Food and Art

Connecting food and art is a fun way to teach it and it may be something that kids can understand on an easier level. The following is a video about the people of the tribe of Makah and how meaningful food is to them. http://vimeo.com/16715795

Examples for connecting food with art theories:

Realism: Apples

This is a very real food and it doesn't really get any more real or natural than that.

Feminism: Chocolate

Every woman loves chocolate!

Expressionism: Fruit Salad

Be expressive with colorful fruit of all kinds!

Clay and Play Dough

Since I don't have a kiln or know how to use one, I think homemade play dough and other types of easy sculpting clay would be a little easier to do at home.

Edible play dough sounds great for young kids who might put things in their mouths. Here is a website with all kinds of edible play dough that would be fun and safe for kids.

For kids who are little older, here is a recipe that is easy and cheap. It can be cooked in the oven, without a kiln!

Clay Recipe

Homemade Clay for Kids

Air Dry or Oven Bake

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup hot water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional, for smoother texture)

Mix the Clay

1- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.

2- Add hot water (and optional oil if desired) and mix thoroughly.

3- Let cool until comfortable to knead (about 5 minutes).

4- Knead until smooth and pliable (about 6 minutes).

5- MAKE POTTERY AND SCULPTURES!!!!!!!

Fun Pottery Tools

Modeling Ideas

Roll out the clay with a rolling pin and cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.

Make small figurines, flowers, or beads (keep them from getting too thick for better drying).

Let them air dry, usually takes about 5 days if they aren't too thick. (Rotate twice a day.)

Paint them with acrylic or tempera paints.

Also try adding food coloring to the clay when first mixing to color the clay.

This clay can also be baked at 300 for 40 minutes or until hard. (This gives the clay a golden brown "baked" look which I like. If you want the clay to stay whiter, bake at 250 for 50 minutes or until hard.)

This recipe was found here. 

Crayola also makes a clay for kids that is pre-made but can air dry and then be decorate with paint or markers.

Just store-bought Play-Doh is fun too!

 

There are all kinds of things you can make with clay. Here are some examples to spark some ideas when doing this with your kids.

Edible Playdough:

Crayola Model Magic:

My own creation:

Finger Weaving

Finger Weaving can be taught in conjunction with the Feminist theory of art. Before the feminist movement, women were not considered artists. They were to stay at home and teach their children. They weren't considered useful for much else than this. The feminist movement allowed for women to become more apart of things and have careers that women were never allowed to have or considered to be. Women in the arts was one thing that changed drastically. Since this movement, things like quilting, weaving, and sewing, which had never been considered art have become an important art industry.

Here is a link to a website that has an extensive list of the quilting artists out their. Here are some examples of quilts, sewn art, and weaving that have been created as art:

These are so amazing! It is hard to imagine that these types of things weren't considered art for a long time.

A fun activity that corresponds to these is finger weaving. Here are some steps to follow to do it:

Have a discussion with the kids:
-Why is this considered a feminist art?
-What other things would be feminist art?
-What other things besides art represent women well?


Another fun thing for kids to do would help with a small patch work quilt. This can be connected to math by teaching them different shapes and how to create them. For example equilateral triangles have all equal sides as do squares. Both of these shapes can be used fairly easily in quilting.

Crocheting is also fun for kids and it is pretty easy to learn.

Contour Drawing

Contour drawing is a method of drawing when you don't look at the paper. With regular contour drawing, you don't draw unless you are only looking at the object you are drawing, but you can stop drawing when you check your work. Blind contour is when you don't look at all at the paper, you keep your eyes focused on the object. This is a great exercise for any age to learn how to draw what they see rather than rely on their memory. It also helps prevent drawing stylized things. It tests your ability to have a sense of scale and continuity with your art. The following is a YouTube video that may help you understand contour drawing better and help kids understand it better.

Here are some examples of contour drawing:

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As you can tell contour drawings can be of anything and sometimes you won't even be able to tell what the drawing is supposed to be of. It is definitely something that takes practice. 

Activity: have the kids hold their hand in a funny position that is not really normal (like the second picture shown). Then time them for a minute or two and have them draw their hand first without looking at their hand at all, just at their hand (blind contour) and then do it a second time when they can check their work, but only move their pencil/pen when looking at their hand.

Critical Theory and Socially Engaged Art

Critical Theory is the idea of rejecting the world from how it now exists. This theory is always in practice as people try to disrupt the way in which we think about things and the way we have always been used to doing things. Everything is always changing because as soon as people accept something as part of the norm, someone challenges that and tries to free our minds of what we consider normal.

There are many modern artists who demonstrate this idea and it would be fun to learn about some of the projects that are being done around the world and teach these to children.

One of my favorite artists who is involved in this type of critical theory art is Alfredo Jaar.

He has been involved with what he calls his "Rwanda Project." 

Here is a link to a website with a lot of information about this project and artist. There is a video that is very interesting and would be a good visual for kids to understand how his art works. 

This would be a great way to teach kids about maps and where things are in the world. Point out where we are in relation to Rwanda and Louisiana (mentioned later) in the Fundred Dollar bill project.

In this project, Alfredo Jaar is able to take a statistic which just seems like numbers to us and make it a reality. This would be a good way to make a math connection with kids and talk about the importance of representing statistics in an effective way that people will understand.

For example: how could you make statistics about diet in America be effective? What about driving carefully? Using the buddy system? 

Another Critical Theory artist is Mel Chin. 

One of his pieces is the following:

This is a fun piece to talk about with kids. You can have a discussion with them about what they think it is and why would Mel Chin put a keyboard in this formation? What effect does it have?

Another fun thing about this piece is that the keyboard actually works. You can type on it and whatever you type will be recorded on a computer which is covered by a curtain. This can also start up a conversation with little kids of how they could look at things that are so familiar to them in a different way. 

Mel Chin's Fundred Dollar Bill project would also be fun for kids to learn about and be apart of. This is a form of socially engaged artwork that has already been set up. All you need to do is make your own fundred dollar bill and send it in to be part of the cause to help those who are suffering from the lead in the soil in New Orleans.

Here you will find more information about this project and how you can be apart of it with your kids. 

One thing that I did as a socially engaged artwork was I got chalk and went to a park where I wrote "Make Your Mark." I left the chalk and let others make their mark and add to what I had left. 

This is what I found when I came back the next day:

I was excited to see that people had added to my art and had been apart of my socially engaged artwork.

Anything can be art. Some other ideas for socially engaged art would be handing out free cookies at a grocery store, changing your personality for a day, going a different way home, giving free hugs/high fives, taking a survey, etc. There are so many ways to be socially involved and do something that disrupts the norm. These are fun ways for kids to "think outside the box" and do something that may be a little out of their comfort zone. 

A big part of socially engaged artwork is the way you document it. This can happen by taking pictures, journal entries, people responding to questions, or other ways.

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis is a fun book to read to younger children to help them understand Critical Theory on a lower level This is a book that challenges what a box is, but through the eyes of a child.