Lesson Reflection
Casting is a process used in creating sculptures by pouring liquid material into a hollow mold. The material cools and hardens
into a solid form. Typically, the casting process is used when working with metals such as aluminum, copper, and bronze. For this lesson we used Plaster of Paris which works the in the same manner. We began the lesson by examining many different kinds of discarded materials—trash. Discussions about waste and the impact on the environment were lead by essential questions such as: How do we decide what is trash? How does trash impact your life and the life of others? I was very impressed with the level of insight students offered in their responses and how quick they were to suggest many items of exploration were not trash but materials to recycle or reuse. This was a great transition to the artmaking activities. Many artists use discarded and recycled materials in their artwork. Vik Muniz created a series of photographs, Pictures of Garbage, by filling in portraits with items from a Rio de Jneiro landfill. Later on the lesson, we watched a short video clip of his process and reasoning for creating art out of the landfill items. His work addresses the impact of waste on the environment and human beings. I selected one trash item, discarded toys, to be the central focus of our artmaking activity. The plaster casting process began by making impressions in a clay mold with discarded toys. We experimented with the different kind of marks and patterns each toy can make. The students loved this part of the lesson! I encouraged the students to reflect on the abundance of toys in our daily life as they were creating mandala-like radial designs. After practice, a final clay mold was created. Plaster was then poured into the clay molds to fill in the small indentions and surfaces. The plaster hardens and is then removed from the clay mold. Once the plaster sculptures were cleaned they were painted in one color to help each impression stand out.
The individual mandala-inspired castings will be arranged together to form a stunning and thought-provoking display as viewers may ask themselves, “Is that a play fork in the artwork?” The transformation of trash into art can draw attention to the ever present issue of waste in daily life.
Click a photo to enlarge.
Casting is a process used in creating sculptures by pouring liquid material into a hollow mold. The material cools and hardens
into a solid form. Typically, the casting process is used when working with metals such as aluminum, copper, and bronze. For this lesson we used Plaster of Paris which works the in the same manner. We began the lesson by examining many different kinds of discarded materials—trash. Discussions about waste and the impact on the environment were lead by essential questions such as: How do we decide what is trash? How does trash impact your life and the life of others? I was very impressed with the level of insight students offered in their responses and how quick they were to suggest many items of exploration were not trash but materials to recycle or reuse. This was a great transition to the artmaking activities. Many artists use discarded and recycled materials in their artwork. Vik Muniz created a series of photographs, Pictures of Garbage, by filling in portraits with items from a Rio de Jneiro landfill. Later on the lesson, we watched a short video clip of his process and reasoning for creating art out of the landfill items. His work addresses the impact of waste on the environment and human beings. I selected one trash item, discarded toys, to be the central focus of our artmaking activity. The plaster casting process began by making impressions in a clay mold with discarded toys. We experimented with the different kind of marks and patterns each toy can make. The students loved this part of the lesson! I encouraged the students to reflect on the abundance of toys in our daily life as they were creating mandala-like radial designs. After practice, a final clay mold was created. Plaster was then poured into the clay molds to fill in the small indentions and surfaces. The plaster hardens and is then removed from the clay mold. Once the plaster sculptures were cleaned they were painted in one color to help each impression stand out.
The individual mandala-inspired castings will be arranged together to form a stunning and thought-provoking display as viewers may ask themselves, “Is that a play fork in the artwork?” The transformation of trash into art can draw attention to the ever present issue of waste in daily life.
Click a photo to enlarge.