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Natural
Aesthetics
Program
Area
This activity
is suited to the Grade 9 Arts section of the Transitional Years
curriculum. It could easily fit into any unit throughout the Secondary
the visual arts curriculum in which aesthetic principles are discussed.
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching,
learning, and evaluation will focus on the student's ability to:
- Explore
and interpret natural or fabricated environments (after a field
trip);
- Analyse
their experience with nature using aesthetic terminology;
- Identify
and discuss sensory, formal, technical, and expressive properties
of an experience with nature;
- Indicate
personal preferences in evaluating an environment in aesthetic
terms;
- Translate
and communicate personal experience into form;
- Demonstrate
mind/body coordination through painting;
- Exhibit
sensitivity to the aesthetic qualities of nature (in discussion
and in painting).
Materials
- Brushes,
pencils, paints, paper, canvas.
If there
is enough time, students should make their own simple hair brushes,
oxidise their own willow branch drawing sticks, grind their own
paints from natural sources, make their own paper from scraps
of linen rag and old post-consumer paper, and use discarded canvas
rather than new store-bought material.
Classroom
Development
The student's
experience of a natural setting can be discussed in terms of the
senses (line, shape, colour, value, texture, form, and space);
form (rhythm, movement, balance, proportion, variety, emphasis,
and unity); technique (materials and processes); and expression
(mood, emotion, message conveyed). After trying to communicate
the experience of an environment in aesthetic terms, the students
should try to further translate these ideas into visual form,
such as a painting.
- Natural
Setting Field Trip
- Take
the students on a nature walk. If this is not possible then
a walk around the school neighbourhood. Alternatively, simply
have the students recall their most recent walk.
- Sensory
Experience
- While
on the trip, guide students through a discussion of the
aesthetic aspects of their trip. Where are examples of line?
What shapes were found and repeated? Ask the students to
describe the colours they see. What textures? How would
they describe the use of space? In this way the elements
of design are raised in reference to a direct experience.
- Formal
Experience
- Guide
students through a discussion of the principles of art as
applied to their natural experience. Ask the students whether
they feel that the natural setting exhibited qualities of
rhythm, movement, balance, proportion, variety, emphasis,
and unity.
- Technical
Experience
- Next,
consider the physical aspects: what materials were involved?
What processes, or cycles, are occurring in this environment?
- Expressive
Experience
- Finally,
try to get students to express what moods, emotions, or
messages they felt while in the natural setting? Ask students
to share their personal responses with the rest of the class
orally as well as in a written piece.
- Standard
Safety Message
- Just
before students do any studio work remind them of the safety
precautions which are relevant to this particular activity.
Also explicitly refer to the introductory discussion/activity
on safety procedures from the beginning of the term/semester.
- Studio
Experience
- Without
giving the students any more instruction, direct them to
the studio to meditate on their experiences.
- Expanding
Discussion
- After
having the students present and discuss their work, wrap
up by expanding the discussion to be an application of the
sensory, formal, technical, and expressive considerations
to everyday life.
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