I have been holding an after school and summer art class for many years now. I currently have four students in a class aged 6 and 9. We chose together that we would like to try out some sculpture. The way it works is we just try out what we are inspired to make, quite like an artist would. Well, I have been very inspired by the artist Tim Hawkinson lately and I thought I would introduce them to some of his work. Also, I thought Cristo tied (no pun intended) into this theme very well. these artists can really unleash the student fantastical side! I started by showing them some video and slide show clips of Tim Hawkinsons work on the website of Art 21- art in the twenty first century. Great site! Definitely worth spending some time on!! Before I could even finish showing them his "Drip" artwork they where physically wiggling trying to get to their seats to start! After seeing some of Cristos earlier wrapped pieces they were calling out ideas of what they could do. I spent some time as we were looking at the works redirecting their questions and turning them back to them. for example, "What is that thing right there?" ...from me, well hum what do you think it is? They were ready with an answer for every turned around question. What and energizing, fun and stimulating activity for us all!
Then we began to draw. They were to do a rough sketch. After that to do a contour like drawing to make sure they had all the details in. We used these as blueprints to discuss a material list. I reminded them of the kinds of materials Hawkinson and Cristo would use.....recycled or easily accessible kinds of materials. Coming up with interesting materials is definitely part of the fun for them. I have an photo of one of the plans. I will post more later so look back for an update!
Mary's plan
Sculpture supplies
Zoe's plan
