I have been SO busy these past few weeks. I neglected you. I started working on a teacher sample for the "In A Natural Fashion" lesson plan featured in a previous post - still in progress. CHECK OUT THE SKIN - I am becoming my snake.
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| Each animal attribute tells a story about me! More to come... |
My concept behind the design of the robot was to create a form that only functioned in one arrangement - much like a puzzle. If you remove one piece from the 'machine' the rest of the robot would not function properly and the circuit would no longer be completed. Have I mentioned how I pretend to be a science teacher sometimes? Cause I do...
I will be firing this first round of underglaze designs this week and am hoping for the best! Also, I received my in-process critique grade: earned an A thus far!
Last week I was busy enjoying my spring break and having some time to relax but I am back to business and really excited sharing about this long-delayed lesson idea :)
In most of my Art Education textbooks there has been some mention of using outdoor design as a learning tool. As an avid HGTV, Ground Force viewer, (anyone remember that AWESOME show? I'm a weirdo, I know) and gardener myself I have often wanted to experience the unique challenge of formally designing an outdoor space. Flower boxes and houseplants can only entertain me for so long, guys - it's time to think bigger. It's time to tackle a garden plan.
Ground Force 2.0
Why Gardening?
To follow my overarching unit Nature and Culture, students will continue to learn about how culture and nature collide, interact, complement, and function as disparate elements in the same space.
All students will have varying familiarity with gardens, whether they have a small flower patch in their yard or live within walking distance of a large public garden.
Students can gain inspiration and ideas from viewing designs and works by artists and garden designers. I have had the privilege to travel in Europe and see some of the most beautiful gardens humans have designed and contributed to culture. I would like to provide my students with the opportunity to see images of these gardens as well as encourage them to find garden sites in their daily life. Golf courses, walking paths, road medians, city parks, and even race tracks utilize horticulture for function and beauty.
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| UNESCO Garden, Isamu Noguchi |
- View designs and gardens created by contemporary and more well-known artists/designers
- Discuss how nature can change an environment
- Discuss different types of gardens, their purposes, and assign descriptive language to better understand rationales for creating and designing gardens
- Create connections to real-life, relevant job skills and knowledge
- Teach students about local plants and build basic botanical knowledge for garden planning
- Teach students about birds eye view drawing as well as landscape sketches
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| Dedemsvaart, the Netherlands, Mien Ruys |
Key Concepts
- Nature and culture interact with each other
- Nature and culture depend on each other
- Nature informs culture
Essential Questions for Lesson
- How does nature beautify and influence culture?
- How do gardens serve different purposes?
Lesson Plan
Breaking Ground
Investigating Community Themes: Consider local gardens and natural spaces. Also, view designs and sculpture gardens by Isamu Noguchi and Piet Oudolf. Think about the plants, rocks, water features (sorry, Ground Force), and design elements used in community outdoor spaces. I would love to have students be able to ACTUALLY implement a final design or design elements to a local space or even their own school grounds. Site-specificity will help students reign in some of their ideas while making them think about the purpose and audience for their decorative space. Other options could be rooftop gardens, backyard ponds (with fish?!), zoo exhibits, or maybe a student encounters a space that just feels 'empty'. The possibilities are pretty exciting!
Comparison and Discussion: What makes a garden a garden? Consider the work of the Society of Garden Designers, and Mien Ruys. Notice the many different TYPES of gardens (memorial, produce [farming/green living], zen, labyrinths) and discuss possible rationales for design choices. Do certain gardens create specific moods or messages? We will discuss different types of gardens and pair them with words and emotions to describe them.
Empowered Making: What cannot be included in a garden? Will students limit themselves to local plants? How can we explore this lesson through a Green Critical Lens (Keifer-Boyd and Maitland-Gholson, 2007)? "Rather than the current art market's concern about authenticity, ownership, and investment, a green critical approach to visual culture is sensitive to the concept of place, to how a work's surrounding influence viewing and understanding, and to the degree to which the viewer is invited to take a proactive, ecological stance. One artist I want students to consider is Mel Chin - Revival Field. Chin sought to repair the damage humans have done to a specific outdoor site by using certain types of plants to 'clean' the soil and surrounding earth. Chin's work directly impacted the environment in a positive way. Again, site-specificity will help students reign in some of their ideas while making them think about the purpose and audience for their decorative space.
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| Revival Field Blueprints, Mel Chin |
Isamu Noguchi
Piet Oudolf
Society of Garden Designers
Mien Ruys
Mel Chin - Revival Field
Garden Visit - How to design a Garden
Gather
Students will be encouraged to keep a 'garden journal' in their sketchbooks. In this journal they will make note of local natural spaces, do quick sketches of gardens or spaces that inspire or interest them, brainstorm ideas for plants and elements to include in final designs, and create pre-sketches. Keeping in-class notes during discussions and presentations will be helpful to the brainstorming process as well.
Draw
Quick sketches, on-site sketches, and a final drawing will be required for this unit. If applicable, visits will be made to local natural spaces and/or community gardens for sketching, discussion, and brainstorming. Drawing is an integral aspect of this lesson plan; students will learn about placement, measuring, different methods for garden designing, and how to create 'green prints' (aka blue prints).
Write and Record
As you begin to draw and plan your ideas may change.
Write: your inspirations, your favorite gardens/spaces, your research/findings, your green prints, and your steps to completion. Were you inspired by something you saw in class (an artist or a fellow student)? What is the rationale for your design?
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| High Line, Piet Oudolf |
Moving Forward...
So here is where things get interesting.. I am playing with LOTS of different ways to expand upon final drawings. I am leaning towards having students create models and/or dioramas of their gardens. As per a suggestion in one of my textbooks one teacher had her 3rd graders create "dry gardens in aluminum pie plates". If the students are older I think I would go bigger and possibly have students work in groups to create LARGE models. I have done projects like this before in other classes and it would be fun to see what students came up with to suggest trees, shrubs, fountains, what-have-you... I might also have students create transparency drawings and encourage overlapping designs between each other's ideas. I AM GETTING MORE IDEAS. I should stop... but really. This is something I want to do with high school students for many reasons. And again, I think it would completely awesome to be able to design for an actual space either on campus or in the neighborhood! I dream big. Always.
... I just miss the GRASS, guys! I haven't seen pavement since October. It was 54 degrees outside today which is CRAZY for Marquette at this time of year. I think it's time for spring... Or maybe just time for a new houseplant!
Happy March :)
Ms. Kanak
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