At Home Project for 5th Grade

Joseph Cornell Sculpture Assignment 5^th Grades

Date Due: May 13th 2015

What is it?  A small shoe boxed size box. It is easiest to use a shoebox.  Small cardboard packing boxes would work well also.  If you have access to some lumber scraps, a wooden box would be great too.  Be safe and don’t play around with tools without parent permission and help. Don’t spend money on the materials please.  It should be something that may have been recycled on garbage day.

What goes inside? That is your problem as the artist. - Problem being a good thing.  Art is an invention that no one has seen before.   It is an individual decision.  We are not doing a historical diorama of Batavia architecture, or a science project about dinosaurs.  What goes inside is up to you, but try to be original.  Don't just settle for showing off your favorite sports team, video game, tv show or movie.

Think about the words we’ve used in class:

Juxtaposition-Two things that may have nothing to do with each other, create a new meaning when you compare and contrast them.  What would you think of if you placed a rock next to a glass mirror?

Symbol- Something that stands for something else.  What does a red octagon on the side of the road mean? 

Nostalgia- Wanting to revisit or think of the past.  Example:  In kindergarten we didn’t have to do so much homework.  I miss those days…  I remember when we went on vacation when I was seven, it is such a good memory.

Inference-Coming to a guess or conclusion based on things we know about.  Example.  -My friend has gotten a dark sun tan.  I bet he was outside all day.  –The picture is showing someone smiling with a bunch of balloons around her, I wonder what is making her so happy?  Maybe she had a birthday party! 

Joseph Cornell,  a surrealist sculptor, created boxes in the 30s, 40s, and 50s containing a variety of objects.  Some of the objects were old photographs or illustrations pasted on wood.  Others were thrift store antiques, placed in these boxes gave a new life to these thrown out objects.   What does a bottle cap mean when it is found on the ground?  If we have a collection of bottle caps displayed in a formal respectful manner in a box, the meaning of these pieces of garbage change.   Natural objects were also used in his work.  Remember don’t spend any money on this project, there are many interesting things we can find for free.  Ask permission to borrow other people’s things. 

In class we have talked about the use of Juxtaposition in artwork.  And how the combination of two, perhaps, very random objects can create a whole new meaning when viewed together.  Joseph Cornell’s boxes evoke a sense of nostalgia as well.  In class we have also talked about the meaning of this word, and how sometimes using objects that remind us of the past, can give a piece of sculpture an very important personal meaning.  You have many weeks to collect and rearrange your sculpture.  Feel free to bring it to school to ask for peer and teacher advice!

Henri Rousseau

Second and Fourth graders have just finished their oil pastel drawings, inspired by the work of Henri Rousseau.  He is an interesting artist because he didn't go to art school.  He taught himself painting while working as a customs officer, and only became well known late in his life.  Rousseau's themes usually include jungles, so that is what students at H.C. Storm made too.  The biggest focus was trying to get a sense of Value in our work.  Not monetary value, but light and dark.  Shadows and Highlights were created with just white and black oil pastel, mixing into the under color of every object drawn.

Design in 5th Grade

There are somethings that are universally understood as good design in our culture.  Today we explored some principles called variety, balance, proportion, and rhythm as it may pertain to non-objective paintings.
Students were directed to use a variety of colors, and shapes, but then also to repeat them all over to create rhythm.   Different sizes were used to add proportion, but then everything had to stay balanced by way of even distribution of these elements.  Here are some results from our first class.  While some finished, others did not. We will work again during our next class either creating new paintings or finishing our old ones.

Josef Albers in 4th

  We finished a eye opening unit in color theory, using the artist Josef Albers as inspiration.  Students experimented with colors, developing a sense of color value (lightness or darkness) and the color temperature (warm and cool)  Some students were so excited by their discoveries, that they did some similar paintings at home!

Eric Carle Style Collage

1st and 2nd graders have been enjoying the freedom of this medium.  The simplicity of the paper cut-outs offer a care free art form without being overly technical and potentially intimidating.  The biggest focus on this project was to create something original.  It is easy to glob onto others ideas and copy, so I stressed the need to be secretive with their intellectual property.

Step 1: Create a grid of 4 crayon texture drawings.

Step 2: Paint grid by mixing two colors together with a thin wash.

Step 3:  Cut out and glue to make a unique subject.

Here are some examples from our students...

After School Enrichment

If anyone is in my Claymation class, and need the web address for our videos here it is. http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCasbarian?feature=mhee

5th Grade Shadow Puppet Shows Online

We have begun performing the long awaited Character Counts shadow puppet shows in 5th Grade.  Thank you Mrs. Smith's Class for doing such a wonderful job yesterday.  I've posted your puppet shows on youtube. Today 5J will be performing and these can be seen on the HC Storm Art youtube channel later today here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCasbarian?feature=mhee

Make sure that students view this with parental permission as always.