Wire Figure Sculpture

Students will be able to identify and

experiment with materials, tools, and

techniques appropriately and expressively in

his or her own artwork (wire, plaster gauze,

paint)

Students will be able to discuss how artworks

are used to communicate stories, ideas, and

emotions.

Art Critique

Describe what you see.

Analyze the elements and principles of art.

Interpret the meaning or mood of the artwork.

Judge the work. Is it successful and why?

City Square,

1948,

Painted

Bronze,

Museum of

Modern Art,

New York

Born in1901 in an Italian

speaking portion of Switzerland.

Father (and other family

members) was an Impressionist

artist.

Worked with figures (models)

and was never happy. Stripped

away realism (worked from

memory) and his works got

smaller and smaller.

In the years following

WW11, Giacometti

became renowned for his

tall, gaunt, figurative

sculptures that were

extremely expressive in

their simplicity.

Some see the figures as

isolated and alone. An

interpretation of the

modern state of mankind

following the horrors of

the war and the

Holocaust.

Others see strength in the

frailty of the figures as they

are determinedly standing

against adversity.

Giacometti once said that

he was not sculpting

figures, but rather the

“shadow that they cast”.

Alberto Giacometti was also influenced by

multiple styles of art and cultures including:

Pablo Picasso and Cubism

Surrealism

Primitive Art (Egyptians and Etruscans)

Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas, 349 cm × 776 cm

The Standing Woman

Portrait Bust

The Walking Man

Students will properly & SAFELY use the

wire materials and tools

Students will create a 3Dimensional wire

sculpture inspired by Giacometti.

Maximum height 12-15”

Figures are to be distorted so the figures

become disproportionately elongated

These figures are to communicate a

particular mood, emotion, or action

through their body language.

So how do we do that???

Gesture drawings are fast and capture a

moment in time.

We are going to play a game

of FREEZE GESTURE.

A student will choose a card

with a verb on it.

Act out that verb and freeze

for (10, 20, 30… seconds) so

classmates may draw the

student.

Create an armature with the wire. What is an armature?

It doesn’t need to be perfect, it is only the skeleton. The “skin” will be applied later.

After you create the basic body, create the position, or the verb of your choosing.

Remember to keep the body open: big shapes, long lines. AND show a mood or emotion.

To build up the body,

add tape, newspaper,

or foil.

You will also add a base

using a bowl,

Styrofoam, or a

material of your

choosing.

Wrap your sculpture

with plaster gauze.

Keep the gauze tight.

Finally, paint your

sculpture.

Start with a base coat

of black, then add a

metallic color (bronze,

gold, silver) and dry

brush it on to create a

metal look.

At the end of the project, each student will

be responsible for writing an artist's

statement and participating in the class

critique.

Questions???