Saturday, March 26, 2016

Week #9: Sculpture Project (Found Object & Economic Material)

Over the last couple of weeks we spent a lot of our time discussing and experimenting with sculpture lessons that would be appropriate for the high school art classroom.  Apparently I forgot to blog about the first of these discussions, and I would like to write a little about it now.

Two weeks ago we talked about sculpture materials and projects that are of little or no cost to the teacher and school.  These projects revolve around found objects and cheap, possibly disposable, material.  Paper, cardboard, tape, found objects, trash (including phone books, newspaper, boxes, tubes, etc.) are all great examples of these kinds of materials.  In particular we discussed a project where students are meant to create one hundred forms out of paper and use them to build a sculpture, a project where students take trash or discarded objects disassemble them and rebuild them artistically, a project where students use rolled pages torn out of phone books to create forms, and (much to my amazement) a project where students use tape and plastic wrap to create molds that become hollow sculptural forms.

Below are some examples from class:

Paper multiples sculpture: 100 Pieces of Paper

Found objects/Trash sculpture: Trash Undone


Tape sculptures

Phone book paper sculpture: Paper Tubes
We experimented with this technique in class
Below are a few examples of our own attempts:










If I were going to teach a sculpture lesson with a tight budget I would have the students create found object sculptures.  The lesson would be similar to the paper project and trash project above in that I would ask students to find a large number of discarded, forgotten, or thrown away objects and use them to create nonrepresentational sculptures.  The requirements would be that the objects used in the sculpture are related in some way whether it be conceptually, in their use, in their usual location, or in their form, and that the students would have to use at least 20 objects or pieces of objects at least in the final artwork.  For example, they could take a broken television disassemble it into at least 20 pieces and reassemble it somehow, or they could get 20 discarded action figures or dolls and connect or arrange them into a form.  I would not have a size requirement for the project, because that would allow students to use large or small objects as they like.  I would be sure to discuss the concepts of positive and negative space in conjunction with this project, as well as the meanings we associate with particular objects. As a result, I would introduce the concepts of symbolism and association.  I would also include references to artists in the lesson, particularly Duchamp and his found objects or “readymades” because of their role as the first works of their nature.


Below are a few examples of artworks similar to this project found on the web:

(Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/447756387925183667/) 

(Retrieved from: http://foxborough.k12.ma.us/fhs/departments/visual-arts/galleries/scholastic-art-awards/scholastic-art-awards-gallery-2009/)

(Retrieved from: https://kirstenwechslberger.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/found-object-sculpture-workshop-for-children-and-adults/)

(Retrieved from: https://kirstenwechslberger.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/found-object-sculpture-workshop-for-children-and-adults/)

(Retrieved from: https://kirstenwechslberger.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/found-object-sculpture-workshop-for-children-and-adults/)

(Retrieved from: http://www.edon.k12.oh.us/olc/page.aspx?id=15519&s=93)

(Retrieved from: https://kirstenwechslberger.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/found-object-sculpture-workshop-for-children-and-adults/)

(Retrieved from:https://www.pinterest.com/pin/559994534885363106/)

(Retrieved from: http://www.junk-culture.com/2013_11_01_archive.html)

(Retrieved from: http://artistharlan.tumblr.com/post/64621539983/billye-marie-found-object-sculpture-old-wooden)

(Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/drmngtree/art-projects-for-kids-classes/)

No comments:

Post a Comment