teacher’s questions which guide the brainstorming,
they elaborate an idea which aims to represent the
meaning of the story.
Main difficulty: compare different ideas and point of
view with other members of the group.