Teaching Abstraction Without Using the Word "Abstraction"
This is an exercise developed for the teens at the Wyoming Girls School Juvenile Detention Center in Sheridan, Wyoming. I worked with 48 teenage girls and about 12 staff members to develop this detailed exercise over several workshop periods. I was interested in seeing if I could get the girls to think and work abstractly without even saying the word "abstraction".
1. A warm-up exercise with colored cards in 17 shades of black, white and grey. The students warm-up their eyes and thinking by identifying and arranging a grey scale of at least five shades from black to white.
2. The second part brings more complication as I introduce color, 314 different shade. The students are asked to choose colors that are associated with certain ideas such as joy, sadness, beauty, and optimism.
3. In the last part go through the same list of choices but this time the exercise is done with an enormous variety of collage materials, thereby adding complexity with even more color, pattern, and texture. The students then make a collage with the materials they have chosen
Working Abstractly Without Using the Word "Abstraction"
Grey scale warmup:
Just like with physical exercise when we do stretches or other exercises to warm up our muscles and our bodies, we are going to do some exercises to warm up our brains and eyes.
Set Black, White, & Grey Color-aid papers in the middle of each work table so that several students are sharing the pile.
1. Make a grey scale which contains colors from black to white. Try for at least 6 or 7 shades.
Have students collect and stack black, white, and grey and give them color Color-aid papers for the next exercise.
Color association warmup:
We are adding the complexity of color to our warmup and are going to do an exercise about making color choices.
Make space in front of you on the table for the pieces you are going to choose. There will be 16 of them.
I’m going to say a word and I’d like you to pick a color that you feel is related to that word.
1. Pick a dark color.
2. Pick a light color.
3. Pick a warm color such as red, yellow, and orange. Warm colors evoke warmth because they remind us of things like the sun or fire.
4. Pick a cool color such as blue, green, and purple (violet). Cool colors evoke a cool f Feeling because they remind us of things like water or grass.
5. Pick a color you think is beautiful.
6. Pick a color you think is ugly.
7. Pick a color that makes you feel relaxed.
8. Pick a color that makes you feel anxious, the opposite of relaxed,
9. Pick a color you think expresses joy.
10. Pick a color you think expresses sadness.
11. Pick a color that is quiet.
12. Pick a color that is loud.
13. Pick a color that represents the future.
14. Pick a color that represents the past.
15. Pick a color that feels heavy to you.
16. Pick a color that feels light to you.
17. Pick a color you think is strange.
18. Pick a color that makes you feel optimistic or hopeful.
19. Take a look at all of your choices.
What do you notice?
Look at the choices of everyone else.
Everyone is unique. What do you notice about the colors that others have chosen? There is no other person in the whole world like you and your color choices reflect the unique person that you are.
20. Arrange your colors in an array from dark to light like we did with the black, white, and grey and the colors.
21. See if you can make an alternating pattern with your pieces?
Dark and light or warm and cool.
Have the students collect and stack the colors. Put colors away.
Give each student a background paper, scissors, and glue stick. Set collage papers in the middle of each table.
Collage Exercise:
We’re going to make some decisions with these new materials, similar to the ones we made when we looked at color. But now there are many more choices. More complex choices. I want you to choose very carefully.
1. Describe the materials: Japanese paper etc. Lots of choices.
2. If you don’t find the piece you need, speak up and ask for others to help you.
3. Pick a dark piece.
4. Pick a light piece.
5. Pick a warm colored piece such as red, yellow, and orange. Warm colors evoke warmth because they remind us of things like the sun or fire.
6. Pick a cool colored piece such as blue, green, and purple (violet). Cool colors evoke a cool feeling because they remind us of things like water or grass.
7. Pick a piece you think is beautiful.
8. Pick a piece you think is ugly.
9. Pick a piece that makes you feel relaxed.
10. Pick a piece that makes you feel anxious, the opposite of relaxed,
11. Pick a piece you think expresses joy.
12. Pick a piece you think expresses sadness.
13. Pick a piece that is quiet.
14. Pick a piece that is loud.
15. Pick a piece that represents the future.
16. Pick a piece that represents the past.
17. Pick a piece that feels heavy to you.
18. Pick a piece that feels light to you.
19. Pick a piece you think is strange.
20. Pick a piece that makes you feel optimistic or hopeful.
21. Arrange your colors in an array from dark to light like we did with the black, white, and grey and the colors.
22. Look at the back side of all of your pieces to see if you like it better. Sometimes that is more interesting.
23. The page itself is part of the composition called the negative space, or the space surrounding the pieces you have chosen. Use your background page and move your pieces around on it to explore the negative space. Try to make an interesting shape with the negative space or how much of the page is showing?
24. When you start making your own individual collages in a few minutes there will be many other composition choices to make:
25. Decide on your page orientation: horizontal or vertical (landscape or portrait). Sometime the page orientation can change. You might experiment with moving the page around when you are working on your collage to see if you like it better with a different orientation.
26. You can decide to put everything in the middle of the page, not touching the edge.
You can have the pieces touch one or more of the edges of the page?
You can have the pieces overlap.
You can have the pieces all separated from each other.
The pieces can all be within the border of the page, or the pieces can continue off of the edge of the page. It’s all up to you. YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER THE CHOICES YOU MAKE AND THE WORLD YOU
WANT TO CREATE HERE IN YOUR ART.
27. Demonstrate the repositionable glue stick.
We are now going to make a collage using the background paper, scissors, glue
stick and the collage materials that you have chosen.
28. You are welcome to use the pieces you chose, or to chooses other pieces.
29. WHEN WE MAKE ART WE WELCOME ALL PARTS OF OURSELVES. WE CONSIDER EVERYTHING: THE BEAUTIFUL, AND THE NOT SO BEAUTIFUL, OUR HOPE, OUR SADNESS, OUR PAST, AND OUR FUTURE.
29. THERE IS NOT RIGHT OR WRONG WAY TO MAKE A COLLAGE.
There is only your way.
30. TAKE SOME TIME TO THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT THE PLACEMENT OF YOUR
PIECES; spending some time moving pieces around before deciding that you are
ready to glue everything down.
31. You may also change the shape of pieces by cutting or tearing them.
30. You can add marker if you like.
Put markers out.
31. When you feel your collage is complete, go ahead and glue it down.
We are making abstract collages because we were thinking abstractly about color and associating different thoughts and feelings with what we were looking at and choosing.
Use this if students are interested:
Art does not need to look like anything real, but can achieve different effects using shapes, lines, colors, and textures.
Art can still be “about” anything, or it can just be about what you see.
Sometimes it is about something that is hard to show or can’t be shown in a regular picture like feelings. Or isn’t a specific anything… Sometimes the artist gives you a clue to the meaning of a piece through its title.
Talking about the artwork:
Hang up the work with tape or lay on table to discuss.
Let’s go around the room and I’d like each of you can say something about your collage
1. What was most interesting to you about what we did today?
2. Tell us something about your piece such as its title or what you think your piece means, or is about.
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