Installation Art- Rethinking the Classics

I think we've all done the classic Giacometti project where students create a wire armature in some sort of pose. We do these projects because a.) there a good stand-by that we know work and b.) because we understand the importance of the lesson! If you're like me, however, you get a little tired of the same old projects and want a good way to keep the lesson intact but boost the complexity a little bit. Here's what I did to try and re-invent the wheel...

I started with the classic inspiration, Giacometti, then through a little this and a little that to get this really fun installation project.

We started our lesson learning about installation art and how artist often use the "idea" of the human body as a way of representing a collective of everyone. 

Artist Nele Azebedo 

I also tied in this great sculpture by Do-Ho Suh to show students the power of an installation project and how we all needed to work together to be successful. 

Along with the classic lessons of armature, we focused on how installation art expresses a message. The message, "What does the 8th grade class want to work toward before high school?"

We had a really great discussion and came up with five words we all could agree on; Identity, Wisdom, Independence, Success and Creativity. 

Students were allowed to work alone or in groups on their sculptures. We talked about how the words/images they added to their sculptures should reflect what they could add to help the 8th grade class reach their goal. We also discussed how the position of their sculpture could suggest how they feel their journey is going so far. 

This student is "falling" from the installation.

These two students saw the power in help each other reach the goal

These lovely sculptures are climbing the wall for a really fun 3-Dimensional quality. 

Hope you enjoyed our project and perhaps have some new ideas to spice up some of the classic projects we all find ourselves doing over and over again