Turning Old Books into Works of Art
Coolidge students in eighth grade get to take two elective classes during the year. One of their art choices is a 3D art course. On the first day of class last week I challenged them to think about what types of materials artists could use to create sculptures. Their first reaction is usually clay and maybe plaster if they have used it before. Then I show them a power point of interesting sculptures made out of unusual materials such as sand, snow, ice, food, and cans. We talk about how really anything can be used to create sculptures if you can manipulate them to have three dimensions.
I then put out several boxes of old books that were going to be recycled. I encouraged them to fold, cut, roll, punch, rip and glue papers together to create some type of sculpture that could be hung vertically on the walls. They had about three class periods to work on their creations.
It’s the first time trying out this project but I’m pretty happy with their results. They all thought about different issues such as repetition, symmetry and design. I’m also really happy that they all took the assignment in their own direction. Some are very abstract while others have elements of realism. As I’m typing this I am overhearing students talking about these projects in the hallway. The general reaction from their peers is “These are cool!”
I then put out several boxes of old books that were going to be recycled. I encouraged them to fold, cut, roll, punch, rip and glue papers together to create some type of sculpture that could be hung vertically on the walls. They had about three class periods to work on their creations.
It’s the first time trying out this project but I’m pretty happy with their results. They all thought about different issues such as repetition, symmetry and design. I’m also really happy that they all took the assignment in their own direction. Some are very abstract while others have elements of realism. As I’m typing this I am overhearing students talking about these projects in the hallway. The general reaction from their peers is “These are cool!”
Decorate Your Life Mask Project
For the last project of the semester students were asked to express themselves through the use of a mask form. Each of them was given a cardboard mask and was encouraged to think of it as a blank canvas. Their assignment was to decorate it in a creative way that expressed at least one aspect about them. Every student had their own ideas of how to approach this project, making each one very unique. Some students showed off different aspects of their personality while others worked with a specific theme based on an interest. Check out the video below to see some of their final creations!
Hand Casting Project
We are starting off the course with quite an exciting project! Each student is being asked to create a cast mold of at least one of their hands to incorporate into a unique sculpture. Everyone seems to have very different ideas about how to approach this and what the theme of their work will be about which is fantastic! Some students are focusing on big issues such as friendship and peace, while others are incorporating personal interests into their work. Once the finished pieces are complete I will upload photos of their work for you to see!
Portrait Sculptures
The objective of this assignment was to develop an understanding and appreciation for an important art form…the face. For this assignment, students were asked to create a sculptural portrait. The subject of the sculpture could have been a person (real or fictional), animal or imaginary creature. Each student started with a foam head shape to use as the base. Newspaper and aluminum foil were then used to create the armature, or skeleton, of the character. Several classes later, they added plaster bandages over the armature and finally applied acrylic paint as the finishing touch!
Check out all of the 3-D art elective portrait sculptures below! FYI...A few of these are still works in progress and not quite finished.
Check out all of the 3-D art elective portrait sculptures below! FYI...A few of these are still works in progress and not quite finished.
Visual Puns in Clay!
Art is a visual language that can communicate words and ideas. This project is about learning how to create a visual metaphor by going beyond a one-sided or literal representation of an idea. It uses humor as inspiration to create an interesting sculpture!
Visual pun: the use of symbols to suggest two or more meanings or different associations of a word. Visual puns often play upon the literal meaning of a word rather than the actual definition. The viewer must then mentally elaborate on the image to interpret the message.
The following images are works in progress. Students have recently finsihed creating the sculptures, but they still have to be fired in the kiln, glazed and then fired again! See if you can guess what some of these puns are!
Visual pun: the use of symbols to suggest two or more meanings or different associations of a word. Visual puns often play upon the literal meaning of a word rather than the actual definition. The viewer must then mentally elaborate on the image to interpret the message.
The following images are works in progress. Students have recently finsihed creating the sculptures, but they still have to be fired in the kiln, glazed and then fired again! See if you can guess what some of these puns are!
