Week 1: Jan 8-11
POP ART CUBES
Op Art (also known as Optical Art) is a style of art that was developed in the mid 1960's. It combines color and abstract patterns to produce optical illusions. The artists of that time were inspired by modern experiments in abstraction such as cubism, as well as technological advances in computers, television and aerospace.
Besides that, they were fascinated with the concept of perception, and the science of how our eyes experience vision (or, in other words, how we see). They wanted to make a style of art that reflected those modern ideas and captured the feeling of the times.
The artists experimented with distorting the concepts of POSITIVE and NEGATIVE space, color theory, using either bright colors with sharp contrast or plain black and white. They also experimented with our blind spots, making parts of the painting disappear. The hard edge graphics set close together create optical illusions that seem to pulse, vibrate, move, or reach off the page.
Some of the leading OP artists were Bridget Riley, Victor Vasarely, and Mario Balocca.
In this example titled “Vega,” you can see how OP Artist Victor Vasarely played with color. Notice the dots of the painting. Each dot is the same color, but by changing the background colors, the central color appears to change as your eyes move along them. This is due to how our eyes process the contrasting colors. The more contrast between the two colors, the brighter the central color will appear.
In this example titled “Alternans di Contrast” by Mario Balocca, you can see how movement has been created. He used positive and negative space with the blocks alternating the pattern to create an image that due to the small movements of your eyes, make the illusion of motion in a stationary image.
Although the results of these optical experiments were so popular that they were even used for clothing designs and household items like dishes, most art critics dismissed Op Art as a gimmick.
Whatever you think about Op Art as works of art, they are definitely fun to look at. It is impressive to see the study of color and lines that can create depth or movement on a flat surface.
Materials
print of cube on card stock per student (print and cardstock in 6th grade drawer - or print out cube template above)fine tip markers (let teacher announce to class to bring their own markers from home if they like)
rulers
scissors
clear tape
Op Art idea worksheets (in 6th grade file drawer)
Lesson
1. Show students print by Vasarely. Let them look at it for a couple of minutes and then ask them when they think it was made. Most of the students said 1980's. Tell them it was created by a man named Victor Vasarely in the 1940's. This will amaze them! Vasarely was way before his time in his design style. He was the father of Op Art.2. Op Art - optical art, a style of art that makes use of optical illusions. Ask students what illusions they see in the print? Ask them if they have seen Op Art around them, where? Op Art is still very popular today.
3. Show the students your sample. Explain they will make one today. Ask them what it is? They used these 3-dimensional shapes in their 5th grade curriculum, and they were called nets in math.
4. Explain what you did to create your sample: drew a different optical illusion on each square using different colors. Some students may want to use all black, but do different designs, that is fine.
Art Project
-pass out cube paper to each student and an Op Art idea sheet.-pass out markers to each student
-let students get started on drawing their Op Art designs in each cube
-encourage them to take their time on each square, they will get the best results if they take their time
-when students are done with drawing, have them pass in their markers and Op Art sheet and get scissors to cut out cube
-have them cut out carefully so that they have the flaps that fold in
-when they are done cutting out, have them raise their hand so you can give them tape and have another student or parent help them tape their cube together
-all the tape can be done on the inside of the cube if you take your time, it takes 3 pieces of tape per cube
-have students carefully put their initials in one corner of their cube, this is how Vasarley signed his name
-have students return all supplies and throw away trash
-you can put these up in the class by putting a stick pin through the corner into the wall