Analyzing and Creating Art

• Explain what the title “More Than One Story” means and why that meaning is important.
• Analyze artwork created by Ghulam Mohammed, this year’s Jameel Prize winner.
• Create your own art work and explain how different works of art create different meanings and different feelings.

• What do you notice first about the pieces?
• What do you like about them? What do you not like?
• How would you describe the art to someone you were telling about the article in Aramco World?

• Why do you think the artist chose to cut up Urdu texts and use the letters to create his work?
• What does knowing what the art is made of mean to you when you view the art and want to understand it?

Making Art to Better Understand Art

Another way to analyze and understand art is to try making your own. Try a modified version of Gulam Mohammed’s method. Start by choosing a document that you will cut up to make a picture. What document do you choose? Why is it significant to you? For example, is it a document you particularly like, or maybe one you want to cut up because you don’t like it?
Make a photocopy of the document. (For the purposes of this activity, you don’t need to cut up an original!) You might decide to copy the document at its actual size, or you might decide that you don’t want to work in miniature as Mohammed did, and make the document larger. Cut out letters from the document. (Most likely you will need to use a razor blade or another tool that allow for the delicate cuts you need in order to cut out individual letters.) Then paste the letters onto a sheet of paper. You don’t need to make your own paper, but think about what kind of paper you want to use—thick or sheer? a neutral color or something more noticeable? As you make each decision, pay attention to what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling about your choices.

“More Than One Story” says that Ghulam Mohammed embellished his work with gold and silver leaf. You don’t have to do that (unless you happen to have some gold or silver leaf!) but think about whether you want to embellish your work. If so, what do you want to use? Why? What effect do you want to create? What does it mean to you? You might, for example, decide to use crayons, because your letters come from a book that was a favorite of yours when you were younger, and because crayons were what you used then.  

When you’ve finished your piece, write a paragraph explaining your creative choices, what you were trying to create and what the art work means. Display your work alongside the work of your classmates, and view each other’s pieces. Notice the ways they are like yours. And pay particular attention to the ways they are different from yours—because despite the fact that you all followed the same instructions, each artist interpreted those instructions differently and each piece meant something different to its creator.