Williamsburg Farm - Kinetic Sculpture

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Kinetic Sculpture
Kinetic Sculpture is art in motion. High School students learned about Alexander Calder's popular hanging mobiles and also contemporary artist Katy Stone's beautiful sculptures that interact with air and light. Students' sculptures were created out of lightweight transparent film. The process was similar to that of Katy Stone. Students painted on the surface of transparent film with an acrylics gel medium mixture so the colors would mix and cast interesting shadows as the pieces overlapped. This project was an excellent task in problem solving since these sculptures were created without glue or tape. They were assembled with a tab and slit connection so it could be rearranged if needed. The kinetic sculptures looked beautiful hanging in front of my windows with the clouds as a backdrop and the light spring breeze moving them gently. Nature was a fundamental element in these sculptures because of their organic quality and also how the environment affects the sculptures in different ways. I was very excited to find out recently that the sculpture at the top right, "Shower", won a Gold Key at the Scholastic Art Awards. He worked very hard on this sculpture and deserved this recognition. Please click on artwork below and enjoy!

By Gogh on April 7, 2008 at 10:55am EDT	Topic(s): high school lessons sculpture

Comments

Starfish

These are SO cool! You should make some :P

4/7/2008 at 6:52pm EDT

sslamar

I used this project with my high school sculpture class. All 20 of them were unique and very beautiful. It was successful for every ability level. We hung then in the school lobby and everyone was impressed. So WONDERFUL!

3/26/2010 at 3:36pm EDT

Gogh

Thanks so much for your comment...

I did this project again this year with a new theme. Each student's sculpture had to reflect an element - earth, air, water, or fire, making each sculpture really unique.

6/10/2010 at 11:24am EDT

Lisa

what kind of plastic?
where do you find it in larger quanities for class? Any new tips? I want to tie it into Elements and principles lesson.

8/15/2011 at 10:58pm EDT

Gogh

My lesson is actually a modified Dick Blick lesson. You can find all the material here. http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/kinetic...
Do this lesson once with your class and your students will start coming up with other creative materials to use. We use stryofoam, painted cardboard, and clear tape sculptural forms as bases now. Dur-Lar is great plastic and comes in different pad sizes/rolls and thicknesses. I actually use .005 instead of what Dick Blick suggests because it doesn't tear as much.

Love to hear how it goes! I should really put new photos up too!

8/16/2011 at 12:05pm EDT

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