That's not garbage, it's art! - recycling renaissance - Brief Article

Arts & Activities, June, 2001 by Lisa Arthur

International school teachers move a lot. Every few years, we pack up all of our earthly possessions and send them on to our new country and begin to think about what life will be like at our new schools.

I moved from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to Manila, Philippines, in August 2000. I brought with me several cubic meters worth of what could best be described as "stuff." When my crates arrived, I began to unpack, put my things away and make my new house my home.

When everything was in its proper place, I looked in my living room and was confronted by a mountain of boxes and wooden palettes. I looked at the refuse from my move and thought it would be a shame to throw it all out, but what could be done with it? Art teachers are said to never throw anything away and I am no exception. I bundled the stuff up and shoved it into a back room of my house, certain that I would find some use for it

Several weeks later, I went to the school library and checked out the latest copy of Artnews. I was flipping through it and saw an advertisement for Frank Stella's latest show. The work had that "Stella look" to it but was a bit unique, as it was made up of cut wooden shapes, painted in bright colors and patterns and then pieced together to make a collage. "That's it!" I said to myself.

The next day, I hauled all of the materials left over from my move into school and scattered them about the art room. I saw the project clearly in my head, but was not sure how to relate it to my high-school level "Introduction to Art" students.

I collected as many slides of Stella's work as I could find and presented them to my class. I then explained how we would use the palettes as a base and then add painted and cut-out pieces of cardboard with glue guns, staple guns and nails. I also suggested the students choose a theme and base their Stella-esque assemblage on that theme.

Some of the students chose representational themes such as the ocean or war, and others chose abstract themes such as colors or shapes. The students also started to collect things from their homes and bring them in to use on their assemblages. The classroom was getting rather full of "stuff" by this time.

I asked the students to work in groups and advised them to paint the cut-out shapes and found objects before creating their assemblages. I reminded the students to consider the elements and principles of art while they were organizing their compositions. The biggest difficulty was figuring out how to add all of the materials to the base. Some objects like metal pieces could not be glued or stapled, but a little creative problem-solving surmounted most of the difficulties.

When the projects were finished, they were bright, textured and very BIG. They were also quite heavy, and hanging them was more difficult than I had anticipated. Thankfully, the school's carpenter was willing to help me. we found some extra-strong wire and large O hooks. We attached the wire to the pieces and drilled the hooks into the cement wall in the open-air hallway. The assemblages looked beautiful displayed in the corridor, giving only a hint of their former lives as mere "stuff."

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* understand and apply media, techniques and processes related to the visual arts.

* identify, define and solve problems creatively using a variety of artistic skills, media and techniques.

* learn ways in which various art media can be integrated.

* explore their creative abilities in the visual arts.

* make and justify judgments about the aesthetic qualities of their own artworks and the artworks of others.

MATERIALS

* Cardboard

* Bubble wrap

* Wood scraps in various shapes and sizes

* Broken tiles, glass and mirrors

* Hammer, nails in various sizes and saw

* Glue gun, glue sticks and wood glue

* Staple gun and staples

* Paints and brushes

* Any old bit of "trash" that looks interesting

Lisa Arthur is a high school art teacher at The International School Manila in Manila, Philippines. She can be reached at ArthurL@ismanila.com.