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Protest Sculpture
Related Subjects: Visual &
Performing Arts, English-Language Arts, History-Social Sciences
Grades:9-12
Medium: Sculpture
Author: Jan Lyle, art teacher at Fallbrook High
School
Class time required: Three or more 60-minute class
sessions
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In this three-session lesson, students will create a sculpture that expresses their thoughts and feelings concerning a social issue. The sculpture may awaken the viewer to the problem and possibly motivate them to action or a new understanding of the problem.
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• Protest
Worksheet (PDF 44kb)
•
Items needed for
creating the sculpture
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Glossary terms: balance, color, dominance, emphasis, hue, intensity, line, shape, proportion, rhythm, space, subordination, texture, unity, value, variety
• Images
Online
Materials
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Images
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Guarded
Conditions
Loma Simpson |
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Hammering Man at 3,110,527
Jonathan Borofsky |
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Crossroads
(Border Tijuana - San Diego)
Marcos Ramirez |
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Landfill
Mark Dion |
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Explore Art page
(kid-friendly) |
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Session One
• Materials for this sculpture are not specified. Some possible ideas would
be things found in nature, trash, clothing, clay, plaster, etc. The materials
will be dictated by the types of sculptures the students want to create. Students
will be responsible for bringing in much of the materials.
•
Print the above images
onto overhead transparencies.
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Session One
1. Introduce the
lesson by looking at the work of artists who have used their art
to address social issues. Begin a discussion with the students about
the artwork listed above.
2. In small groups, have the students brainstorm
lists of possible issues they could address with the creation of
a sculpture.
3. Share and make a class list of issues.
4. Have the students complete
the Protest
Sculpture Worksheet (PDF 44kb)
5. For homework, have the students
collect items that they would like to incorporate into their sculptures.
Session
Two
1. Students create their own Protest Sculptures.
Session Three
1. After students have completed their Protest Sculpture,
have them write journals about the assignment and their artwork.
Possible journal prompts for the Protest Sculpture:
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Write a report
for the newspaper on the protest sculpture exhibit.
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Write a dialogue between opposing sides of the issue.
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Write about
the subject of your sculpture. What do you know? What more do you
wish you knew about it? When did you first learn about the issue?
How?
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Write a letter to your children/grandchildren telling them about
the world before the “problem” was addressed and solved. Tell how
the world “used to be.”
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Write a formal critique of your own sculpture.
2. Display the students’ artwork around the classroom as an exhibition for others
to view.
Extensions
English-Language Arts: Students can research artists who have made political statements through their artworks and write a report.
Visual Arts: Students can write an expository composition comparing the ways in which the meaning of a specific work of art has been affected over time because of changes in interpretation and context.
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There are no teaching tips for this lesson plan.
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CA Content Standards
Ninth-Twelfth Grade Visual Arts
1.1 Identify and use the principles
of design to discuss, analyze, and write about visual aspects in
the environment and in works of art, including their own.
1.5 Analyze
the material used by a given artist and describe how its use influences
the meaning.
2.2 Prepare a portfolio of original two-and three-dimensional
works of art that reflects refined craftsmanship and technical skills.
2.6 Create a two or three-dimensional work of art that addresses a social
issue.
4.1 Articulate how personal beliefs, cultural traditions,
and current social, economic, and political contexts influence the
interpretation of the meaning or message in a work of art.
4.2 Compare
the ways in which the meaning of a specific work of art has been
affected over time because of changes in interpretation and context.
4.4 Articulate the process and rationale for refining and reworking one of
their own works of art.
4.5 Employ the conventions of art criticism
in writing and speaking about works of art.
Ninth-Tenth Grade English-Language Arts
2.3 Write expository
compositions, including analytical essays and research reports.
2.4
Write persuasive compositions.
Eleventh-Twelfth Grade English-Language
Arts
2.3 Write reflective compositions.
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Teachers and Students Flickr
Image of protest sculpture in London. Caption
reads: “Tens of thousands of marchers turned out in London to protest
the war in Iraq and the British involvement. This sculpture was pulled
through the streets.”
People’s Weekly
World Newspaper Online
Article about the 2002 Earth Summit in Africa
and the subsequent mounting of a protest sculpture. Title reads: “Earth
Summit Hits Poverty, Pollution.”
Environmental Encroachment
Images of protest art performed at the Democratic
National Convention of 1996. Caption reads: “This protest art involved
two costumed politicians, an elephant and a donkey. They each rode
ends of a seesaw with the white house in the middle. There is also
a smoke stack plume of toxic waste being generated out of the white
house. We had this see saw up during the 1996 Democratic National
Convention in Chicago.”
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
This Teacher Resource page offers biographical information about Lorna Simpson, as well as a link to additional images of her artwork.
Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial
The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall created by Maya Lin.
Terese Agnew
Terese Agnew’s Web site, which explains her Portrait of a
Textile Worker project.
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Crossroads (Border Tijuana - San Diego)
Marcos Ramirez
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