Art and Culture Center of Hollywood Distance Learning Integrated Art Lesson Title: Description and Overall Focus: Length of Lesson Grade Range Objective(s) Materials: PLEASE NOTE: Some materials must be acquired prior to this lesson. Page 5 contains 1 set of images and instructions. You may reprint page 5 as many times as you need. Introductory activity Core activity Closure activity Optical Illusion: Creating a Mathematical Tessellation This project will allow students to learn how to create illusory optical effects by combining patterns of like geometric shapes (tessellations) resulting in art that tricks the eye. 45 minutes Elementary School Students will learn about the art of Maurits Cornelius Escher (1898-1972), a predecessor to the Op Art movement, as well as Bridget Riley of the Op Art movement. Students then will learn how to use geometric shapes to create a tessellation a visual art piece that appears to feature a three-dimensional, mathematical construction. Teacher Supplies: Parallelogram Graph & Color Legend 1 printed per student Student Supplies: 8 ½ X 11 sheet of black construction paper Crayons/colored pencils: Light Yellow, Dark Yellow and Orange Glue (stick glue recommended) scissors Students will begin by learning about the art of M.C. Escher and its relationship to the Op art movement. Students will be shown some examples of his most famous work and work by Op Artist, Bridget Riley. Students will also learn about methods in which the artist can trick the eye to see impossible constructions where there are none. This will be accomplished through the placement of color within shapes on the page to create a tessellation. Students will begin by following the Color Legend directions to begin to develop the tessellation. The parallelogram graph will be filled-in with color patterns in order to achieve the optical illusion of a 3-D construction from nature. Students will complete their creations making sure that the parallelogram graphs are completely filled in order by color. Several students will then share their completed pictures with the rest of their classmates. 1 of 5
Assessment Teacher follow-up idea Student follow-up idea Book/Web references Students will have learned about the history and works of art of M.C. Escher and Bridget Riley. They will also have learned the application of tonal gradation in geometric shapes to help achieve a 3-D illusion. Concepts of geometry were reinforced (parallelogram, hexagon, square, triangle) as well as Mathematical terminology (pattern, tessellation, regular, irregular, symmetry, polygon, etc.). The classroom teacher can use the books and websites below to present more of the information surrounding the subsequent Op Art movement and artists such as Victor Vasarely. Students can continue to make optical illusions, based on M.C. Escher s work using tessellations or they may even try to draw the Penrose Tribar (impossible triangle). The Ultimate Book of Optical Illusions by Al Seckel www.mcescher.com www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-artists/bridget-riley www.wikihow.com Art and Culture Center of Hollywood www.artandculturecenter.org Lesson plan prepared by Traci Petersen, MFA Parallelogram Tessellation Penrose Tribar Illusion 2 of 5
Tessellation is the process of creating a two-dimensional plane using the repetition of a geometric shape with no overlaps and no gaps to create a pattern. Generalizations to higher dimensions are also possible. Tessellations frequently appeared in the art of M. C. Escher, who was inspired by studying use of symmetry in tile art. Tessellations are seen throughout art history, from ancient architecture to modern art, as in the Op Art movement of the 1960s. A honeycomb is an example of a natural tessellated structure. Maurits Cornelis (M.C.) Escher (1898-1972) is one of the world's most famous graphic artists. His art is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. Bridget Riley, Cataract 3, 1967. M.C Escher s work also strongly influenced the Modern art movement called Op Art, or optical art. Bridget Riley is an English painter who is one of the most well-known artists of Op Art. Riley s work mostly consists of black and white art created by using repeated geometric shapes, or tessellations. She currently lives and works in London, Cornwall, and France. Much of her art work evolved into optical art showing the illusion of movement. It s fun and simple to create your own tessellations, or optical illusion-style art. Just choose a shape and repeat it in a pattern that goes from left to right, up and down, turning and changing the shape s colors as you go! He was quite famous for his transformation prints, and he played with architecture, perspective and impossible spaces. 3 of 5
Tessellations from www.mathisfun.com A regular tessellation is a pattern made by repeating a regular polygon. To be a regular polygon all the sides and angles must be the same. There are only 3 regular tessellations: Triangles 3.3.3.3.3.3 Squares 4.4.4.4 Hexagons 6.6.6 4 of 5
Color Legend: Color all spaces following the guide. A= Light Yellow B= Dark Yellow C= Orange Cut out the Bee. 5 of 5