Tour the galaxy of the abstract - Cover Story - art project

Arts & Activities, March, 2003 by Patricia Kennedy

MATERIALS

* Pencils

* Drawing paper

* Erasers

* Rulers

* Compasses

* Protractors

* Triangle stencils

* Books on Escher

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* be encouraged to be more discerning observers of the physical world.

* develop skill in creating the optical illusion of three-dimensional shapes and space on a two-dimensional surface.

* connect learning in one art discipline to other creative disciplines in a focused and meaningful way.

* improve critical thinking skills of analysis and judgment in regard to their work and the work of others.

* be encouraged to ask critical questions and to be adventuresome, expressive and bold in their work.

It's the plaintive wail heard in many beginning art classrooms when the teacher announces a drawing unit: "But I can't draw anything that looks real!" Much of the frustration students feel about art--especially drawing--is compounded when they fear the art teacher will expect too much too soon.

This abstract-art unit soothes the fears associated with learning to draw. Because an abstract is a work of art that is expressive, but contains few recognizable objects, there is no need to know how to immediately draw a horse or person. Like a gigantic doodle that is reminiscent of a galaxy, the abstract assignment is appealing.

In the abstract, students are introduced to drawing objects through a series of assignments focused on the relationship between two art elements: shape and space. A shape is a flat, two-dimensional area having only length and width.

Geometric shapes originate from the square, circle or triangle and organic shapes are free-flowing shapes found in nature. Space is the area between, around, below, above or within objects. In the abstract assignment, space and shape work in concert to produce galaxies of beauty and complexity.

When students step into my classroom on the first day of the abstract unit, they find themselves in the Escher world of inventive perspective. It is a strange and mysterious place where staircases appear to ascend and descend at the same time, shapes metamorphose into other shapes, and textures of glass, paper and metal are so realistic that students sometimes reach out to touch the posters around the room.

Students are fascinated with the work of the 20th-century graphic designer, M. C. Escher. This Dutch artist created environments in which time and space are brilliantly rearranged to form contradictory worlds based on order and logic that simultaneously defy order and logic. I cannot refrain from demonstrating the nonsensicalness of some of what we take to be irrefutable certainties. For example, it is a pleasure to deliberately mix together objects of two and three dimensions, play with surface and spatial relationships, and make fun of gravity.

"This is a blank sheet of paper," I tell my class. "We will transform it into an environment that seems familiar, and logical, yet will contain few recognizable objects. There are skills you need to learn to make your drawing hold together." I show them the work of past classes and they groan, "We can't do that!" and then, "Wow, it does look like outer space!"

The primary objective is: few recognizable objects. The fantasy environments, limitless as their imaginations, will have a definite feeling of reality because the drawings will be based on the idea of linear perspective. Developed by Italian Renaissance artists, the spatial technique of linear perspective correctly mimics the real world and is used to create the illusion of depth in drawing.

Linear perspective uses slanted lines to indicate shallow or vast space. The distant point, known as the vanishing point, conveys on an imaginary line at eye level, which is referred to as the horizon line. Drawing to a vanishing point is the basic exercise the students will build on, developing increasingly complex versions over the next several months.

Many of the students' abstracts will include one or more grids. Based on the idea of linear perspective, checkerboard grids create a dramatic telescopic effect, shifting inversions and projections, and constantly intriguing the viewer's eye. The students soon discover that grids are also fun to experiment with, and can be made in the form of fire, water drips, chunks of rocks, and undulating planes with vibrating patterns of alternating black and while squares.

Students also learn other ways to achieve a sense of depth and dramatic effect in their work by overlapping objects, varying the sizes of shapes, and emphasizing certain areas with light and shadows. A value chart segmented into eight parts, with shadings from light to dark is attached to all their drawings. It is a constant reminder of how gradual value changes give depth to objects and make shapes and textures appear realistic.

A few recognizable objects are allowed in the abstract, but too many create a realistic scene with limited potential to explore space. Students include familiar objects, but they are frequently joined with free-flowing organic shapes or unrelated objects to contribute to the illusion of a fantasy world. Trips to museums, viewing abstract art posters, and looking through architecture magazines and technical journals are frequent sources of inspiration.