Categories
- Curriculum: Art | Community Service
- Age/Grade: Middle School | Above 14
- Subject: Sculpture | Exhibition
- Materials: Mixed Media
- Institution: Realschule Zell
- Location: Zell, Germany
- Duration: 5 - 7 Classes
Description
This 8th grade class from Germany was invited to creat a doublesided mosaic for a local community bus stop.
Objective
To introduce students to the life and work of Keith Haring.
To emphasize and encourage teamwork and communication between two classes from two different schools.
To explore mosaic as a technical medium and form of expression.
To establish an understanding based in experience, of the nature of public art.
Materials
DESIGN
White paper
Pencils
Felt-tip markers
Overhead project transparency paper
Overhead projector
TILES
Tile adhesive/grout
Hammer
Material to fill in the gaps/masonry concrete
Ladders
Spatulas
Buckets
Rubber gloves
Old towels
Old sheets used for rags
Procedure
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
At the beginning of the school year, our 8th grade class was asked by the Mayor of Bullay if we would like to create an art project at the local railway station. Bullay is a small town near our school in Zell. The Mayor wanted us to design the two walls of the passageway taht leads from the local bus stop to the platforms of the railway station.
DRAWING THE DESIGNS
1. Students designed pictures and drew them with pencils on paper.
2. Students colored their drawings in with felt-tip markers.
3. Students voted on the two most suitable designs- one for each side of the wall.
4. Students copied the drawings on to transparency paper.
5. Students then transferred the drawing onto old wallpaper with the help of an overhead projector.
6. Students traced the image in the size they needed to cover the entire length and width of the walls.
PROJECT DAY AT THE BULLAY RAILWAY STATION/BUS STOP
1. At the railway station, the students put tracing paper under the picture on the wallpaper and traced the picture with a led pencil so that the picture could be seen on the walls.
2. We drew the outlines of the picture with a black marker.
3. Some students broke the tiles with a hammer into smaller pieces, other prepared the tile adhesive and some students started to stick the tiles to the wall.
4. After the lunch break at 2pm, the students began to fill in the gaps between the tiles.
5. After the filler had dried, we tore the bedsheets into smaller pieces of cloth to remove the filler from the tiles and to polish them so that the mosaic was visible again. The students finished their work at 7pm.
Questions
How does this finished artwork compare to your vision or expectations of the project?
What challenges did you come across throughout your process? How did you resolve these challenges?
What do you want other people to feel and think about when they encounter this mosaic?
How did you accomplish conveying these ideas through your material and technical processes?
What did you learn about working with another class of students? How did they help to make this a more impressive piece of art?.
What makes public art different than art that you do at school or at home on your own?
What do you think it feels like to come across a piece of public art in an unlikely place?
Are you giving to the community? How?
Extensions
If you are interested in using this lesson, please make sure that you seek the approval of your local public transportation authority, and any other involved parties before initiating this project.
