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Patterns
in Nature and Community
Summary
Students
examine patterns and motifs from cultures around the world, collect
found objects from their community (both discarded manufactured
ones and natural ones), and make sketches, prints, and sculpture,
either inspired by what they have seen and felt or using the objects.
In this way, students will collect impressions (and then make
expressions) of their community from what they have found. Students
will thereby become sensitised and more connected to the physical
world, both to their local community (which they searched to find
the objects) and to their global community (because objects will
have come from every part of Earth).
Program
Area
This activity
is suited to the Grade 9 Arts section of the Transitional Years
curriculum. This activity could follow a unit on texture. It could
easily fit into any unit of the visual arts curriculum throughout
the Secondary grades in which the relationship between found objects
and the production of art is discussed.
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching,
learning, and evaluation will focus on the student's ability to:
- Illustrate
different textures;
- Differentiate
between the use of texture in the work of a variety of artists;
- Demonstrate
research skills in the adapting of textures and patterns from
nature and from a variety of cultures into their work;
- Articulate
their impressions and ideas regarding the richness of natural
and cultural diversity (as manifest in the textures and patterns
of their prints or other art);
- Show
process work which demonstrates an experimental, exploratory,
and systematic approach to ideas, methods, and materials.
Materials
The class
needs a collection of objects representing a variety of textures
and sources. These should include both fabricated ones (metal
objects, rubber, sandpaper, plastics, fabrics, wool, glass) and
natural ones (bark, bones, stones, leaves, roots, vegetables,
heavily grained wood, fur). The collections should also represent
a variety of sources from many physical locations where possible.
Printmaking equipment and materials are also required: print machine,
linoleum, wood blocks, brayers (rollers), wooden spoons, paper,
and water based inks.
Background
Pattern
making is a universal activity which dates back to the Paleolithic
era. As such it unites humans across culture and time. By using
the patterns of natural and fabricated objects we become more
sensitive to their physicality, and thus develop a more intimate
and ecological connection to them and other cultures.
By examining
patterns from around the world, students come to understand the
relationships between the materials which are available to those
cultures and the patterns which result. In this way, patterns
are seen as an expression of that culture's relationship with
their environment.
The use
of texture in art has a rich tradition, and this should be examined
by the class. Works by the following artists could be examined:
Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Bancusi, Henry Moore, Janet Fish,
I.M. Pei, Max Ernst.
Linoleum
block prints and mono prints in particular have been used traditionally
to express the materiality of objects. This too is a valuable
lesson for students.
Art from
found objects has a rich artistic heritage, exemplified by artists
such as Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968). His ready-made works were
exhibited in galleries and brought about much reconsideration
of the role of art in society. For example, Fountain (1917) was
simply a urinal which he had found and placed in an art gallery.
The teacher
must accumulate a collection of materials with a variety of surface
textures. Teachers should also prepare slides which illustrate
the effective use of decorative pattern in fabric design, rugs,
tapestries, architecture, and book illustrations. An effort should
be taken to ensure that both male and female artists are represented.
As well, art from a variety of cultures and periods should be
represented.
References
Ragans,
Rosalind. ArtTalk. 175-203. Mission Mills, CA: Glencoe, 1988.
Classroom
Development
- Textures
and patterns
- Students
should be given the opportunity to see and feel a variety
of patterns and textures which the teacher has assembled,
and which can be seen and touched around the room. This
collection could include as broad a range as is suggested
by the following examples: the walls and cupboards of the
classroom itself, oriental rug patterns, wooden Islamic
Mosque panels (shutters), Celtic metalwork, and Native beadwork.
This should include both a slide show and real objects which
can be passed around the class. Some of these should be
linoleum blocks and wooden blocks which were used to make
the prints shown. The slides should include the work of
outstanding artists, and students should demonstrate recognition
of at least a few of the works of certain artists. Students
should also be shown exemplary work by students of previous
years.
- By
asking questions the teacher should ensure that the discussion
includes considerations of:
- the
source of the material (natural or fabricated: bioregion,
culture);
- whether
some patterns are characteristically done by women or men;
- what
the material tells us about the characteristics of its source;
- similarities
and differences in pattern.
- Collect
Materials
- Next,
students are to collect objects themselves. Just before
students do any studio work or go looking for materials
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.
- By
searching for objects, students will be sensitised to a
different way of looking at their local environment. Some
students might choose to focus on one type of environment-such
as a highway, apartment complex, car service station, computer
repair shop, or restaurant in which to locate suitable materials.
The choice of source could then be explored thematically.
Step 1 should then be repeated for these new found materials.
- 2-D
patterns
- The
first expressive art activity is two dimensional rubbing.
Demonstrate this technique. Students are to use any of the
materials they have found to create an image on a piece
of paper using the rubbing technique. The work is to be
guided by the students choice of an artistic theme. The
image is not to be defined by lines but rather comprised
of textures and patterns. This can be done in a more sophisticated
way by cutting and gluing the materials into a new flattened
shape, ready to be inked and run through a print machine.
In this way a print can be made directly using the texture
of the found objects.
- Students
should be shown how to cut into linoleum and/or wood safely.
The conventional printmaking process should also be demonstrated:
inking the block with the brayer; placing the paper on the
inked block; rubbing the paper with the spoon; pulling the
paper away carefully; and finally hanging the paper up to
dry. This process can be repeated for multiple images, different
coloured inks on the same piece of paper.
- Discussion
- Students
are to then discuss their work, using appropriate art vocabulary.
- 3-D
patterns
- The
second expressive art activity is three dimensional. Students
are to use any of the materials they now have to create
a work of sculpture.
- Discussion
- Students
then repeat the discussion step 4.
- Painting
on Sculpture
- Senior
students might then wish to proceed further, by painting
directly onto the sculpture which they have made. For this
progression, the teacher should lead a more in-depth investigation
into the history art. Cave paintings, painted Greek sculptures,
bricolage, and contemporary artists sculptures and installations
could be examined-especially those with environmental themes
(such as Yvonne Garbutt, Jimmy Durham, Linda Cywink, and
Andy Goldsworthy).
Further
Development
Several
of the component activities listed above could be expanded upon
by students within the context of a research project.
The techniques
of other cultures could also be demonstrated as a supplement to
showing the materials and products of different parts of the world.
For example, the Japanese technique called gyotaku is simple to
show to students. In this technique, the top of an object, such
as a fish or leaves, is inked with a roller or a brush. Dampened
paper is placed over it and pressed with a roller. This method
was developed in the early Nineteenth century to record species
of fish.
Cross-disciplinary
Links
In both
geography and history courses the background of some of the patterns
and works of art can be examined. In history class, brass rubbings
can be examined for the historical information they present. In
music or English class, rhythmic and literary patterns could be
compared to visual patterns, musical beats and poetic metre (eg.
iambic pentameter) can be compared to repeated patterns in fabric,
metalwork, and architectural elements. In dance and physical education
curriculum, repeated patterns of movement can also be related
to visual patterns. In mathematics and science courses, repeated
patterns can be seen or at least represented in visual form. An
advanced class may wish to tackle the concept of fractal geometry,
probably with the aid of computers. Occasionally, naturally occurring
patterns are very beautiful (crystals, geological formations,
trees, flowers, icicles, stalagmites, cracked mud flats, animal
markings, etc.) and are themselves inspiration for art.
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