Thinking Outside of the Box
Using Objects for Art Inspiration
Ideas from notes produced at
MADNet Training Day 25th March
Object : Victorian whisk
 Look closely at the whisk design and patterns on it and just focus on
reproducing these patterns
 Use ICT to find other objects with similar patterns on
 Use the whisk or one similar to mix up paint or marble ink
 Draw the person who would have used the whisk or the room it would
have been used in
 Use a viewfinder to focus on a part of it at a time or reveal a part of it at
a time to work out what it is.
 Make a giant sculpture of one use different materials
 Physically create the object using the children as the parts moving
together
 Take it apart using photos of the different part and assemble it in a
different way to create a new object.
 Kitchen orchestra using the whisk and other kitchen implements to
make music
 Take rubbings of different parts
 Use the words – patent – what would be their special object- ICT
research in patent
 Link to cake decorating and food photography
 Use a drawn image of the whisk and other kitchen implements to
create wallpaper designs similar to popular designs used in 50s
Object : Butter Pats
 Rubbings of the surfaces
 Dairy Treen Designs
 Make own butter pats from different materials and see which works
best
 Wrappings and advertisements for butter – look at and create own
 Who would have used them – draw them and their surroundings
 Storytelling of the life of the butter pats and how they were used on a
story board. How has butter making changed over time?
Object : Egyptian Mirror
 What would you do with the object – bin, recycle, keep? What is it?
 Design your own mirror – look at designs of this time and modernise to
fit in with today. Egyptians used inspiration from environment for
designs so what would they be like today?
 Complete the mirror – what would the handle look like/ Research
designs of this time. What would it be made of/ which is the best
material to use? Lotus flower designs
 Enquiry – What is a it made of? Who used it? How old is it?


Mirrors now and then their use and values, compare designs. ICT
research
Dress up and role play the person using it and people of this time.
Create the clothing, houses food.
Object : Tudor Tile/ Brick
 Cultural value linked to narrative of the tile – Why is some art valuable?
What are the different kinds of value on objects? Vandalism of the
original building – should it have happened? Re-using art objects to
create something else
 Naturalistic and organic forms used in art as motifs – link to artists such
as William Morris
 Vandalism / Graffiti of art – Banksy, Carl Andre, Michael Landy
 History coming from art objects
 What should be kept/valued/allowed. Who decides?
 Looking at the colours of brick – different reds, colour mixing, firing,
glazes. How the colour makes us feel.