“That’s Punny”Adding Humor to Art

Essential UnderstandingPottery as an art form involves the ability to transform a material to be something other than what it physically is. Thinking metaphorically is a skill that often helps in one’s ability to add humor to art.

ObjectivesSWBAT identify the works of Robert Arneson, Willie Cole, Eleanor Ankin, Claes Oldenburg, Marcel Duchamp, and Giuseppe Arcimboldo based on images of their artwork. (Understanding; Comprehend: Visual art has inherent characteristics and expressive features)

SWBAT effectively demonstrate techniques of slab building, hand building, and/or coil building in order to transform their clay to create a 3-dimensional artwork portraying the chosen visual puns. (Applying, Creating; Create: Demonstrate competency in traditional and new art media, and apply appropriate and available technology for the expression of ideas.)

SWBAT incorporate two or more chosen visual puns in order to construct a cohesive 3-dimensional artwork. (Creating; Create: Demonstrate competency in traditional and new art media, and apply appropriate and available technology for the expression of ideas.)

SWBAT defend their artwork and its relation to the visual puns chosen in a formal critique. (Evaluating; Reflect: Interpretation is a means for understanding and evaluating works of art.)

SWBAT compare and contrast historical and contemporary works of art and distinguish how those works are read differently based on their time and imagery. (Analyzing; Transfer: The work of art scholars impacts how art is viewed today.)

SWBAT demonstrate their planned 3-dimensional artwork through a preliminary painting including form and color they intend to use in their final piece. (Applying; Comprehend: Art and design have purpose and function.)

SWBAT recall basic information about how to fire clay sculptures, including how to load a kiln, and how to set the temperature on a kiln in a three-step format. (Remembering; Create: Demonstrate competency in traditional and new art media, and apply appropriate and available technology for the expression of ideas.)

Pre-Assessment1. Can students identify works of art from Robert Arneson, Willie Cole…

2. Have students used slab, hand, and coil building techniques before? Can they explain how to perform each of these techniques?

3. Can students plan and explain how they will combine two or more visual puns to create a single cohesive 3-dimensional artwork?

4. Can students differentiate between historical and contemporary works of art and how they are viewed differently based on their time and imagery?

5. Can students paint a preliminary piece that represents what they plan their final 3-dimensional artwork will look like?

6. Can students explain how to load and set a kiln to fire clay sculptures?

Accommodation/Modification

Students can be challenged by creating a 3-dimensional artwork that combines more than two visual puns. Students with challenges will be allowed to use only one pun to create their artwork.

MaterialsWatercolor paintPaintbrushesPalettesWater cupsPaper (for painting)ClayRolling PinsLeveling boardsExacto knivesExtrudersSmoothing utensilsCanvasWaterPottery wheelsWire (For cutting and lifting clay)

ResourcesGiuseppe Arciboldohttp://www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org/Vortumnus-(Vertumno).html

A Tribute to Robert Carston Arneson (Online)http://www.verisimilitudo.com/arneson/http://eggheads.ucdavis.edu/http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/robert-arneson

Willie Cole (online) September 2012http://www.williecole.com/http://www.tcnjsignal.net/2010/01/19/artist-speaks-up-regarding-campus-public-art/http://www.dailyartfixx.com/2012/02/10/willie-cole-sculpture/

Claes Oldenburghttp://www.yale.edu/publicart/lipstick.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/4613494/Public-art.html?image=2http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/

Marcel Duchamphttp://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/duchamp.htmlhttp://www.iwanttobeabattaglia.com/giovanna-battaglia-favorites/2011/8/31/marcel-duchamp.htmlhttp://www.marcelduchamp.net/

Eleanor Antin videohttp://www.pbs.org/art21/watch-now/segment-eleanor-antin-in-humorhttp://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/feminist_art_base/gallery/eleanorantin.phphttp://blog.art21.org/2008/06/12/eleanor-antin-helens-odyssey/

Clay Tutorials, coil-buildinghttp://claytutorials.blogspot.com/2008/03/first-clay-tutorial-for-undaunted.html

About.com, slab buildinghttp://pottery.about.com/od/slabpots/tp/makeslabs.htm

Preparation Create examples of each building technique Create powerpoint, list of puns, and worksheet of questions for post-

assessment Write introductory letter and give to students Set up work area for clay building and painting

SafetyStudents will be reminded to be careful when using sharp objects like the exacto knives.

Motivation/Anticipatory Set and Ideation/InquiryShow students a sculpture made by… Ask them to all come up and look at the sculpture closely then write a story they could create about the sculpture. Ask students what they came up with, how, and why.

Procedures1. Begin with motivation

Show students a sculpture made by… Ask them to all come up and look at the sculpture closely then write a story they could create about the sculpture. Ask students what they came up with, how, and why.

2. Ask students what they think a visual pun is.

Pun: A play on words, usually the assignment of different meanings to similarly sounding words or phrases, with humorous intent.Visual pun: A drawing, cartoon, photograph, etc. depicting object arranged so that the names of the objects or description of their placement suggests a play on words.

Visual Puns (online) 2012http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/high/puns.htm

3. Ask students if they have any examples of puns that could be shown visuallyStart by giving them some examples: hot dog, car pool, football, etc. Write

their examples of visual puns on the board as they list them.

4. Show a powerpoint including examples of contemporary and historical artwork that used humor in their imagery. Ask the students about each image and how each artist incorporated humor and whether or not it is successful and why. Also ask what differences they see in the imagery between the time periods and how that changes the interpretation of the image.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo: From the Mannerism Era (1527-1593). First image titled “Vortummus”, second image titled “Whimsical Portrait”. Humor in his artwork came from his use of objects, like fruit, to create a different image (usually a portrait).

Marcel Duchamp: From the Dada Era, (1916-1923). Used unconventional objects and made them art. Also combined seemingly unrelated objects in strange juxtapositions. Very controversial, many didn’t think he should be considered an artist.

Claes Oldenburg: Pop art. Started making his giant sculptures in the 1960’s. Before that he focused on a smaller scale, but still involved humor in his work. He also puts together seemingly unrelated objects, makes sculptures out of unconventional materials for the subject matter, and makes some of them huge, which, in and of itself, is often comical.

Willie Cole: Contemporary artist. Uses many of the same strategies used historically in making his art humorous, but the materials themselves have changed. He focuses on common consumer goods, and transforms them into something else.

Eleanor Antin: Contemporary artist. Known as a feminist artist. She adds humor by combining historical and contemporary imagery to make a point about the everyday woman. Her point is to show women as powerful without needing to be masculine.

Robert Arneson: Funk art (1960’s – present). Does exactly what we will be focusing on in our project; visual puns. He works with ceramic and does many self-portraits. He uses size and imagery to portray humor in his art.

5. Explain their assignment: For this project we will be painting a preliminary image first and then using clay to create a 3-dimensional work of art. The goal of this project is for you to choose two or more visual puns and find a way to combine them in a single cohesive image. Can anyone give me an example of how they might be able to do this?

6. Introduce different clay building techniques. Demonstrate how to hand, slab, and coil build with clay. As I demonstrate I will be asking the students questions about the techniques:

What would you use slab-building for? Coil-building? Hand-building? As I make my coils, what do I need to be thinking about (evenness, length, width, etc.)? When making slabs what do I need to be thinking about (thickness, evenness, etc.)? How can I ensure that my slabs are even thickness throughout? Explain to them that they do not have to use all the techniques, but I want them to use whatever technique(s) they believe will work best for their sculpture.

Also go over slip-and-score technique. Can anyone explain what slipping-and-scoring is? If you want to join pieces of clay that are starting to dry you can make slits with an exacto knife in an ‘x’ pattern and then brush the clay and water mixture on top of the slits and stick the two pieces together. Then smooth the area with your finger. The clay and water mixture (slip) should have some body to it, like mud, and not be too watery.

Show students the… and explain that they can make differently shaped tubes for coil-building or to add details to their piece. Also mention that they should be thinking of ways to make texture, using tools like exacto knives, screens, found objects, or their own hands.

*Remember your clay cannot be too thick for firing, and all forms must be hollow.

On day 2 I will introduce the kiln and explain how they work. In this studio we have two small sized electric skutt kilns. They heat in three

stages. So you choose how quickly you want the kiln to climb or ramp up in temperature. For example, you can set your first ramp to increase 100 degrees every hour to 200 degrees. You then can either set it to hold that temperature for a period of time or continue to climb right away. The second ramp you could set to climb 150 degrees (a little faster) every hour until it reaches 1100 degrees. After that you can set the third ramp to climb even faster, at 250 degrees every hour until it reaches your maximum temperature of 1860 degrees.

The kiln with the keypad will do this automatically and shut off automatically as well. The kiln without the keypad needs to be monitored much more closely. For this one you use what’s called a cone-pack. Does anyone know what a cone-pack is?

So, you place the cone-pack inside where you can see it through one of these peep-holes. During the firing you are responsible for turning the heat up manually, from low to medium to high heat. You can tell when the kiln has reached the maximum desired temperature by checking the cone-pack. One of them will be set at a lower temperature and will curl under, the second one will start to curl at your maximum temperature, and the third one should not curl at all by the time you turn the kiln off.

When loading the kiln you want to try to not have any pieces touching. For this project, since they won’t be glazed, it’s not as important. If your clay pieces have been glazed they absolutely cannot touch each other or have any glaze directly touching the kiln surfaces. We have shelf posts and shelves to stack pieces above and below each other. The shelves need to be well taken care of. Keeping the shelf clean and well polished and painted is essential for firing.

7. Before the students start building with clay I will ask them to make a painting of their idea, including the form and color they intend to use. Explain that they will be using this painting during the critique the help explain what their sculptures will look like when they’re finished since they will not be fired or painted by the time we do the critique. As students work on their paintings I will ask each of them what puns they plan to combine, and how.

8. As each student finishes their paintings I will allow them to begin building with clay.

9. Announce clean-up 20 minutes before class is over. Assign duties that will be listed on the board.

Students Reflective ActivityStudents will be asked to participate in a critique where they will discuss others and their own artwork. I will be asking them to guess what the puns in each piece are and what makes them think that.

I will also have each student complete a worksheet demonstrating their knowledge of the artwork I showed them and the different clay-building techniques.

Post-Assessment (Teacher Centered)1. Are students able to identify works of art from Robert Arneson, Willie Cole, Eleanor Ankin, Claes Oldenburg, Marcel Duchamp, and Giuseppe Arcimboldo?

2. Are students able to use slab, hand, and/or coil building techniques effectively for their sculpture? Are they able to explain how to perform each of these techniques?

3. Are students able to plan and explain how they combined two or more visual puns to create a cohesive 3-dimensional artwork?

4. Are students able to differentiate between historical and contemporary works of art and how they are viewed differently based on their time and imagery using humor?

5. Are students able to paint a preliminary piece that represents what they plan their final 3-dimensional artwork will look like, and the colors they plan to use?

6. Are students able to explain how to load and set a kiln to fire clay sculptures?

Preliminary work

1. Did not paint/draw a 4. Painted/drew apreliminary piece demonstrating well-crafted what their sculpture will preliminary piecelook like in its final state. to demonstrate how

their final sculpturewill look, includingcolors they will use.

Demonstrated proper clay building technique.

1. Did not follow 4. Followed all instructionsinstructions about hollowing for hollowing, allowing out their sculpture(s), allowing space for air to escape, andspace for air to escape, or properly drying their properly drying it out. Did not sculpture. Put thought anduse hand-building techniques effort into which properly, or have an explanation techniques they used and for the techniques they used and why. why.

Subject matter

1. Did not combine two 4. Successfully or more visual puns in their combined two orsculpture. more visual puns

in their sculpture.

Artist Identification

1. Was unable to 4. Was able to identify any of the artists identify all of theaccording to the artwork artists accordingimages provided. to the artwork

images provided.Historical vs. contemporary artwork

1. Unable to explain any 4. Able to explainsimilarities or differences several similaritiesbetween historical and and differencescontemporary art examples, between historicaland how they use humor. And contemporary

art examples, and how they use humor.

Kiln use

1. Unable to answer any 4. Able to answer allquestions concerning the questions loading and firing of the concerning the kiln. loading and firing

of the kiln.Critique

1. Unable to provide an 4. Able to provide aexplanation for their sculpture; good explanation forthe images chosen, colors their sculpture; theand techniques used, or why. images chosen,

colors and techniques used andwhy.

RESEARCH

Making Clay SlabsFrom Beth Peterson, former About.com Guide• See More About:slab pots hand building clay Making the clay slabs is the first step in all slab-built pottery construction. This is an important foundation; mistakes made in the creation of slabs may destroy the piece in later stages of construction.Clay "Grain"Damp clay is made up of fine platelets which ride within a thin cushion of water. When a slab is rolled out, the pressure thins out the clay and also moves the platelets so that they are aligned with the direction of the force. In essence, the clay takes on a grain, much like the grain in a piece of wood. Unless modified, the platelets will remain aligned in that grain throughout drying and firing.

This is where problems can develop. Grain in a slab will affect the clay's shrinkage. The slab will shrink more along the width, across the grain, than it will along its length, or with the grain. If pieces are assembled so that the grains aren't aligned in the same direction, the pot can literally pull itself apart during drying and firing.

Getting Rid of the GrainAvoiding the creation of a grain while making slabs is actually easy and quite straight forward. Simply take the time to rotate the clay after each rolling. It is also helpful to flip a slab over and roll it on both sides, rather than just one.

In order to flip a large slab, you will need two pieces of canvas, larger than the slab will be. Begin by rolling the slab on one piece of canvas. After the initial rolling, cover the slab with the second piece of canvas. Spreading out your hands as much as possible to support the clay, flip the canvas-clay-canvas sandwich over. Remove the top layer of canvas (that used to be the bottom) and continue rolling.

Rolling Pins“One of the easiest methods of making slabs is to use a rolling pin. Large, heavy ones with ball bearings at each end tend to work the best.If you want to be certain that a slab is uniform in thickness, you can use two slats of wood on either side of the slab as depth guides. Just be sure to rotate the slab as you roll, rather like rolling out pie dough.

Making Really Thin SlabsBeth E PetersonWhat if you need a very thin slab, such as for clay appliqué or to laminate onto a pot? The slab needs to be very thin, which can mean difficult to roll out successfully using normal methods.

Use plastic wrap instead of canvas. Flatten the clay between your palms, then lay it between two sheets of plastic wrap. Roll with a rolling pin, being careful that no wrinkles develop in the plastic.

Rotate and roll out again, repeating this sequence until the clay is as thin as you desire. Carefully pull the uppermost piece of wrap straight back and away from the clay.

After firmly applying the thin slab to the other clay surface, pull the second piece of wrap straight back and away. The clay slab should stick to the other clay surface.

Make a Super-Strong SlabYou may want to work with enormous slabs, very thin slabs, or you may want to use them in ways that damp clay generally isn't strong enough for. If this is the case, consider adding chopped nylon to your clay body.

To do this, add a couple of handfuls of chopped nylon per hundred pounds dry weight to the clay as you mix it. Sprinkle the nylon in while the dry clay is combining in the clay mixer, before adding the water.

You may also be able to special order a custom mixed batch of clay; check with your favorite supplier. (There's a partial list of suppliers here.)

Slab RollersSlab rollers are wonderful pieces of equipment if you are using large quantities of slabs in your work. They are fairly expensive, though, and do take up a lot of studio space. You may find that a large rolling pin will do the job for you just as or nearly as well.

Again, when using a slab roller care must be taken to avoid creating a grain in the clay. If the slab is too long to fit width-wise in the roller when rotated, roll across the width of the slab with a rolling pin using very positive, even aggressive, strokes.

About.com, slab building

http://pottery.about.com/od/slabpots/tp/makeslabs.htm

COIL-BUILDINGTo Begin, you want to have an idea of what you want to make. I never know exactly what will come out in the end because:1. clay has a mind of it's own.2. sometimes you see the way the piece is shaping up and want to change the shape to better suit your eye.But it is helpful to me to have a basic idea and sometimes even make a sketch.Imagine the bottom of your piece and roll out a slab to fit. I am making a mermaid today and this is the bottom of her tail as it would sit on a solid surface.

Start with a slab of clay rolled out to about 1.4 aninch. You can go thicker but it is not necessary.We are going to be adding clay on the outside of the oval's edge. So that is where we want to score (making crosshatch marks in the surface of the clay) the piece. You also want to use a damp sponge to add just the slightest bit of water to your scored area.

After scoring the clay, we are going to add our first coil. A coil is what one of my nephews called "making snakes." You can roll out a bunch of "snakes" before you start but make sure to keep them covered well. I just make them as I go, finding that better for my work process.When you add a coil to the slab you want to make sure that you press down with a good amount of pressure as you go around. We want the clay to attach solidly.Now, once you go all the way around, you will be attaching clay to the "snake " you started with. If your clay has enough moisture and it is easy to press the clay together and make them stick solidly then there is no need to score the clay each time you go around. I always give the coil a good tug to make sure they are sufficiently stuck.

After your first snake or coil comes to it's end, you want to smooth the clay together inside and out. Start from the top of the coil and pull down with your index finger...pulling clay from the top down over the crease to the very bottom. You will do this with each coil. You don't have to do it at the end of each snake. You can wait until you have 4-5 coils put on. Just a note: if you wait too long and get too high the walls will want to buckle as you are smoothing.

Now to add a new coil you just start where the last one ended. Making sure to pinch strongly the end of the first coil to the beginning of the second.

And so on...

A lot of times, because coil built pots tend to be hollow and thin, I need to build interior walls for structure. This one is the interior wall for the tail.

These walls will be built within all the way to the top of the piece.

Caly Tutorialshttp://claytutorials.blogspot.com/2008/03/first-clay-tutorial-for-undaunted.html