Nonobjective black and white design challenge

Arts & Activities, Feb, 2005 by Karen Skophammer

As my class looked at slides of Sonia Delaunay's works of art, we discussed nonobjective art as being art that has no recognizable subject matter in the work of art. I asked the students if this type of work could express ideas or feelings. They answered that it could. By using color and patterns there could be a feeling of action or excitement.

Sonia Delaunay and her husband, the Cubist painter Robert Delaunay, helped to create a new type of art that is labeled "Simultanism." This art combines geometric forms, bold patterns and intense color. We looked at her painting Electric Prism, which was inspired by the first electric streetlight in Paris. I asked the students to pick out geometric shapes and patterns created in this painting.

My sixth-graders had previously studied the elements of art: color, line, shape, form, space and texture. We'd also studied the principles of art: balance, variety, harmony, emphasis, proportion, movement and rhythm. After a refresher talk on all of these, we were ready to embark on solving a design problem that would mainly utilize the elements of line, shape, form and space, and the principles of movement, rhythm, variety and emphasis. We would try to bring these all into our challenge of the nonobjective, black and white design.

The students were given an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white tag board. Next, they had to divide the space into at least five different sections, although many students chose to divide the space into more than five sections.

Then, the student was asked to use different repeated patterns in each section to create a nonobjective black-and-white design that would have rhythm, variety, balance, emphasis and movement, and would invite the viewer to move his eyes around and into the work of art. (Black markers were used to create the black areas.)

When the students were done solving this design problem, they were pleased with the outcome. These were hung on a big wall in the hallway for a "quilt" effect. The black-and-white designs were stunning!

We viewed our artworks as a class and noted the differences and similarities to Sonia Delaunay's work, and asked ourselves, "How would our designs differ if color were used?"

MATERIALS

* Examples of paintings by Sonia Dealunay from books and the Internet

* 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white tag board

* Pencils

* Black markers

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* re-acquaint themselves with the design elements and principles.

* enrich their appreciation of good design and how repeating patterns attain unity.

* recognize the differences in line and shapes as they design with these elements.

* enjoy other artists' works that reveal a great interest in design quality.

* be able to compare and contrast their work of art with that of Sonia Dealunay.

* draw simple and complex patterns.

Karen Skophammer is an art instructor for Manson Northwest Webster Schools in Barnum and Manson, Iowa.