DESCRIPTION: Students learn how the details of paintings and sculpture can spark their imaginations to see beyond the scene depicted.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this activity is to encourage students to use their imagination, and to discover how the elements of art--particularly subject matter--communicate certain ideas.

PROCEDURE: I'm going to give you a sequence of imaginary events and I'd like you to tell me what happens next. For example, imagine a person leaning out a window of an apartment building where you see a fire occurring. The next scene that I want you to imagine is the person jumping out of the window. If you were to fill in the last scene what would it look like (maybe the person landing on blow up mattress, the person clinging to a fire fighter, or maybe the person in a stretcher being placed in an ambulance, etc.)?

Let's try another one. The first scene I want you to imagine is a baseball player ready to hit a baseball that is being pitched. The second scene is the baseball soaring above the outfielders. What might the last scene look like (maybe an outfielder catching the ball, the ball landing in the stands for a home run, the second baseman tagging the batter as he slides into second base, etc.)?

One of the fun things about art is that we frequently have to use our imaginations to fill in the details of an artwork. The artist may provide us with a glimpse of an event or give us several pieces of a moment in time. Let's take a look at some artworks and see if we can figure out what the artist is depicting and maybe even guess what might follow. When we look at an artwork, tell me what you think is going on in the piece and what might follow. (Discuss answers focusing on the subject matter that they are looking at.) Note: As students give their answers, be sure to ask them what details of the artwork led them to their conclusions. Did everyone think the same thing? Why do you think that is?

VARIATION: Have students write down their stories and share answers with each other.

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

Age level: Appropriate for all ages.
Artworks used: Use artworks where subject matter provides a scene or tableaux.
Props needed: No props needed.
Related to Minneapolis Sculpture Garden: No
Notes: Be sure to ask questions that relate their succeeding scene to the subject matter that they see.


© 1998 WALKER ART CENTER