DESCRIPTION: By imagining an artwork created with a different material, students discover the integral role the choice of material plays in determining the meaning of an artwork.

OBJECTIVES: Students gain an understanding of the role of materials in the meaning of an artwork. They apply that understanding to analyze a work of art and use their imagination to discover the meanings of artworks.

PROCEDURE: (While looking at various sculptures, have the students interpret new meanings as you suggest it being made of different materials.) I'm going to show you a sculpture and I want you to imagine what it would look like if it were made out of a different material. (i.e., Louise Nevelson's sculpture made out of steel, Donald Judd's sculpture made out of clay, Kienholz' sculpture made out of plaster, Bruce Connor's sculpture made out of bronze, etc.) How do you think the meaning of the sculpture changes when we change the materials used? Does it make it a bolder piece? Is the subject matter or meaning of the piece lost if the materials are changed? What about the way we look at it, does that change? Would you have a different reaction to the piece if we changed the material to paper (or glass, marble, string, etc.)? Why does changing the material matter?

MINNESOTA GRADUATION STANDARDS:
(1) Read, View, Listen
(2) Write and Speak
(3) Literature and the Arts

Age level: Grades 2 and up.
Artworks used: Go to sculptures that use material as a means of expression.
Props needed: No props needed.
Related to Minneapolis Sculpture Garden: Yes
Notes: Before imagining sculptures made of different materials, it is important that they look first at what it is made of. It would be very appropriate for you to provide information about the sculptor and sculpture before imagining it differently.


© 1998 WALKER ART CENTER