"My emotional sculpture represents depression. I was young when many family members died, some very close to me. This sculpture shows me being pulled into a depression vortex by a 'depression demon' as some would say. The white is happy, the gray is the vortex of mixed emotions and the black is the depression."
by Stacy
Lord
The
long, thin figures of Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) have become famous symbols
of modern sculpture. These fragile
figures standing alone in an empty space visually express how many people felt
after the terrible destruction of the Second World War. Giacometti worked with
volume, texture and negative space to express a feeling of isolation in his
work. The thin, gaunt bodies of his sculptures suggest the hard times many
people experienced after the war.
A very limited color scheme adds to the solemn mood.
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"This represents a person who is depressed and withdraws themselves from society and locked themselves in a cage alone and it's falling apart."
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"My emotional sculpture represents the emotion of struggling and being puzzled. The person is trying to climb up the ladder but pieces are broken and missing. The ladder represents my life and since I have so many expectations on me I can't make my way through because of the broken and missing pieces."
Setting
the Mood
After
sharing works by Giacometti, tell students: “Think back to a time when you felt
alone and isolated. If you had to
sketch an idea for a sculpture based on Giacometti’s work, how would it
look? Would it be one lone figure
or more? Would you be suspended in
space or trapped within a cage?
Would you be standing alone on a large or small platform? What would your stance (posture)
be? Would you be by yourself or
would you have props? Would you have exaggerated and/or distorted proportions?”
"My sculpture is a person being weighted down by an anchor. This represents a person being pressured down by all the pressure the person has. The body is half gray and half white meaning it's halfway from collapsing. The black dots on the board represents the sweat from all the hard work the person has on them. If they fall all the hard work they have done will fall too."
“Think
of your mood/emotion during that time of loneliness and then think how you would
translate it into a sculpture using Giacometti’s style of art. Use a paper to sketch out your ideas. Stress to the students that the
stories behind their sculptures are personal and do not need to be shared but
the theme/emotion should be expressed.”
"This sculpture is about when times are suppose to be happy but there is always a sad time in me that I will always remember but I leave it behind. The black part is I feel lonely and feeling sad that my parents are always arguing and always talks about divorcing."
Procedures
Once the designs have been sketched, have students
begin with an armature of a figure using wire and tape. Stress that the smaller they work the
more challenging it will be to apply the instant papier maché.
Working extremely large will stress the wire into distorting the figure,
causing frustration. Finished
sizes that work the best range between six to fourteen inches in height.
Once the wire armature is formed, have the students
mix up the instant papier maché to a pulp a little at a time. (Dust masks may
be needed for students with asthma.)
Working in an additive style from the bottom up, have students start
adding the wet papier maché pulp to the armature, making sure to “squeeze” it
on the wire. During this process,
the students will need to prop up their sculpture as they are applying the pulp.
Anything can be used as a prop; rulers, stools, old books, string, etc. Drying time varies depending how thick the
paper pulp is applied.
"I build an emotional sculpture which a person is climbing a tall steep mountain. This person is trying to reach the tip of the mountain. The tip of the mountain represents the place where he does his job. He has a stick to help climb the mountain. The stick represents an education. If there was no stick he will fall by tiredness and can't reach the tip. So, it's telling that education at school is very important for you to graduate schools and do a job to live. The person is doing his best to get a job with the help of education."
My students really got involved in this project as
they were continually talking to each other during the process. This helped with students’ thinking
when it was time to write their artist statements. I have students write their artist statements on tags that
are then tied to their sculptures.
I stress that they do not have to put their names on the tags so that
they will write honestly about the emotions that are expressed in their
sculptures.
"My sculpture shows me running towards what I am longing to find out, my potential but there are obstacles in the way trying to hold me back. My figure is black because I feel that black represents confusing and I am confused of who I really am and if I am running towards the right direction."
Assessment
I set completed sculptures from a different class on
the tables and give each student five pieces of paper. I then ask them to walk around and read
the artist statement for each piece.
They write a comment for five pieces of their choosing and leave the
papers next to the relative sculptures.
I then ask the students to take two more pieces of paper and go to two
pieces that have no or very few comments left for them and write a note to the
artists. This eliminates the “but
I did not get any comments” syndrome so often associated with this type of
assessment. We then have a group
discussion about the works of art.
Materials
· Armature Wire or newspaper
· Wire cutters/ scissors
· Masking tape
· Celluclay (plan on two 5 pound bags per 15 students)
· Metallic spray paint
· Tempera or acrylic paints
Stacy Lord is an art teacher at Worcester East Middle School in Worcester, Massachusetts, a member of the SchoolArts advisory board, and NAEA Middle School Director Elect.
This article was published in the March 2014 SchoolArts Magazine.
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