Real or Not Real Tour, Part Three

We began by sketching this sculpture for our final tour stop:

Clothespin by Claes Oldenburg

Do you recognize this object? How is a clothespin used? Why it is called a clothespin? 

The artist, Claes Oldenburg, is known for making sculptures of everyday objects. We saw one two years ago titled Typewriter Eraser. 

Oldenburg often makes his sculptures of everyday objects MUCH bigger than the actual object. Oldenburg made a monumental version of this sculpture - in other words, a REALLY big clothespin that is 45 feet tall and 12 feet wide!

Clothespin, Center Square Plaza in Philadelphia, 1976, Cor-Ten and stainless steel
Photo credit: R. Tarver for GPTMC

To finish our tour, students imagined what this big clothespin might hold. Some examples: a big bag of chips, the nose of a dad changing a dirty diaper, and socks! 

3rd grade

4th grade

4th grade

5th grade

5th grade

Odd Jewels Tour, Part Two

Since the first part of the Odd Jewels tour focused on three artworks, we had just one more stop on the tour.  Students began by sketching the sculpture below.  Then, they took the role of the artist and made up a title for the sculpture.

This sculpture was made in 1976 and is an enlarged version of something that was found in every office at that time.  Do you recognize this object?  It might be hard to recognize taken out of its original context and placed in an art museum. (Don't scroll down until you're ready for the answer!)

Typewriter Eraser by Claes Oldenburg

The artist Claes Oldenburg enjoyed playing in his father's office when he was a young child.  He has said that this work was the result of “thinking about what might fall out of an office building.”  Does this sculpture look like a falling eraser?  Why or why not?

3rd grade 

3rd grade 

4th grade 

4th grade 

5th grade

5th grade

5th grade

If you were asked to make a sculpture based on an object that you would find in an office today, what would you choose?