Visual problems solving for young artists
Challenge Item: Yarn
I have addressed my process of independent projects in detail in THIS POST, as well as how I hold my students accountable for their work in THIS POST.
I love the philosophy of Timm Gunn, fashion designer and teacher of Project Runway, “Make it work!!”
I love the philosophy of Timm Gunn, fashion designer and teacher of Project Runway, “Make it work!!”
In the art classroom we make artwork for ourselves, but once we move into the “real world” we may need to make work of others to earn a living. “Others” will have expectations, wants, needs, parameters, be that color, size, media, materials, etc. So in this version of my independent artwork exploration, I give my student 1 parameter they must incorporate in some way. It can be major or minor, subtle or extreme. They get to decide, how they will meet that expectation. It’s problems solving, for an artist.
I went around my room and found 30 materials I thought could be used, in some way, as media. Some were obvious like cardboard, plaster, wire, clay, others were left-over materials we have not used in years but I wanted cleared out of my room like seashells (not enough for a class project, but enough for 1 or 2 people), some artist’s concrete, Halloween décor, plastic fence material from a failed experiment, 3 half-gutted computers, a gord that had been in my closet for 19 years… you get the idea. I made enough cards that each student would get a different material. If you have large classes, just try not to repeat a material within the same class period.
I went around my room and found 30 materials I thought could be used, in some way, as media. Some were obvious like cardboard, plaster, wire, clay, others were left-over materials we have not used in years but I wanted cleared out of my room like seashells (not enough for a class project, but enough for 1 or 2 people), some artist’s concrete, Halloween décor, plastic fence material from a failed experiment, 3 half-gutted computers, a gord that had been in my closet for 19 years… you get the idea. I made enough cards that each student would get a different material. If you have large classes, just try not to repeat a material within the same class period.
Students picked cards blindly from a bin. Then we went around and shared what we picked. I noted some things students might do with that material if they seemed incredulous with their pick. For example: with the plastic fencing, they could frame it and tie items to it, they could put stuff within the voids to make a large pixelated image, they could hang it, and dangle items from the mesh, they could roll it and turn it into a sculptural armature.
Then I gave them 5 minutes to trade if they wanted to, with an option to return their card and pick from any left-overs I had in my jar (again blindly).
We then started into our research component. They had to find other artists that have used similar materials to create artwork. If not an exact match, something reasonably related would suffice. Below is my independent research packet for download. It is included in my books: The Workbook For Art Teachers and The Advanced Workbook for Art Teachers. (Both have student editions)
Then I gave them 5 minutes to trade if they wanted to, with an option to return their card and pick from any left-overs I had in my jar (again blindly).
We then started into our research component. They had to find other artists that have used similar materials to create artwork. If not an exact match, something reasonably related would suffice. Below is my independent research packet for download. It is included in my books: The Workbook For Art Teachers and The Advanced Workbook for Art Teachers. (Both have student editions)
| Independent Progress Packet |
Student-facing reminder as we work.
In the packets you can see we stop at points along the way for peer and group feedback. That is important and helps shape the direction of work.
As you can see the variety of work is profound. It takes time though to familiarize your students enough media that you will be comfortable with them exploring on their own. This is way I reserve lessons like this for my 2nd year art students, toward the end of their semester with me as a way to close out their year. My 3rd and 4th year students do many more independent assignments regularly. If this is the first time you are letting students experiment like this, THIS VIDEO from @BethanyThiele is a great way to get students thinking creatively. It can be a great way to open an exploration like this.
As you can see the variety of work is profound. It takes time though to familiarize your students enough media that you will be comfortable with them exploring on their own. This is way I reserve lessons like this for my 2nd year art students, toward the end of their semester with me as a way to close out their year. My 3rd and 4th year students do many more independent assignments regularly. If this is the first time you are letting students experiment like this, THIS VIDEO from @BethanyThiele is a great way to get students thinking creatively. It can be a great way to open an exploration like this.
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lesson plan in minutes with the ArtEdGuru Lesson Generator —
built on 40 years of real classroom experience. Free to try.
Try the ArtEdGuru Lesson Generator app.artedguru.com
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