Can you tell which sports these represent? Heather's students did all sorts of sports - three shown here.

Heather's unit began with a study of the work of Frank Stella. See this interactive site for kids.

Frank Stella Jarama II
http://www.nga.gov/kids/stella/stella1.htm

Also see: Making Sense of Modern Art: Frank Stella 
http://www.sfmoma.org/stella/index.html 

The lesson came from this "Activity from the Online Presentation":

Select an activity such as bicycling, skiing, dancing, or playing ball, and list:
1) the objects or equipment used for this activity
2) the sounds related to the activity
3) the movement or speed of the activity
4) the feelings you have when you watch or do this activity; do you feel excited, scared, powerful, peaceful, happy?

Think of how you can express all these ideas with shapes, colors, and art materials, such as paper and cardboard. Review how Frank Stella created the excitement, speed, and noise of a racetrack with curved shapes and bold colors in Jarama II, then plan and create your mysterious work of art. Can
your friends guess the activity you had in mind?

More on Frank Stella   http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/stella_frank.html

Materials:

Newsprint, pencils, corrugated cardboard, utility knives, X-acto knives, scissors, tempera or acrylic paint, brushes. Optional: sports magazines

Description of Project from Heather Leal

I used Frank Stella Jarama II  as the launching point for an abstract art assignment using sports as theme and cardboard.

We made large cardboard reliefs using the idea of motion involved in various sports. The students worked in pairs or threes and each group chose a sport. We brainstormed together to get as many different sports as possible, and while I didn't say absolutely no, I encouraged each group to choose a different sport.

Next, the groups brainstormed all the different things involved with their sport- equipment, # of players, field or place, how the game is played etc- everything they could think of. Then we talked specifically about the movement and motion involved in all the aspects of their sport. What the player does- how they move, how the ball or equipment moves- directions of throws or passes etc. tackles, dives, spins, falls, kicks, jumps, whatever is in their sport- and to really think about the things that make their sport unique. They made clusters of their ideas, and did sketches- there was a lot of getting up and trying out the movements to see what it really looked like at this point - very cool. Then they had to draw shapes that showed the path of the motions they had figured out. Trace the line the ball traveled sort of thing. How do you draw the path of the movement of feet running?  what does the movement in a tackle look like? - lots of thinking happened.

They took all their shapes drawn on newsprint then, cut them out and began playing with arrangements together. They had to have at least 6 shapes in their final piece.

Shapes were cut from corrugated cardboard. I had to help with a lot since I just wasn't comfortable with them using X-actos. These were 6th graders (7th and 8th should be able to handle cutting on their own)

The pieces were painted with tempera, using color schemes that represented the sport. (not sure how many really thought about that - but they sure enjoyed using lots of color!) See what they did with the leftovers!

The pieces were then glued together and hung. Each group had to title their work and write an artist's statement explaining the work. A rubric was used for the students to score their own work before I used
the same rubric to grade them.

Note from Judy Decker: Use this narrative to write your own formal lesson plan. What was really neat, is Heather had the students use their scraps to make one large "installation" that went down the hallway...It was really wonderful! - at least ten feet long. It might be really fun to have some of this work be a Macquette for a larger wood piece for your school. Select a section of the larger installation - or combine some of the best sports relief works and have a parent cut the shapes out of plywood (larger - but to scale)....Students paint - then assemble for a permanent wall sculpture somewhere in your building. The students are still the "artists" - the parent is the craftsman - just following the ideas of the kids. Frank Stella did not cut his own pieces for his relief sculptures - he painted them. The pieces were cut to his specifications. Less permanent would be Dow Styrofoam....but easier to cut. Foam core would be an alternate material to use.

	Scrap Relief Installation  From Heather: We had so many cool scraps and shapes left after making our sports abstractions that I had each student use one of their scraps and glue it together with the others. We hung our scrap relief on the wall outside the classroom. It was about 10 feet long and maybe 3.5 feet high. It is one of my favorite collaborative things we have done
Submitted by Debbie Nichols, Texas High School Styrofoam Relief My students have used the Styrofoam insulation sheets with great success especially since these were donated.  We did have a problem with stability.  This year we are using foam core and these are working better. The students must first build a frame with 1 X 2.  For many of the students it is their first experience with a miter saw.  We join the pieces with strips of metal from a piece of corrugated metal.
Frank Stella for inspiration from Patty Knott:  In the past few years I have deviated from the DBAE model on historical lessons. Since I can not bear any "in the style of " lessons, but SO value the contributions of the great artists, this is where I have spent much of my thinking and planning. When I do history or periods or individual artists, I ask the students to evaluate the subject matter/content, relate the content to social/ technological influences of the time period and ask why? Why did the artist make the choices? If I want to relate a particular artist to a technique, I focus the investigation on the the materials and the use of the materials and the whys? and the how the artist made choices to inform the mark making. The invention and the originality comes from all the possibilities within the parameters. For instance, yesterday I gave an assignment.: (this is abbreviated) What shape is your family? -- cardboard relief sculpture. Assign a simple shape to each member of your family what shape? what texture? what sound? what color? Arrange the shapes in front and back positions. Where do you fit? How will you arrange the shapes to create depth? How will shadows influence? make patterns and construct a plan for a relief (of course I gave some background on what a relief is) The first question was "can you give an example?" NO , I said. They got to work on the shapes, but putting it together was a problem. Today I talked about Frank Stella. (Stella is far from what was in my mind for the project, but Stella is what I thought might provoke some thinking.) We looked at Stella's work but I emphasized that I did not expect any Stella look-a-likes. I'm amazed at what happened immediately. Apparently they didn't get the idea of a "relief" but seeing Stella put them into all directions. I have all kinds of sketch plans and none look like Stella. Three boys got together and asked if they could do something "really big?" They are working with my studio lights trying to devise abstract shapes that when illuminated will project a recognizable shadow. The shadow will become the art. I'm so impressed with their thinking. One girl went on the computer, drew her shapes into Painter and started playing with the pattern tools. Her original shapes were very thoughtful ---- her computer manipulations are incredible ... one of my worst ADD boys told me his family is just a circle that becomes a square and he is morphing that image and I may try to get him to do it in Flash..... another student is planning a video installation. By the end of the period, I was so impressed with their thinking -- I offered a challenge - Give me a great cardboard model and I will beg borrow and steal to get sheet metal to realize your plans into permanent reliefs for the walls of our new building. They are so excited and this all came from a simple "What shape is your family?"

Additional Resources for Shaped Paintings

Elizabeth Murray http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/murray_elizabeth.html
links to her work:
http://artscenecal.com/ArticlesFile/Archive/Articles1997/Articles0297/EMurray.html

Jack Reilly http://www.jackreilly.com/painting/paintings.html  Individual shaped-canvases are arranged in stacked multiple layers and utilize various painting methods ranging from traditional oils to highly textured .

Steve Draeger Wall sculptures. All three-dimensional wall sculptures are precisely constructed of different varieties of wood, canvas, and painted with acrylic paints.

Submitted by Jeanie Ritter, Harborfields High School, in Greenlawn, NY
UNIT: Sculpture
Lesson: Cardboard Relief  Sculpture
Grade Level: Middle school through high school     

duration approx. 2 weeks

 Aim:  Students will be able to define, design, and create a non-objective relief sculpture in cardboard and paper.

Motivation:  The class will discuss various artists, included on the handout provided to inspire the designs.  Previous student examples may also be shown.

Materials:  paper, pencils, scissors, x-actos, cardboard, oak tag, paper, construction paper, handouts, glue, glue guns. Nevelson handout, Vocabulary handout

Objectives:  Students will be able to:

• discuss the handout on relief sculpture, and related artists.

• define relief sculpture, non-objective, composition, and balance

• create thumbnail sketches for a design in cardboard.

• decide which areas of the design will be built up and which will not.

• implement the techniques for working with cardboard and paper demonstrated.

• express their drawn image three dimensionally in cardboard creating 3 height levels.

• limit their color of paper to 3 colors, black and white.

• self-critique the completed sculpture.

Direct Instruction: The teacher should provide handouts on artists such as Louise Nevelson and Joan Miro’ the highlighted artist to be looked at for inspiration.  Define relief sculpture, non-objective design and show examples. The teacher should discuss the various techniques that can be used, and the criteria for judging the success of the completed piece.

Criteria for Assessment:

1.      Design/Composition

2.      Use of material

3.      Level of  success in the application of color

4.      Effort/Craftsmanship

See attached handout for self-critique.

Standards:  1-4

Vocabulary Handout

Cardboard Relief Sculpture Vocabulary

Sculpture: can be defined as a three-dimensional object, a volumetric form possessing measurable height, width, and depth and occupying real space.

Such works may be carved, modeled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, and relief, and made in a huge variety of media.

Freestanding: works are to be viewed in the round from a continuously changing vantage point to witness how the form evolves.

Relief Sculpture:  Sculptural surface, which is not freestanding but projects from a background of which it is a part.  High relief or Low relief describes the amount of the projection (that is how much it comes off the surface) The play of light on and across the surfaces can be incorporated in the work to accentuate forms and textures.

Bas Relief:  (bah ree-leef)  A low, partially round sculpture that emerges from a flat panel.

construction - A term referring to a sculpture made by joining together various components of various materials or of the same substance.

maquette - (pr. ma-kett')A small sculpture made as a preparatory study or model for a full scale work.

negative space - Empty space in an artwork, a void.

nonobjective art - Artworks having no recognizable subject matter (not recognizable as such things as houses, trees, people, etc.) Also known as non-representational art.

scoring - To make scratches or crease a material 

repetition - Closely related to harmony, a principle of design, this term refers to a way of combining elements of art so that the same elements are used over and over again. Thus, a certain color or shape might be used several times in the same picture. Repetition also can contribute to movement and rhythm in a work of art.

rhythm - A visual tempo or beat. The principle of design that refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to produce the look and feel of movement. It is often achieved through the careful placement of repeated components which invite the viewer's eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the next.

Vocabulary Quiz:

Name_______________________                                                                  Date__________

Sculpture Vocabulary Quiz

_________________can be defined as a three-dimensional object, a volumetric form possessing measurable height, width, and depth and occupying real space.

_________________works are to be viewed in the round from a continuously changing vantage point to witness how the form evolves.

_________________ is a Sculptural surface, which is not freestanding but projects from a background of which it is a part. 

_________________is a low, partially round sculpture that emerges from a flat panel.

_________________is a term referring to a sculpture made by joining together various components of various materials or of the same substance.

_________________ is a small sculpture made as a preparatory study or model for a full scale work.

_________________ is Empty space in an artwork, a void.

_________________are Artworks having no recognizable subject matter (not recognizable as such things as houses, trees, people, etc.) Also known as non-representational art.

_________________ means to make scratches or crease a material 

_________________ this term refers to a way of combining elements of art so that the same elements are used over and over again. Thus, a certain color or shape might be used several times in the same picture.

________________  is a visual tempo or beat. The principle of design that refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to produce the look and feel of movement.

Student Handout:

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988)

Born in Russia, (September 23, 1899), Nevelson emigrated to America with her family in 1905. Although primarily a sculptor, she also studied drawing, singing, and drama after settling in New York in 1920. Later she studied at the Art Students League, as well as in Europe and Mexico. An exhibition of African masks and sculptures on display in Paris in 1931 greatly influenced her and proved to be an important source of inspiration for her later works. Prior to the 1950’s, Nevelson worked in stone, wood and terra cotta. In the 1950’s she became the first artist to use discarded materials to create large-scale works, utilizing scrap wood to create sculptures. This approach made her reputation. Nevelson’s "Mirror-Shadow XXIX" is made of wood painted on black, her favorite color, and representing neutrality. Louise Nevelson is most famous for her environmentally unique walls of stacked boxes. Which were created in the late 1940's and through out her career. Each box contains a wood relief construction which highlights her ability for geometric abstraction. This was a phenomenon in the New York Art scene in the fifties because only painters like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko were producing large scale work. Nevelson created a landscape of walls and columns to walk through. She was building an empire. A personal one which deeply expressed the intent of her work.

“I think most artists create out of despair. The very nature of creation is not a performing glory on the outside, it's a painful, difficult search within.”

Quote by Louise Nevelson

Assessment:

Name                                                                                                              Per#_______   

Cardboard Relief Sculpture Self-Evaluation

1.      Define a relief sculpture. 

2.     Describe in your own words the objective of this assignment.

3.     Which artists did we study for inspiration before beginning this sculpture?

4.     Define composition in terms of art/design.

5.  One of the requirements on the assignment was to choose a maximum of three colors, black and white.  Which colors did you choose and why?

6.  In preparation for this sculpture we reviewed the principles of design (refer to the handout in your binder) explain which of those principles most relate to your sculpture.

7.     How closely did your sculpture reflect your original plan/sketch.  Explain.

8.     What sculpture, besides your own, interests you the most?  Explain why?

Circle the # from 1-10 that best describes how your sculpture meets this criteria 1 being the lowest 10 being the highest.

                                                           low                                                  high

Design/Composition                         1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Craftsmanship                                    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Construction Quality                           1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Originality                                            1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Level of Complexity                           1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Planning                                              1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Color Scheme Requirements            1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

3 Level Requirement                           1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Effort                                                     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Overall Evaluation                               1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10 

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