Vibrations in the soul.

"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul."

--Wassily Kandinsky

As artists of many centuries have known, there is a psychology and spirituality behind every color, every shape, and every movement. In his pioneering work, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Wassily Kandinsky explained his vision to free art from material reality to inner life. He called for a spiritual revolution that would allow artists to express their own inner lives in abstract, nonobjective form. He believed that in true art there is a soul (expressionism) without which the body (skill) can never be healthy. He further explained that "while connoisseurs admire skill, hungry souls go hungry away."

As art educators, it is our responsibility to nurture not only the student's skill, but even more importantly, the student's inner life. When a child is not worried about the judging of his or her technical skills, the result is a freshness of vision. The artwork serves as both a catharsis and a discovery process. "I want to discover who I am, how I feel, and maybe even why," says one child. "I have thoughts and feelings inside of me, and I need to express them," says another. Even a simple, "Please listen," "Look at me," or "I matter," is being said.

Abstract Expressionism

Begin by introducing students to the nonobjective works of the abstract expressionists, such as Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, etc. Give students a clear understanding of the difference between objective and nonobjective art. Have them discuss the difference between looking outward and looking inward. Sit them in a circle and ask them to describe each other both outwardly (gender, hair color, shirt color, etc.) and inwardly (personality traits, favorite things, how they might be feeling, etc.).

Sounds, Emotions, and Words

With almost primitive wisdom, Kandinsky stated that every color has a sound, every shape has a movement, every word has a shape. For example, loud electric guitar music might imply bright orange or black, while gentle flute music might imply pale blue or white. The word "silly" might have an upward, swinging line quality; while the word "sad" might have a slow, dragging, downward line quality. Even young students can intuitively pick up on this artistic insight.

The Nonobjective Self-Portrait

Turn down the lights in the room to create an inward, rather than outward, focus. Have students silently begin drawing line qualities, based on words that you name and music that you play. Change the music quality every five minutes. Their line qualities will change along with the music. Lines should overlap and go off all sides of the page. Work with large paper and freely.

Demonstrate how to use oil pastels and watercolors, blending values of light, medium, and dark of each color. Ask students to find shapes that their line compositions may have spontaneously formed. Have them fill in these shapes with values of oil pastels. They can then fill in other areas with watercolor if they wish.

The last step incorporates the use of black oil pastel for contrast. Have students think of the one word that describes how they are feeling right now. Tell them to place that line quality or shaped section in black somewhere on their composition. They can finish by adding other touches of black oil pastel for contrast and balance.

Adaptations for Special Needs

This is also a quintessential project for any special needs class. It is process-oriented, not product-oriented. It engages and amazes the child with its cause and effect relationships and the discovery of the materials themselves. The delightful stimulation of the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactual sensations will give the child physical impressions of pleasure and contentment. Perhaps most importantly, it allows the child to express himself or herself in a nonthreatening and nonjudgmental environment, and have a mastery experience while doing so.

References

Feldman, Edmund Burke. Varieties of Visual Experience. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1992.

Kandinsky, Wassily. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. New York: Dover, 1977.

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas.

WEB LINK

www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/ kandinsky_wassily.htm

Tracy Ellyn is an art teacher at Ammons Middle School in Miami, Florida, and a contributing editor for SchoolArts. [e-mail]

Here are a few sample charts
to get you started:

Every color has a movement

Red          upward, outward, pulsating movement
Orange       zigzag movement
Blue         downward, inward, circular movement
Black        straight, heavy, strong line
White        stillness

Every color has a sound:

Orange       electric guitar
Blue         harp, flute
Brown        cello
Black        noise
White        silence

Every sound or word has a shape:

Dawn         thin, soft, horizontal, floating oval
Anger        bold, large, agitated starburst
Confusion    spiral, cyclone
Silliness    bouncy, amoeba-like shape
Winter       stiff repetitions of skinny rectangles

Materials

* 18 x 24"
(46 x 61
cm) colored
paper or
white paper

* oil pastels

* watercolors

* brushes and
water