Talking Heads Tour, Part One

So...I accidentally skipped writing about the 3rd and 5th graders' second tour, Talking Heads. Oops! 😆 Let's travel back in time to last fall.

Vocabulary: 

portrait / retrato 

found object / objeto encontrado 

assemblage / el montaje 

​pose / la pose 

primary colors / colores primarios

We put on our (imaginary) debate caps at our first stop. After dividing into partners, one partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures below are similar.  The other partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures are different. Then, we used our observations to debate whether the two artworks had more in common or more differences. What do you think?

 

3rd grade

3rd grade

3rd grade

3rd grade

3rd grade

5th grade

5th grade

Who do you think the people represented in these sculptures could be? What are some clues that tell us who they are?

On the left is a portrait of a person named Hiawatha, who lived almost 500 years ago (works of art based on real people are called portraits). Hiawatha is known for helping to unite five different groups of indigenous peoples to create the Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha and a woman named Jigonhsasee helped spread the message of a man known as the Great Peacemaker. Together, they encouraged the different fighting groups to make peace and work together. 

To make this sculpture, the artist Jess combined different things that he found or collected, also called found objects. A found object is a natural or man-made object, or fragment of an object, that is found or sometimes bought by an artist. You might think of this sculpture as a 3-dimensional collage. Another word you might use is assemblage. 

Left: Jess, Hiawatha,1962
Right: Jeff Koons, Louis XIV, 1986

On the right is a portrait of King Louis XIV of France. Louis lived 300 years ago and was king for 72 years, the longest of any king in Europe! He believed he was the best and only choice for king of France. 

Louis had many paintings and sculptures made of him. He wanted his portraits to look strong, young, brave. Some clues that this sculpture is of Louis XIV are his fine clothing and signature hairstyle. The artist Jeff Koons cast this sculpture from stainless steel. 

3rd grade

5th grade

Before we moved to our next stop, we imagined how we might pose if an artist made a portrait of us, showing that we were strong leaders. How would you pose?

3rd grade