Intro to the Guerrilla Girls

Throughout the past few weeks, students have been given 45 minutes of studio time to finish painting their masks, and the other 45 minutes of class for inquiry into the Guerrilla Girls, a feminist group who makes artwork to raise awareness of the discrimination against female artists.

Numbers speak louder than words.
The Guerrilla Girls artwork is powerful because it is based on facts, not opinions.  The Guerrilla Girls are famous for going into museums and just counting artwork.  Another way of getting information is through researching databases and also through the use of moles.

The 6th graders thought of problems that they felt strongly about and came up with questions they could answer through research or by counting.
This unit is especially relevant at a time of "alternative facts" and pervasive inequality and oppression worldwide.




we want to know...

how many women astronauts have been in space

How many boys had hang out with girls in recess in 6th grade at the Metropolitan School of Panama?

had any art work of the Guerrilla girls's art work get into any museum

how many 5th and 6th grade girls play soccer at recess

do artists never paint black skin- angels instead of always white ones?

How much time does 6B boys and girls, take to do their mask?  

MC Escher and tessellations

The fifth graders practiced plenty of tight and loose drawing with our impressionism unit.  When they were finished with their paintings, we introduced the Dutch artist MC Escher, whose work is extremely tight and geometrically logical.

We looked through various examples of his work and learned and reviewed key vocabulary which will help us with our understanding of artistic concept and method. 

Writing in our own words and using drawings helps us to develop meaningful comprehension.

Observing Escher's work every week, we have been working on a series of exercises to slowly develop a complex tessellation.  

The first exercise was simply cutting and taping of abstract shapes on a small paper, and tracing it to make it tessellate. 

Some students were able to use their creativity to turn these abstract designs into figurative ones.

 

The following activity was similar, except there was no cutting or taping involved - only drawing and folding.  Instead of tracing the outside of the shape, we traced using carbon paper. 

Then students were given time to develop simple drawings into more creative and thoughtful designs.  

 

They were allowed to use observation by looking up images of animals on their iPads, and encouraged to make many drafts in order to not get stuck or blocked.  And to always keep documentation of their progress.