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Teachers in the academic subjects are under increasing pressure to prepare students for testing. Consequently, the opportunities for broader learning are becoming more difficult to establish. This unit represents an effort to expose students to a culture that, because of its complexities, should be studied using a variety of approaches. This multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary strategy is invaluable in breaking down misconceptions and stereotyping. Historical and cultural understanding must go beyond facts, figures and dates. By including a variety of cultural and historical perspectives with actual hands-on experiences, this unit hopefully will provide students with the incentive to seek a deeper understanding of cultures beyond their own contexts. Art Teacher, Len Eichler recently returned from a trip to Japan as a recipient of a Fulbright Memorial Fund award. He studied the Japanese K-12 education system and researched Raku tea bowls and the tea ceremony in Kyoto.
Just before the beginning of the reign of the Tokugawa Shoguns (see Tea and Feudal Japan Unit Outline), a warlord named Toyotomi Hideyoshi commanded his tea master, Sen no Rikyu (see History of the Tea Ceremony) to create a new tea bowl. Rikyu commissioned a tile-maker named Chojiro to make these new bowls. Unlike the bowls previously used in tea ceremonies, these bowls embodied the essence of "wabi" a word loosely translated to mean utter simplicity (see History Raku Tea Bowls). The Raku method of forming the bowls by pinching and carving along with the unique method of firing the ware has inspired many American ceramists since the early 1960s. This unit will introduce students to the methods used for forming, glazing and firing their own tea bowls. Students will also be introduced to the Tea Ceremony, "Cha no yu". Although the methods used to make the bowls and the tea ceremony they will participate in are only approximations, students will hopefully have a deeper appreciation and respect for Japanese culture and how it evolved.
The New York State Learning Standards for the Arts lists 4 fundamental goals that serve to guide art curricula, unit and lesson plans for Commencement Level Visual Arts programs. These goals are:
1. Students will make works of art that explore different kinds of subject matter, topics, themes, and metaphors.
2. Students will know and use a variety of visual arts materials, techniques, and processes.
3. Students will reflect on, interpret, and evaluate works of art, using the language of art criticism.
4. Students will explore art and artifacts from various historical periods and world cultures to discover the roles that art plays in the lives of people of a given time and place and to understand how the time and place influences the visual characteristics of art work.
Note: These goals will be identified below in their implementation with the abbreviation NYSLSA 1, 2, 3, or 4.
After Global Studies Teacher, Mark McGuigan introduces the class to the history of feudal Japan through lectures, reading assignments and a film entitled "The Sword and the Chrysanthemum" and English Teacher Carolyn Holmes introduces Japanese literature through readings and the film, "the Seven Samurai", students will be introduced to the history and cultural significance a specific art form, the Raku tea bowl, that was used in the tea ceremony (Cha no yu). After being shown how to form a pinched tea bowl with a carved foot, students will make their own tea bowl. After being shown how to glaze raku-style tea bowls, students will glaze their own bowl, which will be fired outdoors using a raku-style kiln (American version). Students will be shown slide examples of the original tea bowls by Chojiro and examples by later members of the Raku family up until the present 15th generation tea bowl master Raku Kichizaemon.
Seven 40-minute periods over two weeks.
1. Teacher will discuss the origins of tea drinking (see History of Tea Ceremony) and the evolution of the tea bowl in feudal Japan. Teacher will show slide examples and discuss other art forms of the Feudal Period, such as "ukiyo-e" woodblock prints, sumi ink painting and painted screens "byobu". Teacher will also show slides and discuss early types of pottery, such as Jomon and Yayoi and will focus on tea bowls, particularly the History of the Raku Bowl . Teacher will present a 30 minute video on the traditional arts that are still practiced in Japan. NYSLSA #4 (2 periods)
2. Teacher will demonstrate how to form a raku-style tea bowl using pinching and carving methods. Students will form their own tea bowl and will decorate it with carving, incising or impressing techniques. (see Raku Tea Bowl Lesson Plan) NYSLSA #1 (2 periods)
3. Teacher will discuss the mineral composition of glazes and will demonstrate glazing techniques. Students will glaze their tea bowls using a variety of American-style raku-style glazes. NYSLSA #2 (1 period)
4. Teacher will discuss and demonstrate firing tea bowls in American version of raku-style kiln. Students will observe their bowls being fired (about 20-30 min. for each load) and will assist in adding sawdust to trash can reduction chambers before their bowls are removed while red hot from kiln. Students tea bowls will be transferred from kiln to trash can using steel tongs. After 10-15 min. reduction in cans, students' tea bowls will be removed and placed in buckets of water. When students' bowls are cooled down, they will clean bowls with steel wool. Students will be reminded that the firing technique used is an American version of Raku. NYSLSA #2 (1 period) (see Students' Raku-style Tea Bowls).
5. Students will grade their tea bowls and will critique the aesthetic value and craftsmanship of their bowls. NYSLSA #3 (less than 1 period)
6. Teacher will demonstrate making tea in an abbreviated tea ceremony. Students will make tea for their partner using their tea bowls.NYSLSA #4 (see Student Tea Ceremony).
Students will assess and reflect on their finished tea bowls when their bowls are completed. They will use a printed project evaluation form.
