Fog & Mirrors Tour, Part Three

We began our Fog & Mirrors tour by looking at sculptures from all sides.  To conclude our tour, we walked INTO two works of art for a completely immersive, whole-body experience.

Richard Serra, My Curves Are Not Mad, 1987

First, we walked through My Curves Are Not Mad by Richard Serra.  This work of art is made of two 44-feet long and 14-feet tall curved plates of metal placed just wide enough apart to accommodate a single person.  The 3rd and 4th graders walked through this work of art in past years of the GROW program, but this was the first experience for the 2nd graders.

4th grade

While inside, we paused and looked around us: down at the ground and up at the sky, to our left and right, and to the front and end of the line.

4th grade

3rd grade

3rd grade

During a typical visit, walking through My Curves Are Not Mad is the highlight for students.  However, our final artwork was arguably everyone's favorite part of the Fog & Mirrors tour.  The students were thrilled to walk into Ann Veronica Janssens's Blue, Red, and Yellow, a pavilion installed in the garden as part of her exhibition.

Ann Veronica Janssens, Blue, Red, and Yellow, 2001

As we discussed while viewing the Aquariums, scientific concepts are integral to Janssens's work.  Blue, Red, and Yellow heightens our awareness of color and light immediately after stepping inside - the pavilion is filled with artificial fog that changes colors based on nearby walls, which are (you guessed it!) blue, red, and yellow.  Fog was our final vocabluary word, and the students defined it as "a cloud touching the ground" and "water vapor."  The fog itself is so thick that you often cannot see beyond the reach of your arm.  The students tentatively yet excitedly stepped inside.

2nd grade

2nd grade

2nd grade

4th grade

4th grade

4th grade

Afterward, students wrote about their experience and sketched Blue, Red and Yellow in their journals.

3rd grade

3rd grade

4th grade

Students were asked to write down words that described their experience.  Responses varied between awesome, cool, strange, and scary (the most popular descriptions) to heavenly, epic, and "expectacular."  No matter what they wrote, the students definitely had a memorable experience!

Fog & Mirrors Tour, Part One

GROW students visited the Nasher during the past month for a tour called Fog & Mirrors. The next three blog posts will take an in-depth look at each stop on our tour.

Visit 2 Vocabulary: 

reflection / reflexión

refraction / refracción

transparent / transparente

translucent / translúcido

opaque / opaco

fog / niebla

We began by briefly reviewing the Sticks & Stones tour, recalling artist Giuseppe Penone's interest in nature and use of natural materials.  We then discussed how artists often use skills and knowledge that they might learn outside of art class, specifically science and math.  The first work of art in our tour was made by Ann Veronica Janssens, a Belgian artist who is very interested in science.  In fact, she compares her creative process (what she thinks about and how she creates a work of art) to the way a scientist conducts experiments.

The students began by sharing their observations and questions about Margarita, made by Ann Veronica Janssens in 2016.

Ann Veronica Janssens, Margarita, 2016

Students then became active viewers by standing on their tiptoes, bending over, and walking all around Margarita to view it from many angles.  They loved making discoveries as they moved, noticing multiple reflective surfaces and seeing their friends as they looked through the sculpture.  The students also enjoyed trying to figure out what created the lime green color in the sculpture that is only visible from certain angles.

2nd grade

3rd grade

4th grade

We introduced most of our vocabulary words during our discussion, including the terms transparent, translucent, opaque, reflection, and refraction. Look at the photos above and find as many examples of these words as you can!

After we talked about how Ann Veronica Janssens made Margarita, we looked at a similar work of art named Blue Wind from 2010.

Ann Veronica Janssens, Blue Wind, 2010

 3rd grade

4th grade

After walking around Blue Wind, the students discussed similarities and differences between the two sculptures.  They continued to use their vocabulary words as they connected Janssens's materials with scientific concepts.

Margarita and Blue Wind are great examples of Janssens's interest in light and color, and specifically the way her sculptures reflect and refract light.  Reflection and refraction are two of the vocabulary words for this tour.  Students were familiar with the idea of reflection, which they immediately connected with mirrors.  Refraction is a more complex concept, though the students seemed to understand this idea through the context of the sculptures.

Click on the resources below related to our tour's vocabulary, as well as an experiment that helps explain how and why light refracts.

Vocabulary words: http://www.lovemyscience.com/cat_bendinglight.html 

Refraction experiment: http://www.lovemyscience.com/bendingpencil.html

Stay tuned for the next stop on the Fog & Mirrors tour!