Education Guide: Pre-Kindergarten - 12th Grades
By Martha Savage
Felice Varini's Square with four circles
Introduction
The purpose of this guide is to suggest critical thinking and creative hands-on art
making activities to be carried out in conjunction with your class visit to Felice
Varini’s temporary installation in Temple Plaza, Square with four circles. It is
designed for Pre-kindergarten to 12th grade students of varying experience and
ability. Adapt or re-ideate these activities for your students and follow with a
reflective discussion. The activities are organized by concepts that explore a
variety of ways to experience and understand the site-specific installation. If you
use this guide, we would like to hear about it!
About the artist, Felice Varini
Felice Varini was born in Locarno, Switzerland in 1952 and lives and works in
Paris, France.
He defines himself as an abstract painter, and paints on architectural and urban
spaces, such as buildings, walls and streets. The paintings have by one vantage
point from which the viewer can see the complete painting while from other view
points the viewer will see ‘broken’ fragmented shapes. Varini explains that the
work exists as a whole - with its complete shape as well as the fragments.
While abstract and conceptual, Varini’s three-dimensional wall paintings are also
concrete and material. The viewer experiences them from within; as he/she
moves through the architectural space. New discoveries are made at every step.
Varini uses simple geometric forms: squares, triangles, ellipses, circles,
rectangles, and lines. These forms are usually created in one of the three primary
colors: red, blue or yellow. He justifies his choice of simple geometric shapes and
basic colors by saying “If you draw a circle on a flat canvas it will always look the
same. The drawn circle will retain the flatness of the canvas. This kind of working
is very limiting to me, so I project a circle onto spaces, onto walls or mountain
sides, and then the circle’s shape is altered naturally because the ‘canvas’ is not
flat.”
For more information see: http://www.siteprojects.org
Glossary
1. Abstract art- nonrepresentational
2. Anamorphic art- a distorted image that is revealed from a single vantage
point or mirror reflection.
3. Conceptual art- genre of art in which the idea is dominant
4. Fragment- a piece of something
5. Geometric shape: square, circle
6. Illusion- something appears differently from what it is
7. Site specific installation- art designed to transform how a specific place is
viewed
8. Primary color: red, yellow, blue
9. Vantage point- a viewing position
I
Word and Vantage Point
1. word jumbles- have meaning only when letters are arranged a
specific way. DER OWYLEL ELUB. Sentence jumbles. equal A four has square
sides. Or word-sentence jumbles. aelqu A uorf hsa reqsua dessi.
2. Use words- Write an essay or have a debate. Is Square with four
circles a sculpture or is it a painting, is it a mural? Is Square with four circles two
dimensional or three dimensional? How is Square with four circles best
experienced, in person or in a photograph?
3. Creative writing, accordion folded object. Accordion fold an
oblong paper, progressively increasing the size of the fold on the right side. Write
three letters allowing some of the letters to span a fold. Open! Create a
statement with the exposed letters and letter fragments taking care not to draw or
write on the areas that will be exposed when the paper is re-folded to the original
vantage point.
II
Shadows Play: Shadows play tricks. They are the distorted, manipulated
or weird vantage points of objects.
1.Illusion or actual? Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887–1968) Tu m',
1918. Which shadows are painted and which are real? Take a close look
at the shadows in this painting and decide for yourself. The painting is at
the Yale University Art Gallery.
2.Draw shadows- draw shadows cast on smooth or uneven
surfaces, in Temple Plaza or cast on architectural surfaces. Notice how the
shadows differ depending on the surface.
3. Play around with hand shadows or shadow puppets.
4. Create a folded paper sculpture that has an interesting shadow.
See shadow sculptures-Shigeo Fukuda
http://www.designer-daily.com/remarkable-shadow-art-405
Photograph, video or draw your sculpture and its shadow. Do the same with
other objects and shadows.
III
Shape & Color
1. Where are the circles and squares in the architecture of Temple
Plaza? Other places?
2. Find red, yellow and blue in the urban environment.
3.Superimpose circles and squares in photos of the urban
environment or other places, by collage or digitally.
IV
Fragment
1.Exploded objects. Explore an object by taking it apart and
thoughtfully, or randomly arrange the pieces. How has the object
changed? How hasn’t it changed?
2. Create a series of abstract pictures of parts of Square with four
circles by framing/cropping spaces.
3. Create a collage of cut circles and squares, reassembled or not,
or uncut circles and squares.
5. Create a puzzle of a circle or square or from a photograph of
Square with four circles.
6. Create an accordion book of drawings hidden behind shape
fragments.
V
Storytelling
1.Create a video essay or music video about Square with four
circles.
2. Create a photo essay about Square with four circles.
3. Create an audio walk. Walk through Square with four circles and
read from a planned script or make a spontaneous narration. Include a map of
your walk.
4. Record interviews on site.
5. Create a series of drawings of a walk through Square with four
circles .
VI Anamorphosis
http://anamorphicart.wordpress.com
VII
Everyday Life
1.
Find examples of anamorphic words, images and symbols
outside, especially connected with traffic and document you
findings.