FOUND/RECYCLED ART I. CLASS: 6th grade class 40 minutes. II. TIME NEEDED: 6 Class periods, 40 minutes III. ART HISTORICAL BACKGROUND RELATED TO LESSON: Many artists, especially modern and contemporary artists, create art that is of a conceptual nature, where the process and materials are chiefly to serve an idea behind the piece. Many artists use eco-friendly, recyclable, and appropriated materials in their artwork. Artists like Andy Goldsworthy pioneered what is called “land art” which uses the natural materials of the earth, in their natural environments, to create artwork. Other artists like Ha Schult, a German conceptual artist, uses recycled materials—garbage—to create his sculptures. Schult’s sculptures are often placed in famous landmarks such as the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, and down town New York City. Like Andy Goldsworthy, Schult’s art can be said to occur “in its natural environment” as well, since these are major tourist sites which are often a victim of pollution. But the idea of recycling used materials in art is not a new idea either. A hundred years ago there was an artist name Marcel Duchamp who pioneered the use of found objects in art in what he called “readymades”, and foreshadowed the conceptual art movement. Perhaps his most famous piece is of a urinal that he placed into a public art show, challenging the notions of the time of what can be considered art, and making the point that the idea behind a work of art is just as important as the skill or craftsmanship used to make art. Today, using found objects (readymades) and recycled and appropriated materials has been commonplace in art, and sparks new discussions and viewpoints for conceptual and aesthetic considerations. IV. SUBJECT: The class will hypothesize and experiment with random recycled materials to create a 3D sculptural piece of something—anything—that can be found in nature. By nature, we mean something that is not man-made. So the students will be contrasting the ideas of the man-made with the natural world by creating a piece (mimicking the scientific process) that represents the natural world by using manmade, recycled artifacts (garbage). V. EQUIPMENT / AV MATERIALS: PowerPoint presentation of environmental & found artworks including works by Andy Goldsworthy and Marcel Duchamp, physical reproductions (books) of Andy Goldsworthy’s work as well as dozens of books on cells, plants and animals with photos to be used as references for students to get ideas from. VI. SUPPLIES: For 20 students—masking tape, scissors and newspapers are placed in bins on table in the front of the classroom, glue guns (3 per group table, 15 total) placed on group tables, glue sticks (to be dispersed by teacher as needed) and random recycled materials are placed inside group bins (1 per table, 5 total) placed on the group tables with items including: clear plastic sheets, bottle caps, rubber circles, beads, metal and telephone wires, yarn, strings, green cloth, vinyl records of various sizes, plastic Easter grass, cardboard tubes, egg cartons, popsicle sticks, zippers, wine corks, earrings, metal rings, colored fake feathers, Styrofoam spheres, straws, and various cardboard and plastic cups and containers, and other miscellaneous plastic pieces. VII. OBJECTIVES: Academic Skills: Students will learn about the scientific method by seeing how it applies to creative art-making process—gathering raw materials/data, hypothesizing how the materials/data can be connected to create a work of art/theory, experimenting to see if the hypothesis works, and finally comparing their results with the original hypothesis. They will also learn about art historical figures that have used found objects in their work, as well as art vocabulary terms used to explain and describe their work. Craftsmanship Skills: Students will use drawing tools to plan out potential compositions, and then use those ‘hypotheses’ to construct a 3D sculptural work of art using mixed media materials, including (but not limited to) working with hot glue gun, wire, tape, and string as ways to connect piece together. Cognitive Skills: Show an understanding of the difference between man-made and natural materials, objects, and forms. Higher Cognitive Skills: Consider the conceptual and aesthetic aspects of using recycled materials and garbage as a means to create something ‘beautiful’. Creative Skills: Use random materials to think creatively about how to use them to create a successful work of art VIII. BENCHMARKS AND STANDARDS: A. Ohio Benchmarks and Standards in the Visual Arts: 1PE: Describe how art and design elements and principles are used in artworks to produce certain visual effects and create meaning 6PE: Use observations, life experiences and imagination as sources for visual symbols, images and creative expression 2PR: Experiment with a variety of techniques and working methods when creating an original work of art 3PR: Generate ideas and engage in thoughtful planning when solving a visual art problem 1RE: Explain what makes an object a work of art using a range of criteria Benchmarks and Standards in Other Disciplines: Mathematics: - Patterns, Functions, Algebra: Analyze, represent, and model solutions to problems using representations (e.g. sketches & maquette). - Geometry and Spatial Sense: Students identify and compare characteristics of 2D and 3D elements within art and use spatial reasoning to create a work of art that fits coherently together. Science: - Scientific inquiry: Students will learn how to use the process of inquiry to ask questions, hypothesize, experiment, and analyze their results to find solutions to a problem. - Earth Sciences: Consider the differences between natural objects and manmade artifacts and how recycles materials contribute to an understanding of environment problems and issues. English: - Language Acquisition: Students are introduced to the specialized vocabulary of 3D works and classification i.e. Readymades, found art, land art, and armature, maquette, form IX. LEARNER OUTCOMES: Students will mimic the scientific process by progressing through the standard art-making process, including creating thumbnail sketches of the various ideas (hypotheses) and then experimenting with a variety of tools and materials—including random recycles scraps and materials, glue guns, tape, scissors, etc.—to problem solve and implement their ideas into 3D forms that represent something from the natural world (e.g. plants, animals, planets, etc.). X. SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: Scissors and other sharp recycled materials e.g. aluminum pop cans and metal wires should be used with caution as they can cut or puncture skin if used inappropriately or carelessly. Also, by experimenting with certain materials such as vinyl records where a student might want to break them to create some visual effect, they again should use extremely caution as pieces can go flying around and create sharp edges that can easily cut themselves or other students. Gardening gloves are optional for students that wish to use them to avoid cuts and scrapes from these materials. XI. ALTERNATIVES TO THE LESSON: The lesson is open-ended enough to make especially for the ability to accommodate for all types and levels of learners. For lower achieving students there is the option to create simple forms, where there are fewer elements required to create their shapes e.g. plants or flowers, where only 3 or 4 elements might be required to pull off a successful representation. XII. THEORIES/THEORISTS RELATED TO LESSON: Howard Garner and his Multiple-Intelligence theory will be useful in that there are various aspects of this assignment which require the student to perform various visual, tactile, kinetic, inter and intrapersonal tasks involving cooperation, collaboration and self-reflection. Students will also be encouraged to think of a theme that is personally meaningful to them i.e. create a work that shows a personal connection or significance to the artifact(s) they choose to work with. This utilizes John Dewey’s Constructivist model of starting with the student’s own interests and background knowledge about these common items that they encounter on an everyday basis (but never consider to be art materials). This makes their work of art more personally enriching and meaningful to them by bringing their own experiences to bear on a material they choose to work within. XIII. ACADEMIC LANGUAGE: The students will be hearing and utilizing words such as art vocabulary words as: Organic and geometric shapes, appropriation, found art, mixed media, environmental art, fashioning, fabricate, armature, maquette, and Readymades. Non-art vocabulary term to be aware of are: Natural, Artificial, artifact, environmental, ecology, recycled, and pollution. XIV. PROCEDURE: 1. Introduction: The project will be introduced by showing examples of artists and art work which utilizes natural and recycled material to create works of art, such as Andy Goldsworthy, Ha Schultz, and Marcel Duchamp. A. Motivation – First, I will perform an informal “Creativity test” where I’ll ask students to write down as many uses for a paper clip they can think of in 3 minutes. I will then, by a show of hands, see how many student thought of at least 5, more then 5, more than 8, more than 10, etc. Then I will ask a random student to pull out of their pocket, or somewhere in the art room, a random object, and then set it on a platform on the table in the front of the room to be presented as a “Readymade” art object, and tell the kids that they just created “found art”. B. New and Reviewed Experiences – Students will have familiarity with drawing, from all previous art lessons, cutting with scissors from the previous stencil project, using ruler from the 1st Minecraft project, and using mixed media to create a 3D work of art from the most recent plaster mask project. New experiences will be using an assortment of random household and recycled materials to create some use for them they were never intended to be used for (i.e. making art). More specifically, many students will likely be using glue guns for the first time. 2. Distribution of Materials and Implements: 5 Boxes of recycled materials will be set up for students to come up and browse through and pick their raw materials from. Tables will be called up 1 at a time, consisting of groups of no more than 4 at a time. 1 Helper will be chosen to pass out drawing paper for students to create thumbnail sketches of their ‘hypotheses’. 3. Work Period: Students will be given 5 work days to complete assignment. A. Day 1: Gather materials and begin to hypothesize how they can be fashioned together by creating thumbnail sketches of what they think is do-able. B. Day 2: Students will continue to hypothesize (sketch out ideas) and then physically work out (experiment with) different techniques of how to fashion materials together (i.e. creating small maquettes). C. Day 3: Students should begin creating their final pieces (work day) D. Day 4: Students continue to work on their final pieces (work day) E. Day 5: Student should finish working on fashioning together all their pieces into a coherent whole and be display-ready. This will be the last days students can work on their project. F. Clean Up: Each group will be responsible for collecting and cleaning up their desks and storing their projects, and all materials used in their creation. 4. Teacher-pupil Appraisal of the Art Activity: During the activity I will be walking around to check if each student is making progress and at the end of each session a quick formative assessment will be applied by asking review questions about art vocabulary terms and concepts including art historical questions. XV. TEACHER EVALUATION / AFTER THE LESSON: To be completed… XVI. EVALUATION OF STUDENT WORK: The students will be evaluated on whether they completed all tasks of the assignment— Followed classroom procedures, demonstrated their ability to hypothesize by creating at least 3 thumbnail sketches of different possible ideas, and created a work of art using at least 4 different recycled materials that resemble an object in nature. Assessment of student ability to 1 2 3 complete art activity Follows procedures in order to Not following Following some Following all focus time wisely on project procedures procedures procedures Creates at least 3 thumbnail Does not Draws 1 or 2 Creates all 3 sketches the show student thought create any thumbnail thumbnail sketches about different possibilities for sketches sketches (hypotheses) creating their art piece Creates a work of art the Art work is Has at least 4 Has at least 4 represents something in the not complete elements but elements fashioned ‘natural’ world with at least 4 or or has less doesn’t represent together in a way more different elements than 4 something in the it resembles a elements ‘nature’ ‘natural’ object Possible points: 4.0 4.0 – 3.5 points = A + 3.0 points = A 2.5 – 2.0 points = B 1.5 points = C 1.0 points = D 0 points = F 3.5 – 4 N/A Creates 5 or more thumbnail sketches Creates several pieces and/or environment for their piece