Issuu

Sticks & Stones TEACHERâ€™S BOOK

EXPLORE

DOCUMENT & PHOTOGRAPH

DRAW

PAINT

Sticks & Stones

Copyright 2017 by Hoopla Education Pte Ltd, 8 Wilkie Road, #03-01 Wilkie Edge, 228095 Singapore www.hooplaeducation.com â€¢ info@hooplaeducation.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without prior written authorization.

Sticks & Stones TEACHERâ€™S BOOK Curated by Contemporary Artist

Paul Frank Wagner

The invisible is real Walter de Maria

INTRODUCT ION

MATERIA LS

Art is everywhere. You don’t have to be an artist to teach art. Every child is an artist and you can find great inspiration from anywhere, especially nature. This study outlines the ground-breaking concepts, ideas and techniques that are found in Land Art and other major art movements of the 21st century through activities to be run with children ages 3yrs+. Teach children to use their imagination using natural materials such as stones, and empower them to create a world of possibilities available to them at any moment of the day, without the use of the latest action figures!

Sticks & Stones makes use of nature’s loose parts: stones, sticks and leaves as well as mud to explore sculpture and painting. Children are naturally drawn to these materials and focusing their attention on raw materials, that have not yet been manipulated by man, is fundamental. Children will learn that art can be done with anything, anywhere, and with a simple intervention, material can be transformed to convey a lot of meaning.

The goal for Sticks & Stones is for children to produce aesthetic works of art that they will be proud to share, beautifully documented with the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio. In addition, the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio makes a beautiful keepsake children will enjoy looking back on in the years to come. My goal as a Contemporary Artist is to entrust teachers to talk knowledgably about Contemporary Art and inspire a new generation of artists to use innovative techniques to express themselves beyond the confines of figurative art. Sticks & Stones removes your budget constraints whilst taking children’s art to the next level.

Everyone has access to natural materials. Go on a walk to the park and pick up some leaves, look on the ground for some stones. You’ll be surprised by how much nature has to offer you to use in the classroom. In addition to sticks and stones, you will also need pencils, crayons, colored markers, children’s paint, paint brushes and containers to finish certain projects from time to time. Teachers will need a camera or smartphone all the time to document the children’s works!

Enjoy!

P R O C E SS One of the reasons that Contemporary Art lends itself so beautifully to young children, is that oftentimes it is more concerned with the process than the final output. Sticks & Stones follows a very simple process: 1. Explore – children are invited to spend ample time exploring matter and its properties, shape and form. Once children are familiar with the object, then we move onto providing specialized techniques. This process is identified with the magnifying lense icon. 2. Create – Sticks & Stones makes use of basic art techniques from drawing, coloring, painting to printing, in addition to more technical methods and procedures such as installations, layering and sculpture. These processes are identified with the draw, print, paint icons. 3. Document – The documentation process is fundamental in all Hoopla curricula and in Sticks & Stones can be identified with the camera icon. Here the teacher or children document their work by taking a picture of the final output when related to sculpture work or creating their work directly on their portfolio.

TH E ENVIR ON MEN T Nature is not ours to take and abuse of, we are its custodians for a brief period of time, borrowing it for the next generation to come. When creating art using natural materials, be respectful not to impact negatively on the environment, being mindful to teach respect and preservation of nature. Create with minimum impact, allow for future use of the outdoors by leaving it in a better condition than you found it, this is of utmost importance. Don’t forget to bring back the stones that you collected for this study where you found them, once you’ve finished this module. Do not leave rubbish on the ground whilst collecting your natural materials. When children see a beautiful flower, encourage them to observe the flower, bend down and smell it without having to pluck it from the ground so that others can enjoy it when you’re gone. Thanks! A RTIS T ICA LLY S PEAKI N G

In addition to geometric form, we explore the principals of engineering by balancing sticks, wood blocks, geometric shapes, and building spirals as we create minimalist works of art. Conceptual Art Conceptual Art is art in which the idea or concept presented by the artist is considered more important than the finished product, if any such exists. Some works of Conceptual Art, sometimes called installations, may be constructed by anyone, simply by following a set of written instructions.

Most activities in Sticks & Stones were inspired by one or multiple major art movement(s) and/or major artist’s work. Sometimes it combines art movements in a unique exploration of matter. Our goal is to familiarize teachers with these movements and define them so you can feel comfortable conveying the basic concepts to children and parents whilst being confident to apply new and exciting techniques in the classroom. This information is contained within the activity goal in each activity.

Conceptual Art gives children the artistic freedom to go beyond an aesthetic presentation of their work, allowing them to focus on their ideas rather than on making their work “look good”. Children learn to see art beyond an aesthetic, visual context or experience, and can also play an important role in engaging the community. Conceptual Art is addressed in Sticks & Stones primarily through the example of the social project run in Greece, see Lesson 20.

Below is a list of the main art movements that inspired the study of Sticks & Stones.

A RTISTS

Land Art Land Art is an art form that is created in nature using natural materials such as soil rock, stones, boulders, logs, leaves and water. Land Art was mainly inspired by Conceptual Art but also by Cubism and Minimalism and typically, is site specific. Sticks & Stones is primarily a Land Art project. Arte Povera Teachers often feel they are limited in their creative explorations due to budget constraints. In fact, this was an issue highlighted by one of the most important art movements of the 1960s called Arte Povera or “poor art” that grouped the work of a dozen Italian artists whose most distinctly recognizable trait was their use of everyday materials such as earth, rocks, clothing, paper and rope. Just like the artists from the Arte Povera movement, we want to empower you to use everyday materials – mainly natural – to do art and not feel limited by your budgets to facilitate beautiful works of art in your kids. American Minimalist Movement Minimalism emerged as a movement in New York in the 1960s, its leading figures created objects which blurred the boundaries between painting and sculpture, and were characterized by unitary, geometric forms and industrial materials.

Minimalism works so well for kids because it exposes something essential like natural shapes and forms, which are already naturally aesthetic. You can see this in nature with the honeycomb, which combines rows of hexagons together in a beautifully regular geometric shape. Another such example are the Fibonacci spirals that are found in nature – from pinecones to sunflowers. In fact, Minimalism combines a sense of form and geometry which is also an essential skill to develop for math, music and science.

Below is a list of masterful conceptual artists who used natural materials that you should familiarize yourself with. Richard Long (Born June 2, 1945) Richard Long is an English sculptor and one of the best known British land artists. Long is the only artist to have been short-listed four times for the Turner Prize. He was nominated in 1984, 1987 and 1988, and then won the award in 1989 for White Water Line. He currently lives and works in Bristol, the city in which he was born. His work heavily inspired Sticks & Stones because of the way he presents stones and mud drawings with geometric circles and lines. There is a real poetry in seeing his stone circles in nature. Deborah Kay Butterfield (Born May 7, 1949) Deborah Kay Butterfield is an American sculptor. Along with her artisthusband John Buck, she divides her time between a farm in Bozeman, Montana and studio space in Hawaii. She is known for her sculptures of horses made from found objects, like metal, and especially pieces of wood. Walter de Maria (October 1, 1935 – July 25, 2013) Walter Joseph De Maria was an American artist, sculptor, illustrator and composer, who lived and worked in New York City. Walter de Maria’s artistic practice is connected with Minimal Art, Conceptual Art, and Land Art of the 1960s. His work successfully represents a concept like distance and bringing that into a visual context, such as what he did with the broken kilometer, which is composed of 500 polished brass rods measuring 2 meters. The rods are presented in 5 rows of 100 rods each. A great way for kids and adults to visualize distance (see photo on opposite page).

Walter de Maria, The Broken Kilometer, 1979. ÂŠ The Estate of Walter de Maria. Photo: Jon Abbott Coutesy Dia Art Foundation, New York

Week 1 - Lesson 1

Circl e to St o ne s Time 30-45 minutes Materials Stones, approx. 40, 10 per group Picture taking devise Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio Activity Goal The goal of this activity is for children to learn collaboration whilst exploring stones as a material, doing a relatively simple task. Children also work on developing their visual spatial skills and learn about their “personal space”. In this activity, children are creating an installation and sculpture by putting the stones on a plane, linking it back to Richard Long’s famous work of art, where in 1972 he positioned his stones on the floor creating three circles, each one inside the other – see Three Circles of Stones in Hayward London, 1972. In addition to running this activity in smaller groups as outlined below, encourage the entire class to act in one group or splitting the group into 3, each group being responsible for their own ring.

Social Emotional It’s important that this activity be done as a group because one of the main goals of this activity is to teach children to share materials and space together developing the collaborative skills to communicate how to create a circle as a group. Instructions 3yrs+ • Take the stones and put them on the table in front of you • Allow the children to manipulate and experiment with the stones • Ask questions such as: “What does your stone feel like?” “What do they look like?” “Do you see a shape of an animal when looking at your stones?” • Group the children into 4-5 per group • Tell the children that they will work together to create the largest possible circle. • Once the group is satisfied with their circle, document their circle by taking a photograph the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio. Teacher’s Note Children ages 5 and under may find it difficult to create a perfect circle as they haven’t refined their visual spatial awareness yet. Have the children keep working on their circles until they are round. Oftentimes, one child will take the lead to create the circle, however facilitate group work as much as possible.

Week 2 – Lesson 2

Th e In vi s i bl e L i ne Time 30-45 minutes Materials Stones, 10 per group. Stones should be a variety of color and sizes but roughly the same shapes Picture taking devise Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio Activity Goal The goal with this activity is to create a straight row of stones. For children ages 5 and above, they will also learn how to sort by color, size and/or both. Have the whole class contour a corner of your classroom with three rows of stones, just as Richard Long did in “A Line of 682 Stones” at the British Pavilion XXXVII Venice Biennale in 1976. Children are making an installation and sculpture by placing the stones in a row on a flat surface. In addition to creating two rows of stones, children also explore the invisible line in the middle. Remember the famous quote that “in art 1+1=3”? This activity illustrates it beautifully with the rows of stones, the third line being between the two rows of stones. Social Emotional These first group activities serve the purpose to reinforce children’s ability to share materials and implement a common goal as well as learn to share their personal space.

3yrs+ • Notice how the line tends to wibble-wobble from one side to the next. Have the children repeat the activity, this time making two parallel lines. The second row of stones helps to straighten the lines or at least one of them. • Ask the children how many lines they see. Point out the “invisible” line in the middle, between the two rows of stones. 5yrs+ • For children ages 5yrs +, ask the children to separate the large stones from the smaller stones and re-build the line from small stones to larger stones. • Other sorting ideas include alternating light and dark stones or going from light to dark/ dark to light. • Once they’ve created their line of stones, ask them what it looks like. Document their answers below: Class _______ [Date] _____________ [answers] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Class _______ [Date] _____________ [answers] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Class _______ [Date] _____________ [answers] ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Instructions • This activity is to be done on table(s) tops by putting them together so children can be seated on either side of the tables. Alternatively, you can run this activity on the floor if you have enough uncluttered space. • If children are working on tables, distribute half the children on either side of the table, so that each child is facing another child. Every group of four children will be responsible for a “portion of the line”. If they are working on the floor, then you will need to sit half the children facing each other so they can easily work in sections. • Once you’ve set up your classroom, take the stones and place them in front of the children • Tell the children that they are going to create a straight line using the stones. It might help to ask them to visualize building a very long snake in a straight line.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------• When the children are satisfied with their rows of stones, take a picture of the children’s work and add it to The Invisible Line of Stones of the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio. Teacher’s Note When building the two lines you can use a ruler or a piece of paper as a guide to help them build their “straight” parallel lines, however only use this as a guide once they’ve done the activity at least once on their own. Repeat the activity as needed.

Week 3 – Lesson 3

Sto n e P ro pe r t i e s Time 30-40 minutes Materials Stones, 2 per child Pen or pencil, 1 per child Picture taking devise Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio Activity Goal The goal for this activity is to explore the property of stones and extend children’s vocabulary in the process. In the previous two activities, children have warmed up with the group and are feeling more confident in using stones as a material to do art with. Here we will learn that in order to more fully explore the properties of one stone, having a second stone to compare it to, will help define it even further, just as with ourselves.

Step 2 • Now ask the children to choose a second stone and have them compare the properties of each stone against the other • You can also ask them to compare the patterns of two stones on the portfolio • Ask questions such as: “Which stone is: » heavier/ lighter » lighter/darker » colder/ warmer » Smoother/more rough » Bigger/smaller • Document each pair of opposite adjectives under each post-it of the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio. For example, put smaller on one post-it with bigger under the opposite post-it, aligned with each word. 3-5yrs

Instructions Step 1 3-5yrs (or up to pre-writing age) • Ask children questions about the stone’s qualities: » Texture: smooth, soft, rough, hard, lumpy » Temperature: cold, cool, warm, hot » Color: grey, black, light/ dark » Shape: oval, round, square, rectangular, jagged • Document the children’s descriptions on the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio. 6yrs+ or children of writing age • Have the children write their own descriptions onto their portfolios

smoother

more rough

6yrs+ or children who can write • Have the children write their own descriptions onto their portfolio Teacher’s Note If you’re having a hard time noting every child’s answer keeping the rest of the classroom engaged, voice or video record each child’s answers and note their replies on their portfolios at a later stage. Alternatively, for children who can already read and write, photocopy the page of adjectives on the next two pages, cut the words out and hand them out to the children to glue onto their journal as and when they use the words to describe the stones. You can also brainstorm a list of adjectives together and write them on the board for children to copy and use on their portfolios.

M inim al is m B l o c ks w it h K a i

Week 8 – Lesson 6

Ab s tr a ct w o o d blo ck str u c t u r e Time 30 minutes Materials Kapla, Tegu or other wooden blocks, 10-20 per child Picture taking devise Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio Activity Goal The goal of this activity is for children to learn and practice balance whilst reproducing unique geometric patterns inspired by the contemporary artist, Carl Andre. Carl Andre is an American Minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear format and grid format sculptures. His sculptures work beautifully in this study as children can use materials they are familiar with to create beautiful works of art, develop balancing skills and spatial awareness. Children can be challenged by balancing wooden blocks, such as Kapla or any cleanly cut age-appropriate wooden blocks, following the geometric shapes laid by Carl Andre. Instructions 3yrs+ • Show the children the images of the child doing Carl Andres’ sculptures on the opposite page. For younger children, photocopy and distribute one copy per child so each child can easily see the position of the blocks. • Distribute 10-20 wooden blocks (Kapla) per child and ask them to recreate the artist’s sculpture works as seen on the image. • Document with a photograph and add the picture under “Abstract Wood Block Sculpture” page of the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio.

M Y FAV O R I T E WOOD BLOCK SCULPTURE

Social Project, Cultural Arts Center, Tinos, Greece

Week 17 – Lesson 16

Painting on Stones Time 30 minutes Materials Large Stone, 1 per child 1 pencil per child Newspaper to protect the floor Acrylic paint, many colors or black + one other color Paintbrushes Picture taking devise Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio Activity Goal We’ve been painting on stones since the beginning of time – whether on cave walls or on stones themselves. This activity takes children back in time and gives them a new appreciation for those marks by exploring texture and drawing on a different surface. Instructions 3yrs+ • Put newspaper on the floor to protect it from getting dirty and place one large stone per child in one large circle on the ground. The stones must have a big enough surface for the children to draw and paint a picture on it. • Have the children sit on the floor in front of their stones and distribute a pencil per child telling the children that they can draw whatever image they want on their stones. • Have the children draw on their stones and paint the image with acrylic paint (acrylic paint markers make an excellent substitute). • Once they have completed this task take a picture of each child’s painted stone. • Document by sticking a picture of their work on the “Painting on Stones” page of the Sticks & Stones Children’s Art Portfolio. Teacher’s Note For a minimalist look, set up groups of 4 children and have each group paint their stones in one color, applying a dot with a different color on top, once the coat of paint is dry. Next make patterns on the floor with the children. Keep the stones to exhibit at the end of the study.

Week 21 – Lesson 20

S oci a l P ro j e c t Times 45 minutes for children 6yrs+ Materials Large Stone, 1 per child Acrylic Paint, many colors Paintbrushes Picture taking devise Sticks & Stones Art Portfolios Activity Goal The goal for this activity is to empower children to find their voice and use art as a tool for social change and collective responsibility towards the Earth’s wellbeing. This project is the opportunity to highlight the work of Joseph Beuys, a performance, sculptor and installation artist and pedagogue. His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism and social philosophy and culminates in the idea of social sculpture for which he claimed a creative, participatory role in shaping society and politics. In the Seven Thousand Oaks project, consisting of planting 7,000 oak trees over several years in Kassel Germany each with an accompanying basalt stone – with the goal of enduringly altering the living space of the city. The project, which at first was thought as controversial, has become an important landmark of Kassel’s cityscape, the goal being to show that everyone is an artist, extending art outside the art gallery into the city. Instructions 6yrs+ • Talk about Joseph Beuys and the Seven Thousand Oaks project. Beuys’ work can be especially inspiring when working on a social project with children ages 7 years and above. When thinking of a project theme, it’s important that you cover the following points:

• Distribute one large stone to each child together with a paintbrush. • Talk about the different uses stones have in everyday life. Encourage children to think outside the box and think of as many diverse uses of the stones as possible. Document the children’s answers. • Next ask the children to paint their stone. You can follow a minimalism approach by painting the stones in one color or having the children think about giving their stone a symbol. • In the example we give you in this book, children from the Tinos Cultural Art Center in Greece painted stones and distributed them in the community and explained their project to the people they met. Stones were left in grocery stores, book shops, bars, restaurants, etc. • Each stone had a message attached to it, asking whoever found the stone to return it back to Cultural Center within a certain date. The stones that made it back to the Cultural Center in time were used as part of the children’s installation. • Once the exhibition was over, the stones were thrown back to the sea to remind the children that we must give back what we borrow for a period of time. • This is a great example of a collective project which involved both the community and the children. Brainstorm different ways in which you too can create a work of art that goes beyond the confines of your classroom. Teacher’s Notes _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

1. How can we positively affect the environment and produce social change?

_____________________________________________________________

2. How can we increase awareness of our dependence in a larger eco-system within the urban environment?

_____________________________________________________________

3. What ongoing process can we set in motion within the society, that is activated by human creativity?

_____________________________________________________________

4. How can we extend art beyond the confines of the classroom to the entire school/ outside the school grounds?

If you find it hard to come up with your own project, you can replicate the project we ran in Tinos, Greece with children ages 6 to 12yrs old:

_____________________________________________________________

Ex h i b i ti o n Now that the Sticks & Stone study is concluded, it’s important that children and their parents see their work properly exhibited. Every work of art should be displayed with the artist’s name, title of the work, year it was made, medium of the work and size of the piece. Here is an example for you to follow: Paul Frank Wagner Full Circle, 2016. Ink on paper, dim. 20cm x 20cm (12” x 12”)

In addition, here are some ideas to aesthetically display your children’s artwork, turning your classroom into a gallery and you into a curator of your art show! 1. Hang the photographs on a clothesline. Display photographs or drawings with wooden pegs, as if on a clothesline. 2. Let them Float. If you have floating shelves in your classroom use these for an eye-catching way to display the artwork. Simply place the artworks on the shelves varying the heights of the drawings from horizontal to vertical, big and small to create a “cityscape” of drawings. 3. Lean it on the floor. You need to mount all the work on a large rigid board. Next lean each artwork on the floor, leaving at least 2cm or 1 inch space between each work. This gives the exhibition a cool laidback look and feel. 4. Use Binder Clips. This gives your artwork a modern feel and your exhibition a stylish and industrial look. Hang the works of art with transparent fish wire and tie the wire to the binder clips or hang the binder clips from a nail on the wall. 5. Make an art mobile. This format gives a natural feel to the work by attaching the works with string or fish wire to a large branch, giving the space or classroom a lot of personality. 6. Clip it together! Use one teacher clipboard per child drawing to display their work on the wall, spacing them 5cm/ 2 inches apart, in a grid like format. For example: if you have 9 clipboards, 3 rows of 3 frames work nicely. You can also use the clipboards, 1 per child, to organize each child’s work. 7. Create a line. Sometimes a straight line of displayed artworks on the wall or floor is the best solution. 8. Create a grid. Organize your artworks by projects by creating a grid of work, for example: you can create 4 rows of 5 projects. 9. Multi-colored construction paper. You can also frame each artwork with different color construction paper giving the artwork a formal finished look. 10.

Personalized Feel. Print a picture of your students’ facial expression and display it next to their stone faces.