This was an end of the year lesson which I did with my seventh and eighth grade middle school students last June. We studied DuChamp's Painting Nude Descending A Staircase. It helped the students understand the principle of movement in a piece of art work.
I began the lesson by showing the students images of DuChamp's painting and we looked closely to see how movement was achieved. We noted the repetition of the figure in the painting. The monochromatic color scheme helped the students see the progression of the descending figure.
I then photographed the students in a action pose. The images were printed and the contour of the image was cut out. A variety of paper was set out for the students to choose from. They traced their image on at least three or four sheets of colored paper, cut them out, then arranged them on background paper to create a composition demonstrating the principle of movement. As you can see their work is very unique and if you knew them you would agree it reflects their personalities.
We're working our way through '13 Modern Artists Kids Should Know' as our homeschool art curriculum right now and Duchamp was the 2nd artist in the book. My 5th grader did this project today and it turned out great! Thanks for posting the previous entry about this project; it's cool that this one is up this week, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Heather. It was a fun project for the kids. Would love to see how yours turned out.
Deletedid you have to get permission to take the photos or at least send a note home with the kids letting the parents know what you would be doing?
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. Yes I had permission from the parents. At the beginning of the school year all parents are asked to sign a school wide waiver.
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