“Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, and the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” -Wassily Kandinsky
5th graders began by journeying outside to create a Kandisnky-inspired mural. Just as Kandinsky created his famous Color Study: “Squares with Concentric Circles” c. 1913, the students worked together to create a class study. Sounds of music, vibration, rhythm and emotion were their guide, chalk was their tool and the Field House was their canvas. Next, they went back to the art room to create bold and colorful painted compositions. Just like Kandisnky, the children listened to the classical sounds of Russian composer, Alexander Scriabin and American composer Arnold Schoenberg. Allowing music to influence their color choice and rhythm to guide their hands, they applied line and color to create visually abstract compilations of reflection and emotion.
During the following class, students were tasked with a design challenge to help them make deeper connections to Kandisnky. They were asked to work collaboratively to sketch and design a product or mechanism that would help Kandinsky at some point in his life. Students connected their experiences to Kandinsky’s and they practiced empathetic inquiry. Excitement filled the air as chatter turned into brilliant concepts, detailed sketches and innovatively designed prototypes made from recyclable materials. Ideas such as digital paintbrushes, emotionally responsive paint, erasable paint, expandable canvases, and robotic palette arms, are just a few examples
Our last step in the design process was to create digitally rendered 3D models of the concepts on their iPads. Using Autodesk’s 123D design App, students transformed geometric shapes into the structure of their prototypes. Final details and iterations occurred within their development as students educated and evaluated each other throughout the innovation process. At the end of our unit, select designs will be chosen for 3D printing at the Beard Center for Innovation. Keep your eye out for the physical prototypes and digital renderings on display in the Lower School and the BCI gallery shelving.
“This kind of project based learning gives students an opportunity to make deeper connections to artists and processes. It invites curiosity and creativity and encompasses the direction of 21st century education by engaging students fully, while practicing the elements of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics or STEAM.” -Jess Killo
