Sculpture Class: Gargoyle Carving

Concept: Fantasy (fantastic/imaginary/legendary creatures):

Instructional objectives:

FAC.2: Students will understand that sculpture, ceramic and craft objects can have beauty, function, value and meaning.

FAC.9: Students will examine internal and external information about sculpture, ceramic and craft objects.

FAC.12: Students will investigate how sculpture, ceramic and craft objects are influenced by traditions, communities, and personal values and beliefs.

FAC.17: Students will develop a knowledge base from various sources for making sculpture, ceramic and craft objects.

FAC.18: Students will create a sculpture, ceramic or craft object that serves a purpose.

Enduring Understandings:

- Art can have different values and meanings for the viewer and the artist. - Artworks can have multiple meanings. - Art is a reflection of time, place, and culture. - Art making serves different purposes such as personal, community, and global. - Art making is about experimenting and risk taking with ideas and art materials.

Essential Questions:

- How do we know what an artwork means? - How do our beliefs (about art or otherwise) influence the ways we perceive, interpret, and evaluate artworks? - How does the artist’s intent influence your interpretation of an artwork? - Throughout time, how have artists reflected their cultures through art? - In what ways does your artworks tell you about who you are, what you like to do, and what is important to you?

Students will: KNOW: UNDERSTAND: DO: - Original/historical - Meaning/purpose of art - Webquest purposes of gargoyles changes over time with - Preliminary sketches - What is relief/reduction historical context, artist’s - Written narrative sculpture/carving intent , and viewers’ - Carve relief sculpture knowledge and gargoyles that serve a interpretation. purpose as designated - Safety concerns and by the artist. procedures for handling the materials (foam)

Art-making/Design problem:

- Create a gargoyle (a “stone” creature) out of foam using a reduction process and must exhibit: o Carving from at least three sides. o A space that goes all the way through the form o The student’s name carved somewhere on the block o Begin working with large basic shapes and work to fine details. o Gesso-ing (priming) the surface of the foam to seal it from deteriorating. Use paint/color to accentuate texture and depth.

Learning plan:

Day One: Intro to Gargoyles

- WARM-UP (While students are entering, first 5 minutes): What’s it made of? Featuring Lion 2, Used tire sculpture by Yong Ho Ji. o Ss think about what the sculpture is made of and how it was made (what gives it shape/allows it to stand? Is it solid/hollow?). Is it something they could make with similar materials? (if this warm-up activity is successful, we may repeat it at the beginning of future sessions) - Greet Class. Explain that we’re going to be making gargoyles. Before we make our own gargoyles, we need to know what a gargoyle is: what they were used for, what they mean, and how they are made. - What do students know about gargoyles? What are they made of? (We’ll be making ours out of foam) What tools are used to make them? (We’ll be using tools made for foam…) What do we call this process? (Carving – specifically, reduction.) o Show Ss the foam blocks we’ll be working with and the example project. - Powerpoint presentation that introduces basic history of gargoyles and a lot of pictures. - Ss will use the computer to complete a webquest worksheet. - The final instructions on the worksheet have Ss brainstorming for and drawing the design for their own gargoyles in their sketchbook. o Students will be sketching the stages of construction, different angles from which the sculpture will be viewed, and follow a list of requirements. . Must be carved from at least 3 sides. . Include a space that goes completely through the form (a hole). . Must be painted to look like stone. . Begin with large, basic shapes and work toward fine details. . Incorporate your name somewhere in the carving (can be initials or part of your name) (can also be on the bottom, out of sight).

. Stone carver’s advice for making gargoyles:  Pick a single feature to exaggerate. Use different textures to animate the piece and give it more depth and life. “Emphasize light and shadow. Those are what make a sculpture work- Just as when in carving an eye, instead of carving the upper and lower eye lid in a way that will physically duplicate the real thing, I try to duplicate the light and shadow. Therefore I'll make the upper lid larger and the lower one smaller than they really are. Highlights and shadows are what we see when we look at sculpture, especially as we move further away or change angles. Hold up a piece in different light and move it around so [you] see the effect the shadows and texture give. Gargoyles allow the freedom of playing around with the discipline and technique used in my other work. In a way they are like doodling- I can experiment, take chances, and have fun. If the human feeling, expression and emotion come through then the piece will be successful.” - Walter S. Arnold - Clean-up: putting away computers. Collect worksheets.

Day 2: Design and Safety; Carving instruction and Demonstration.

- Warm-up: Ss continue designing their gargoyles. Powerpoint images will be on the screen. - Discuss safety concerns about working with the foam. o Dust: . Do not blow on the foam/dust. . Keep the dust confined to a small area. . Leave the block on the table as much as possible. . Clean the table with damp paper towel. . Wash hands and change table coverings often. . Get you stuff off the table and/or cover your stuff. o Masks, table coverings, clean-up. Suggest students bring goggles if they have/want them (if everyone follows directions, there shouldn’t be a lot of dust in the air) - Practice working with small sections of foam by carving tiny heads or eyes. Allow students to experiment with available tools. Practice safe handling and clean-up procedures.

Day 3 - 5: Begin carving.

- Warm-up: students finish up their designs and prepare their space for working. - Review safety and clean-up procedures and considerations: o Do not blow on the foam/dust. o Keep the dust confined to a small area. o Leave the block on the table as much as possible. o Clean the table with damp paper towel. o Wash hands and change table coverings often. o Get you stuff off the table and/or cover your stuff. - Review carving process and designs: o Ss should draw the basic shapes on the sides of their blocks before carving. Use their drawings to determine what needs to be done. Teacher should guide students in this process if they are having trouble. o Work from large to small shapes and details. - Clean-up.

Day 5: Priming and Painting.

- Warm-up: Entry/Exit slip: Ss will check the project requirements to see where they are in the process/ what they have left to do. Write what’s left for themselves to do on a slip of paper (this will be their to-do list for the day) and leave it visibly at their table. - Before we can paint the gargoyles, we have to prime them. The foam absorbs water (and paint), so we need to make the surface something we can paint on. To prime it, we’ll use gesso or thick white acrylic. - Demonstrate Priming: o First, take an old, soft brush and brush off all the dust left on the foam – as much as possible. Continuously wipe the dust off the brush. o Put the primer on thickly. And spread it – try to keep the brush from touching the foam without a layer of paint/primer between it. Foam dust will get in the brush (the bristles catch it) – wipe it off or it will add unwanted texture to the primer and keep it from covering as well. Use small brushes to get into all the cracks and crevices. Re-check surfaces to make sure all the little holes are filled in as much as possible. This process isn’t exactly like painting: we’re trying to seal the foam so that it won’t absorb the water. o Prime all but one or two sides (because you need to be able to hold it and set it down somehow). When it’s dry enough to touch/set on another, mostly dry side, you can prime the rest. o While it dries, plan what colors you want it to be (what kind of stone do you want it to look like?) And work on the narrative or another, ongoing project. - Students should get to work on their To-Do List, mark off what they accomplish and turn it in at the end of the block as an exit-slip: also, Ss can give themselves a grade for the day (though accomplishing this will only count as participation, it will help the teacher know what kind of effort the students think they are putting forth).

Day 6 +: Painting:

- Demonstrate: To paint the foam to look like stone, use stone colors. Don’t just use grey or brown though: use all the colors. o Apply black and dark colors into the deep carvings to make them look deeper. o Add lighter colors to raised areas to add to the effect. o Add mossy patches or water stains. o Experiment with dry-brushing techniques to create a mottled stone look. o What other ways can you show it to be stone? - While it dries, plan what colors you want it to be (what kind of stone do you want it to look like?) And work on the narrative or another, ongoing project. - Students should get to work. As they finish painting for the day (again, they will be leaving a side where they can hold/set the carving down), they should work on their narrative or another ongoing project.

Key Criteria:

o Block must be carved from at least three sides o Student should work from a sketch o Include a space that goes all the way through the form (a hole) o The student’s name carved somewhere on the block o Begin with large basic shapes and work to fine, small details. o Use paint/color to accentuate texture and depth: make it look like stone. o Write a narrative (can be a “day in the life”, first-person from the point of view of the gargoyle) about the gargoyle that explains: . Creature/Features: (What kind of animal is it? What animal parts does it have – claws, scales, horns, tail, etc?) . Meaning:  Personal: (What does this creature mean to you?)  Traditional: (What does this creature mean in culture/history/mythology?) . Purpose: (What function will it perform – physical or meaningful?) . Location: (Where will you keep your finished sculpture?) (For extra credit, you can take a picture of your gargoyle in this location and show the teacher.)

Resources/materials:

- Powerpoint presentation(s) on gargoyles - Webquest worksheet/websites - Sketch books - Foam blocks - Foam carving tools - Newspaper - Dust masks - Pencils - Paint Brushes: separate sets for dusting foam, gessoing, and painting. - Gesso - Cups for distributing gesso - Paint (acrylic or tempera) - Clear coat acrylic (optional)

Vocabulary:

- Gargoyle - Grotesque (Architecture) - Chimera (Architecture) - Carving (Reduction) - Cathedral - Gothic, Medieval, Art Nouveau - Gesso - Mottled - Dry-brushing

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Assessment:

Assessment evidence: (established goals must be assessed)

- Webquest worksheet - Planning sketches - Practice blocks - Gargoyle Sculpture - Gargoyle Narrative

Pre-assessment: (what students understand prior to lesson)

o Gargoyles are sculptures on buildings o Additive sculpture skills

Ongoing-assessment: (What students are learning) (formal or informal)

- Students will KNOW: o Original/historical purposes of gargoyles o What is relief/reduction sculpture/carving - Students will UNDERSTAND: o Meaning/purpose of art changes over time with historical context, artist’s intent , and viewers’ knowledge and interpretation. o Safety concerns and procedures for handling the materials (foam) - Students will DO: o Webquest o Preliminary sketches o Narrative – a first-person, “day-in-the-life” of the gargoyle that explains what kind of creature is depicted, its purpose and meaning, and it’s intended location. o Carve relief sculpture gargoyles that serve a purpose as designated by the artist

Post Assessment

o A Rubric was developed to grade classroom projects, it was modified for this specific project.

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Modifications:

Reduction carving can be exceptionally frustrating to attempt and difficult to explain. Even if students come to understand the process, they may be dissatisfied with their product. Use a variety of descriptions to help students understand:

- Imagine your gargoyle is in the block, and you have to get it out by carving. - Think about how the shape/form of the gargoyle will feel in your hand when it’s in its final form… what do you have to do – to take away – to get it to that form? - It’s not about drawing into the foam, if you picture the sculpture, you have to think about the shapes and spaces you need to take away, so that all that’s left behind is the gargoyle.

In the presentation, show pictures of old and partly destroyed gargoyles: if student feel they’ve messed up (or if they really do mess up), encourage them to create an old, beaten up gargoyle. Several medieval gargoyles are lopsided or have crooked faces, so achieving perfect symmetry is unnecessary.

If the foam breaks completely, it may be reparable with hot glue. However, some students may want to start over: if their concerns are valid, there’s enough time, and supplies are available, allow students to restart their carving ONCE. After that, they must salvage their efforts in a new solution.

Some students may be sensitive to the materials: the foam can be irritating to skin (this is due to texture or chemical sensitivity) and lungs (much like pollen allergies), and the gesso and other paint may smell strongly enough to bother some students.

- Students may want to wear gloves or dust masks. - Students may experiment with wetting the foam. - Alternatives to the foam of reduction carving: Soapstone, soap, plaster, wax, unfired hardened clay. - Students may want to experiment with paper machè or decoupage techniques instead of gesso or paint.