Submitted by:
Larry Prescott, Madison Middle School, Rexburg, Idaho
Unit: Environmental art - Sculpture - Technology
Lesson: Natural Collaboration: Building With the Five Elements of Art
Grade Level: 7th Grade (middle school)
Objective:
Students will assemble found
natural objects into an arrangement emphasizing one or more of the 5
elements of art and decide upon the best view of their work to be
photograhed.
Goals:
-
Students will be able to identify the five
elements of art in visual work i.e. line, shape, value, texture, and
value.
-
Students will defend/discuss their constructions
using the five elements of art.
-
Students
will discover relationships between the environment and their creation
i.e. light and setting.
-
Students will use Photoshop to enhance the visual
elements in their work.
See
more examples on Larry's Web site
Materials:
Andy Goldsworthy slide presentation (Internet
Resources)
Collection of natural objects
Digital Camera
Photoshop (Available from the Adobe Education Store
)
Student work slide presentation
Procedures:
Day 1: View the work of Andy Goldsworthy.
(teacher-made slide presentation). Discuss his work in terms of the 5
elements of art. Students
will be able to identify the elements in his work and order the elements
in terms of visual importance.
Day 2: Walk to the community arboretum to look for
interesting natural objects. Discuss
possibilities and gather items (bring favorite stones, shells, bones etc
from home if desired).
Day 3: Begin assemblage of art. Experiment and gather more items from the school ground.
Students arrange items and make sketches of most successful compositions.
You might want to put a tarp/drop cloth (secured with stakes) over the
area where students are working over night.
Day 4: Refine ideas. Complete construction.
Photograph work.
Day 5: Work with the digital image in Photoshop.
Manipulate the color and values to enhance the visual image.
Day 6: View slides of student work (teacher made
presentation). Evaluate each work in terms of the 5 art elements.
Evaluation:
Students will write one paragraph addressing the
following points:
Note from Larry: I wish I had recorded a few of their
comments. Many were very
insightful…learning did take place!
This was a fun project that the majority of the kids thoroughly
enjoyed.
Extension:
Have students do a "focus down" drawing of
all or part of their "installation" (lay a cardboard frame over
the work to find an interesting part - photograph that part up close to
capture details) - Draw from photograph observing carefully the details.
Students could begin drawings outside if time permits. Paint focus down
drawing with watercolors - or render with colored pencils. See Focus
Down Drawing lesson . Use circular, square or rectangular format. See nature
paintings by George Dombek for a contemporary artist.
Internet Resources:
Earth
Works -Putting Art Together for the Sake of the Earth Online
Project by Craig Roland
Andy
Goldsworthy Online (Artcyclopedia)
Center
for Global Environmental Education - Andy Goldsworthy
21st
Century British Sculpture -Andy Goldsworthy | Andy
Goldsworthy Portfolio
What
is Art? What is an Artist? Photograph by Andy Goldsworthy - additional
links provided
Nature
and Nature: Andy Goldsworthy - video clip Roland Collection
Book: Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature
- Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy uses a seemingly infinite array of purely natural materials, from snow and ice to leaves, stone, and twigs in the creation of his one-of-a-kind sculptures. Goldsworthy's approach is to interrupt, shape, or in some other way temporarily alter or work with nature to produce his fragile, mutable pieces.
DVD: Andy Goldsworthy - Rivers and Tides
- A Scottish-German 2001 documentary about artist Goldsworthy, a Scotsman whose medium is nature itself and whose preferred studio is the outdoors, particularly where water forever flows, rises, and/or retreats. Read the review.
http://www.metmuseum.org/
| http://www.art-word.com/goldsworthy/goldsworthy.page3.htm |
http://www.the-artists.org/
Also see Lucien
den Arend Environments and Landscape Projects
Earthworks
- links Robert Smithson
