Stuck On Sculpture.
Looking for a unique approach to sculpture? Tired of the standard toothpick sculptures or plaster milk-carton carvings? Hate to contend with the mess? Worried about the cost involved and what it could do to your budget? Then try this unlikely approach that your students will enjoy and with which they will get unique results!
After studying slides and art prints of the work of Pop artist George Segal and Photorealist Duane Hanson in my advanced art classes, students were eager to construct bodies and body fragments similar to those they had seen. In recent years, some of the students who were also in our art club had taken weekend trips to Toronto, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, where they viewed actual Segal sculptures, also adding to this interest.
With the cost of plaster-impregnated gauze strips seeming to continually rise, an inexpensive substitute was needed that would produce exciting, contemporary results. The answer? Tape!
I found a source of wide, clear packaging tape at a local discount/overstock store for less than $1 a roll. Students who constructed body fragments used less than one roll, while those who preferred to make an entire figure used just over two. A fine collection of unique and interesting projects was produced at a fraction of what it would have cost to do them in plaster.
The procedure was simple: Body parts were done in sections directly over clothing. The initial wrapping was done sticky-side up, with consecutive layering done sticky-side down. Fingers required wrapping separately with small strips and joining them to palm-to-elbow pieces. In general, approximately four to five wrappings provided suitable sturdiness, depending on the thickness of the tape.
After each section was wrapped, the piece was carefully cut, pried off and repositioned together with the other sections, and the seams then taped shut. In instances where there was exposed hair, such as the head and arms, a thin layering of cellophane wrap was used and the tape applied directly to it. This alleviated painful hair-pulling when the tape was removed.
Most students were able to construct their own arms and legs, but the help of a partner was necessary when doing the head, torso, pelvic area and such. It was also found that areas that would be supporting any significant weight--from the waist down, for example--would require several more layers of wrapping so that these sections would not collapse. If constructing a free-standing sculpture, the legs would definitely require extra sturdiness.
Imaginations ran wild! After using the cellophane, several students got the idea of using colored cellophane to wrap first, then tape. Others installed tiny Christmas lights in their sculptures. Some inserted lightweight objects in theirs, and a few mounted theirs on hollow wooden bases with colored lights projecting upward from the base inside the sculptures. One student used bubble wrap as hair.
When displayed in the sun or under intense lights, even the sculptures of simple clear tape sparkled with the appearance of spun glass. Expressive sculptural gestures and positions were attained. One boy even won Best of Show in a local exhibit with his tape sculpture, with many onlookers marveling at it, wanting to touch the sculpture to see what it was made of, and asking how it was done.
So, don't let the cost of traditional materials prevent you from trying your hand at sculpture projects. Substitutions are available that can produce exciting results at a minimal cost. "Wrap up" a unique learning experience with this clean, sparkling, inexpensive technique that your students will really "get into" and enjoy.
MATERIALS
* Wide, clear packaging tape
* Scissors
* Clear cellophane wrap
* Optional: colored cellophane wrap and bubble wrap
* Art prints and/or slides of artworks by George Segal (Cinema, 1963; The Dancers, 1971; Walk, Don't Walk, 1976) and by Duane Hanson (Tourists, 1970; Dishwasher, 1973; Derelict Woman, 1973)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will ...
* learn the process of creating a three-dimensional, free-standing sculpture.
* explore unique properties and potential of materials.
* apply common medium in creative application of design and structure.
* demonstrate the ability to construct a free-standing sculptural form.
* develop an awareness and application of styles of various sculptors and art movements.
* reflect on and assess the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
Robert Hunger teaches art at Milan High School in Milan, Indiana.
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