Contemporary cave art: elementary.Significant Problem Cave paintings from 17,000 years ago included symbols both realistic (e.g., animals) and abstract (e.g., flying forks). For a contemporary twist on my usual cave art cave art: see Paleolithic art; rock carvings and paintings. lesson, I asked my fifth grade students to compare the ancient cave painting at Lascaux with Adolph Gottlieb's twentieth-century abstract, The Seer. Gottieb's painting is also based on symbols--some recognizable; some abstract. Other similarities noted were his use of earth colors n. pl. 1. colors like those of soil or earth; brownish-reds and browns. , simplicity of composition, and "mysteriousness." Inspired by these amazing artists, students began their own version of "contemporary cave art" by developing an abstract personal symbol in two simple steps. On 12 x 18" (31 x 46 cm) gray paper, students chalk-sketched several things that represented who they are, such as a musical instrument, paintbrush (graphics, tool) Paintbrush - A Microsoft Windows tool for creating bitmap graphics. , or soccer ball. It was required that each image touch another, so that they all were connected. Then selected lines were erased between them to create one big, abstracted symbol that filled most of the paper. The resulting simplified shapes and spaces were then filled in with paint colors from the cave artist's palette: golden ochre, brick red, yellow, brown, black, and white. For emphasis and a finishing touch, the designs were carefully outlined in black paint. To compose our own wall of art, the paintings were finally mounted on black paper and arranged on a gold-toned cork bulletin board. The resulting display intrigued, pleased, and surprised me. I realized that, with fresh inspiration from both Lascaux and Gottlieb, we had created something new. These paintings were not just a reproduction, but rather a reinterpretation re·in·ter·pret tr.v. re·in·ter·pret·ed, re·in·ter·pret·ing, re·in·ter·prets To interpret again or anew. re of great art from the ancient and more recent past. ClipCard submitted by Lil Cooney, an elementary art teacher for the Fairfax County Public Schools The Fairfax County Public Schools system (abbreviated FCPS) is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. at Louise Archer Elementary School elementary school: see school. in Vienna, Virginia Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 14,453 at the 2000 census and it has grown by about 3% since[1]. In July of 2005, CNN/Money and Money . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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