Transformers of Space and Material

Transcription

1 Transformers of Space and Material Project Overview After examining the roles of artists in both Aztec society and the contemporary world, students considered their own potential impact as artists, and how they could use their creative ideas to be agents of change in their community. Each student chose a local site for a proposed sculpture to improve that space or communicate an idea. In the creation of these works, students explored a variety of sculptural techniques, using plaster, cardboard, tissue paper, and glue, and also considered the ways in which they could use abstract symbols to represent their views. Essential Question: What is the role of art and artists in society? Artistic Goals: 1. Students will be able to compare and contrast art works from the Aztecs to artwork done by contemporary artists. 2. Students will understand that art can communicate ideas. 3. Through brainstorming, sketching, researching, and experimenting, students will know that artists go through a multi-leveled process before making a work of art. 4. Students will understand that their work can impact a community. Curricular Goals: 1. Students will learn basic mapping skills and will be able to map a certain part of their community. 2. Students will compare the roles of artists in Aztec society to artists in the contemporary United States. 3. Students will understand artists use of visual symbols, and be able to articulate what ideas lie behind the form and placement of their sculptures. National Content Standards Addressed: Visual Arts 5-8.1: Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas. Visual Arts 5-8.3: Choosing and Evaluating a Range of Subject Matter, Symbols and Ideas Students integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their artworks. Visual Arts: 5-8.4: Understanding the Visual Arts in Relation to History and Cultures Students know and compare the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures. Visual Arts: 5-8.5: Reflecting Upon and Assessing the Characteristics and Merits of Their Work and the Work of Others Students describe and compare a variety of individual responses to their own artworks and to artworks from various eras and cultures. Social Studies: World History: NSS-WH.5-12: Era 5: Intensified Hemispheric Interactions, CE Students in grades 5-12 should understand the expansion of states and civilizations in the Americas. Social Studies: Geography: NSS-G.K-12.1: The World in Spatial Terms Understanding how to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective. Understanding how to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.

2 Part 1: Exploring our Community How are artists inspired by their surroundings? Activity 1: Mapping the Neighborhood Students learned about the practice of using a sketchbook by going on a neighborhood walk to record their observations in drawing and writing. After gathering this information, they used sharpie markers and watercolor to create a map highlighting the most important elements they believe are in the neighborhood. Recommended Time: three 45-minute sessions Materials: paper, pencils, sketchbooks, black sharpie markers, watercolors, watercolor paper Activity 2: Snapshots of Surroundings Students used disposable cameras to document two additional neighborhood walks. Students began to imagine a space where they could install a sculpture of their own and how the space would be transformed by the sculpture. Looking over their photographs from the walk, students brainstormed a list of five words to describe their neighborhood. Recommended Time: Three 45-minute sessions Inquiry Artwork: Frank Lloyd Wright, Guggenheim Museum Materials: Disposable cameras, paper, pencils Activity 3: Collage Using the images from their neighborhood walks, students created photomontages inspired by Gordon Matta Clark and other artists. They visually portrayed their neighborhood space using photographs, collage papers, and glue. Through cutting, tearing and arranging their photographs and paper, students created strong representations of their neighborhood allowing them to think about how to contribute to this space. Recommended Time: two 45-minute sessions Inquiry Artwork: Gordon Matta-Clark, Office Baroque Materials: paper, photographs, glue

3 Part 2: Comparing Past and Present How is art a part of communities today? Activity 4: Aztec Artists Students studied the Aztec culture and the importance of art in society. They observed and discussed many works of Aztec art and learned that art played many significant roles during this time. They compared the roles of artists in societies of the past to contemporary artists by contrasting the work of Richard Prince to Aztec works of art. In their sketchbooks, students recorded their observations and comparisons. Part 3: Symbols Recommended Time: two 45-minute sessions Inquiry Artwork: Richard Prince, Untitled (Planter) Dead Warrior Brazier, Aztec Materials: sketchbooks, pencils, images How do artists use symbols to convey ideas? Activity 5: 5 : Brainstorming After reflecting on their observations of their local community, students as a class brainstormed a list of topics of concern to them as fifth graders. They discussed how art can represent societal issues and be communicated to the public. Students chose a topic that was meaningful to him or her, and researched it further to prepare for the building of their sculptures. Recommended Time: one 45-minute session Materials: sketchbooks, pencils, images, flip chart paper, markers Activity 6: Symbolic Shapes Students created a list of words to describe their community and invented a shape to symbolize each of those words. Studying the work of David Smith, they learned about how artists use abstract symbols to communicate an idea, and arranged the shapes to make a collage. Recommended Time: two 45-minute sessions Inquiry Artwork: David Smith, Pillar of Sunday Materials: paper, scissors, glue, pencils

4 Part 4: Creating Sculptures What is my role as an artist in my community? Activity 7: Planning Students chose a topic they wanted their sculpture to convey and wrote about why they chose it. They drew symbols and sketched sculpture ideas in their sketchbooks before experimenting with materials. Recommended Time: one 45-minute session Materials: paper, pencils Activity 8: 8 Materials Exploration In preparation for creating their sculptures, students created smaller practice maquettes. They first constructed armatures with sheets of cardboard held together with tape, and then covered them with wet plaster strips to form stable structures. Students referenced their earlier sketches when making the maquettes to remind themselves of their original plans. They recorded their discoveries in their sketchbooks, observing the characteristics and challenges of materials and how they may be used to create symbols. Recommended Time: four 45-minute sessions Inquiry Artwork: David Smith, Pillar of Sunday Materials: paper, masking tape, wire, cardboard, plaster gauze Activity 9: Final Sculptures Students engaged in a reflection of their maquette and made changes before creating the armatures for their final sculptures. They reproduced their maquette to a larger scale and developed forms that articulated their intention. Students applied plaster to wrap and cover their armatures. Finally, students discussed color choices and chose one or two colors to paint their final sculpture. They observed (evaluated?) their work throughout the art-making process to link their ideas of material and content intentions. Recommended Time: three 45-minute sessions Inquiry Artwork: Martin Puryear, Seer Materials: wire, tape, cardboard, paper, acrylic paint, paintbrushes

5 Student Art and Writing Remembering Student Athletes I am a student athlete, so this is why I chose this topic. When I think about student athletes I think about excelling at basketball, baseball, football, and soccer. Student athletes have a really difficult task of balancing school work with all of the time they need to practice their sport of choice. But in the end I think student athletes are a great role model for young students. I want the young people in the Washington Heights community to be reminded that there are great sports stars and that these stars will inspire others to do great things. My sculpture almost looks like a trophy, or a goal post. I like that it can be many different things depending on who is looking at it. Growing I chose the topic of growth because I am experiencing growing up right now. Growing up is not easy, especially in a city like New York. In Washington Heights there is a lot of crime and sadness and it is often difficult for kids to grow the way they need to. Every day I think about how much we grow as people, whether we are going through puberty, or moving, or going to a new school. The arrows symbolize this idea of growth. They are pointing outward to represent moving and growing out from within. Nature Sculpture I chose this topic because I think nature is beautiful and it feels amazing to be in a garden. I always have been interested in the community gardens that are in my neighborhood of Washington Heights. When we took our neighborhood walks to take photos I always wanted to head towards the garden. I like the smells, the sounds, and the peace and quiet. The green and the trees makes people happy and feel safe. I want the neighborhood to have more spaces like this to feel protected and secure. My sculpture is a reminder to people to respect the trees and the nature that surrounds them.

6 oéëçìêåéj~íéêá~äë Curriculum resources: Mapping: Kids and Teens: School Time: Social Studies: Geography: Maps. DMOZ Open Directory Project, Maps lesson plans for elementary school teachers in grades K 6. ProTeacher!, Aztec art and society: Arts Curriculum Online: The Aztec Empire. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Aztecs - Guide to the Warfare, Rituals and Economics of the Aztecs. About.com Archaeology, Baquedano, Elizabeth. Aztec, Inca & Maya. New York: Knopf, Artist information: David Smith: Arts Curriculum Online: David Smith: A Centennial. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, arts-curriculum-online?viewcategory&id723 Gordon Matta Clark: Gordon Matta-Clark. Artcyclopedia, Martin Puryear: Art 21: Martin Puryear: Biography. PBS.org, Martin Puryear. Moma.org,

7 Sample Inquiry Plans Frank Lloyd Wright The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Photograph by David Heald More images and resources available at: and Inquiry Script: What do you notice? This building is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and it was built in New York s Upper East Side in the late 1950s. Take a few minutes to look at some other images of this neighborhood (see following page). How is the museum similar to or different from the other structures that surround it? How might Frank Lloyd Wright, the museum s architect, have impacted or changed the neighborhood by building the Guggenheim museum there?

8

9 Gordon Matta Clark Office Baroque, 1977 Cibachrome prints, diptych, 20 3/16 x 39 3/4 and 19 11/16 x 39 3/4 inches. Image also available at Inquiry Script: What do you notice? Why do you think the artist might have been interested in this space? The artist, Gordon Matta Clark, made this work of art in two parts: First, he sliced into the walls of an old office building, creating the curved holes you see in the images. Then, he photographed the altered space and arranged his pictures into a photomontage a collage of photographs. Why do you think he created a photomontage instead of just showing individual photographs of the space he altered?

10 Richard Prince Untitled (Tire Planter), 2007 Inquiry Script: What do you notice about this work of art? Look at this image side-by-side with the one on the next page. What is similar about these pieces? What s different? What do you think these two artists might have been inspired by when creating their works of art? The image above is by contemporary artist Richard Prince, who was fascinated by the tire planters he saw on his neighbor s lawns in upstate New York. The other image is an Aztec brazier a container for fire and was made over 500 years ago. If you could ask both of these artists something about the works of art they have created, what would you want to know? Why?

11 Dead warrior brazier Aztec, ca Fired clay and paint p 91 x 76 x 57.5 cm Museo Nacional del Virreinato, INAH Tepotzotlán Photo: Michel Zabé, assistant Enrique Macías Image also available in the Guggenheim s Arts Curriculum Online:

12 David Smith Pillar of Sunday,, 1945 Painted steel, 31 x 16 5/8 x 3 1/2 inches Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington Estate of David Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Image and information also available in the Guggenheim s Arts Curriculum Online: Inquiry Script: What do you notice? What do the shapes in this sculpture remind you of? The name of this work is Pillar of Sunday, and it is believed to be inspired by the artist s memories of Sundays that he spent as a child in his hometown of Paulding, Ohio. What kinds of things do you think he did on those Sundays? What do you see that makes you say that? Does the Sunday represented here seem like a day that you would like to experience? Why or why not?

13 Martin Puryear Seer, Water-based paint on wood and wire, 78 x 51 x 45 inches Image also available at Inquiry Script: What do you notice? What words could you use to describe this sculpture? Think of two or three descriptive words, and write them down on Post-it notes. Share one of your words with the group, and explain why you chose it. The artist, Martin Puryear, chose to title this sculpture Seer. What does that mean? What might he have been thinking about when he made this? After hearing the title, do you have any new ideas for words you could use to describe this piece? Write one more down on another Post-it. In small groups, arrange your Post-its on large pieces of paper to create a collaborative poem about Seer. The structure is up to you, and remember that you can save one or more of the words to be your poem s title. Share the poems with the rest of the group, and compare similarities or differences between poems.