Recycled Fashion 2014

 

 This year was the second annual fashion show from recycled materials.  Freshmen in my Honors Art 1 classes worked in teams to design an outfit made almost entirely out of recycled materials. Each group member created one aspect of the outfit.  The process from start to finish was much like last year's, so if you want more details on how it unfolded step-by-step, please go to last year's Project Greenway... post.  Each group built armatures (under-structures) for their outfit, and then attached the surface treatment.  For the most part they were not allowed to use hot glue and instead combined other attachment methods such as hand-sewing, paper mache' and stapling. So much creative problem solving occurred in those 6 weeks! Once again the unit culminated with a fashion show in the hallway and we invited other classes to watch and vote for their favorite outfit.  It was tons of fun and the students really hammed it up on the runway.  Here are some photos of most of the completed garments and outfits (plus a few in-process photos).

Sculpture Experiments

Leading up to a longer pottery project, students explored different ways of making sculpture and forms using cardboard and paper. 

For one of the exercises, students viewed images of how architects create models for buildings, and explored examples of how different types of nets create forms.



   
Next, students chose a net to put together by tracing shapes or making their own. 


 
 









 Next, students used tabs, tape and glue to connect their shapes and put their net close to together.  Before putting it together for good, they used an X-Acto blade to cut negative space shapes and windows into their structure.






 Next, students closed their forms all the way and had some fun combining their forms and taking photos of the possible combinations.  In this way, new ideas for sculptures and buildings were found. 

 

For another experiment, students learned about Jean Dubuffet and geometric and organic shapes. Students drew organic and geometric shapes and learned how to notch or slice and tab the shapes together. At the end of the day, each sculpture had to stand on its own without collapsing and without glue.
Note: these sculptures are best enjoyed by imagining they are humongous public sculptures made to play on, inside a sculpture park!

 

 Finally, students engaged in a one-day experiment to see what kind of sculpture could be made from a single piece of paper.  They intuitively tucked, curled, wove and perforated the paper to create spontaneous 3-D forms without any glue or tape.

 During this week of exploration, students also completed a homework assignment to brainstorm ideas for representational and non-representational sculptures.