ART 4 FUN

LEARNING TO THINK ABOUT ART

WITH A GAME OF PRETEND

by Keith Fox, UW-Madison Art Student

To some people, art is not a "heady" topic. Rather, it is something to sit back and enjoy, not something to talk about. But as 4-H'ers, we pledge our HEADS to clearer thinking. So in order to increase our enjoyment of these two wood sculptures puctured here, we need to think clearly about them, even if they do make us giggle. Let's start our discussion about these two sculptures with a game of pretend.

A reporter wants to know "just the facts." So imagine that you are a TV reporter on the evening news. There you are on TV with your news story: "Citizens of Madison saw a wood sculpture of a girl with a cat in a downtown art gallery today. It is not known why the girl has doors in her head, chest, skirt, and shins or why they are open. However, our in-the-gallery news correspondent did find a title card for the wood sculpture. The sculpture is titled Persona #3: Girl--"Okay, Honey, Say Cheese." Also, the artist's name is Gayle Marie Weitz. Stay tuned." Now you continue with the news story and describe the chubby man. I'll help you by giving you a lead-in. "Laureate Standing by Leonard Baskin is another wood sculpture in the news. We have with us today a guest 4-H'er to give us the report on this curious sculpture ..." How did he appear to the citizens of Madison? Remember, TV reporters stick to "just the facts."

Let's pretend some more. Now you're a professor and you're lecturing to university students. The same sculpture of a girl that you talked about as a TV reporter is on the screen behind you. Push your glasses up your nose and point your stick at the girl. "Overall, this sculpture has a triangular shape," you say. "Also, it has an up-and-down, that is, verticle, position in relation to the floor. Furthermore, the edges of the skirt and blouse form straight lines to enhance this up-and-downness." Next point to the cabinet doors and say, "Also, where the cabinet doors are open, 'V' shapes are created which draw our attention to the doors." Before you are able to speak again, one of your students calls out "Say, Professor, what do you consider the overall shape of the chubby man to be?" Now point your stick at the stomach of the chubby sculpture that's projected on the screen behind you and continue.

Then, after you're done with your lecture, get ready for the next phase of our game of pretend. Everybody in your 4-H Club is in a downtown art gallery giggling at these two wood sculptures. Tom says, "The chubby man looks like the principal of my school wearing only his underwear!" Molly says, "I've never seen a girl with such large feet and so many doors! I think that she's really a cabinet." Gilda says, "I think that man ate a whole watermelon."

"I think that man ate a whole watermelon."

Now let's pretend some more. While your 4-H club is in the gallery, the two artists of these sculptures appear floating above everybody on magic carpets and have heard everything. None of the 4-H'ers are aware of the two artists' presence. Both of the artists are smiling. The first artist, Leonard Baskin, says, "I made a sculpture of a leader who doesn't mind being teased as long as he's respected, too." He thinks the 4-H'ers have understood this. Gayle Marie Weitz, the other artist floating on a carpet, says, "I made a cabinet in which I placed something unusual -- a little girl from my imagination. So now I have a funny combination of a girl with a cabinet." Judging by the 4-H'ers reactions, she also thinks that they have understood her sculpture. Suddenly, the two artists take off on their magic carpets and head to their studios to start on their next sculptural pieces.

To finish our game of pretend, let's decide whether or not these two artists are right. Do their two works of art succeed? To help you make a decision, pretend that you are an art buyer for a museum. Would you want to purchase these two works? Now, before you decide, think back to what you've already discovered about these two works of art. As a TV reporter, you could clearly describe the two works of art because they were done with clarity and skill. Then, as a college professor, you reduced the figures to shapes (a triangle, for example) and showed how the artists arranged these to focus your attention. Next, your 4-H friends expressed their feelings and opinions about the meanings of the two sculptures. None of them were too far off from what the artists on the magic carpets said. So I think that the two artists are right. Their works are succesful. So as an art buyer, I would consider purchasing them for a museum. Would you?

STEPS TO ART 4 FUN

1. Describe a particular artwork and stick to the facts, just like a reporter would.

2. Act like a professor and look at the artwork "abstractly." Think of everything you see as circles, squares, and lines. Then think how all of these "abstract" shapes fit together.

3. React to the work of art with your feelings. Then imagine the artist floating above you on a magic carpet, waiting to see your reaction to her or his artwork.

4. Shop like an art buyer for a museum of art. Would you consider buying this artwork?

ARTLINE:
Drawing a Line of Communication between 4-H Art Leaders.
Volume 5, Issue I Fall (1989): 2B-3B
The United States Department of Agriculture, Wisconsin Counties Cooperating,
University of Wisconsin-Extension's Cooperative Extension Programs.
Designed by Susan Farmer an Associate Professor in the Continuing Education in the Arts
of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Wisconsin Four-H and Youth Arts Specialist.