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Louise Nevelson |
Found Object Assemblages
Visual Arts Lesson
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
- Describe and interpret Nevelson’s sculpture.
- Compare and contrast two-dimensional paintings and three-dimensional sculptures.
- Compare and contrast abstract and representational art.
- Identify and use elements of art and principles of design, specifically pattern and rhythm, to create their own assemblage sculpture.
LESSON ACTIVITIES
Exploring Nevelson’s sculpture (one to two 45-minute classes)
- Show Louise Nevelson’s Untitled sculpture.
- What do you see?
- What is the sculpture made of?
- How was it constructed?
- Support this image with other examples of her work. An overview with five examples of her sculpture can be found at “The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend” on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. website. The sculpture is made up of found objects made from wood. In art, “found objects” is a term that refers to objects that originally had a different purpose, which the artist collected and used as the material in his/her artwork. In Nevelson’s hands, these wooden found objects become something more than what they were before. Her sculptures express particular qualities of form, they occupy a distinct space, they create clear patterns of rhythm, texture, and movement, and they evoke a certain mysterious feeling.
- Compare Nevelson’s sculpture with a painting (such as Albert Bierstadt’s Royal Arches, Yosemite Valley, California, 1872 or Dahlov Ipcar’s Blue Savanna, 1976) to discuss the differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional work. The three-dimensional sculpture projects out into space, while the painted image exists on a flat surface. In a painting, the artist has to use certain tools and elements of art to create the illusion of space (such as scale, atmospheric perspective, and linear perspective), while the sculpture exists in and takes up its own space. Both paintings and sculpture can be realistic or abstract, and they both consist of the elements of art: line, shape, color, form, and texture. Also, they both adhere to the principles of design: rhythm, balance, symmetry, asymmetry, unity, etc. Have the students compare Nevelson’s sculpture to the paintings, Royal Arches and Blue Savanna.
- What shapes do you see in these works? How do the shapes interact in different ways?
- What colors have the artists used? Why do you think they chose the colors they did?
- How does Nevelson create and use space?
- How do Bierstadt and Ipcar create a sense of space in their paintings?
- What do you see in each work of art?
- Which work of art is a representation of a recognizable scene? Which one is abstract? Which one combines realistic and abstract elements?
- Now discuss sculpture in terms of representation. Does Nevelson’s sculpture look like anything in particular? Ask the students to identify the elements that are recognizable (such as the wheels, stair rail, and clapboards). Does the object as a whole represent anything familiar or specific? Compare Nevelson’s sculpture with a representational sculpture, such as Benjamin Paul Akers’ The Dead Pearl Diver, 1858. How are they different? How are they similar?
- Students should note differences in color, material, and texture, as well as the different stylistic influences.
- Nevelson’s piece is hung on the wall and is called relief sculpture. While the relief sculpture occupies space by extending out from the wall, it is intended to be seen from the front. The Dead Pearl Diver is a freestanding sculpture that is meant to be walked around and seen from all angles.
- Nevelson’s sculpture is abstract; it does not contain any recognizable imagery or tell a narrative. The Dead Pearl Diver shows a realistic, identifiable scene and tells a story. We recognize the human form, net, basket, shells, etc. and can infer a certain situation and build a narrative around it.
- It is also helpful to compare Nevelson’s work to other 20th-century sculptors, such as David Smith, Donald Judd, Richard Serra, etc.
Student assemblage sculptures (four 45-minute classes)
- Provide and also ask the students bring in wood objects for their assemblages.
- Before the students begin to arrange their found objects, review the following design principles, locate them in Nevelson’s work, and ask the students to consider them as they are making their sculptures.
- Rhythm – A way of combining elements of art to produce the look and feel of movement, especially with a visual tempo or beat. It is often achieved through the careful placement of repeated elements that invite the viewer’s eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the next.
- Balance – The way the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of stability in a work. Balance can be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
- Emphasis – When a feature (or parts) of an artwork has special importance or dominance for aesthetic impact. Often, contrasting elements are used to direct attention to the most important parts of a composition.
- Movement – This refers to an implied motion created by using lines, shapes, forms, and textures that cause the eye to move over the work.
- Pattern – The repetition of shapes, lines, or colors in a design.
- Variety – A way of combining elements of art to achieve intricate and complex relationships by using many different hues, values, lines, textures, and shapes.
- Share the Self-assessment – Assemblages checklist with students and ask students to complete it as they work on their project.
- Give each student a shoebox and have the students select and arrange their found objects inside the box.
- Remind the students to pay attention to properties of light and shadow, spacing, and proportion of objects and the spaces between them.
- Have the students create different scenarios before gluing the pieces in order to experiment with the different expressive possibilities of the composition.
- Once settled on a design, the students will glue the pieces into their final places.
- Once the pieces are dry, apply a monochromatic finish of tempera or spray paint. How do their assemblages look different when they are all one color? Much of Nevelson’s work was finished in black, a “regal” color to her, but she also used white and gold for a monochromatic finish.
- If everyone in the class uses the same color, you can bring all the sculptures together into one monumental assemblage. This is how Nevelson got started on a larger scale. She put together some smaller “boxes” into one large assemblage and liked it so much she worked that way from then on.
- Have the students present their assemblages to the class, using the proper vocabulary for art elements and design principles to describe their work. Have students complete the Self-assessment – Assemblage rubric.
MATERIALS
- Found wooden objects, for example:
- Small wood shapes
- Popsicle sticks
- Empty thread spools
- Scissors
- White glue
- Low-temperature glue gun
- Shoeboxes, one per student
- Tempera paints and brushes, or spray paint