A Touch of Nature

Topic / This learning sequence helps students work with texture and colour to develop their skills of recording from their memory and imagination using nature as both an inspirational and informational source.
Standard / 3
Stages / 7, 8, 9
Year Level(s) / 5/6
Curriculum area / The Arts
Interpreting and appraising the works of others
Imagining and creating new works / Vocational and Applied Learning
Innovation and Design
Systems and Processes
Strand(s)
Understanding Goal(s) / 1Students will understand that some artists manipulate the environment to create art works
2Students will understand the inherent aesthetic qualities of the environment
3Students will understand techniques and processes for combining natural materials
4Students will understand how secondary elements can be used to support a story or idea
UGs / Learning opportunities / Teacher notes and assessment
1, 2
1
1, 2, 3
2, 3, 4
1, 2,
3, 4
1, 2
3, 4 / Ancient forms
Brainstorm with students some examples where the environment has been manipulated e.g.
  • Crop circles
  • Easter Island figures
  • Cairns (bushwalking markers)
  • Native Canadian stone figures
  • Beehive huts, Dingle Bay, Ireland
  • Totem poles
  • Maori greeting houses
  • Mount Rushmore
  • Abu Simbel
  • The city of Petra
  • Mayan ziggurats
  • Terraced rice paddies
  • Stone Henge
Have students explore natural construction forms e.g.
  • Termites nests
  • Stalactites and stalagmites
  • Beehive
  • Cobwebs
  • Birds nests
  • Cocoons
  • Coral
  • Shells
  • Eggs
  • Tessellations and other geological formations
Environmental Art
Discuss with students the genre of landscape/environmental art, showing them some images of artists such as Richard Long…..
Discuss with students the importance of making art works that respect the integrity of the environment and its inhabitants.
Andy Goldsworthy
Share Andy Goldsworthy’s work with the class.
Make a list of the materials and techniques that Goldsworthy has incorporated into his sculptures e.g.:
  • Leaves
  • Stones
  • Tree branches
  • Ice
  • Twigs
  • Bark
  • Rushes
  • Grasses
  • Petals
  • Pine needles
  • Thorns
Have students read Goldsworthy’s free verse that he has developed to describe his work.
Molesworth Environment Centre:
Ask students to describe the landscape, making a list of key words to describe their sensory experiences i.e. light, texture, temperature, smell, colour, contrast, sound, brightness...
Re-visit Goldsworthy’s work with students and ask then to construct ephemeral sculptures made from materials they have found on the trail.
Explain that these sculptures are installations, therefore students need to consider the sculpture’s relationship to its surroundings and that they will demonstrate their awareness of this relationship by documenting the installation using photography.
Exhibition
Have students produce their photographic images and display them with written captions, in the style of Andy Goldsworthy. Organise an exhibition of student works, with invitations, refreshments and a guest speaker.
Extension Activities
Explore how to make hand made paper incorporating found natural objects – leaves, fronds, petals, moss, grasses, lichen, seeds, feathers…
Demonstrate natural dyeing techniques using natural materials e.g. gum leaves, bracken and bark (these may be supplemented with things like onion skins, beetroot and red cabbage).
Construct woven animals, nature puppets and fish weavings using materials such as bracken, twine and cane.
Explore soundscapes with students. Ask students to collect and replicate a variety of sounds from the environment – i.e. bird calls, people talking, weather patterns... Allow students to experiment with instrumentation both conventional and student designed e.g. drums, ocarinas…
Create a small book of student works, describing their visit to Molesworth Environment Centre. / Assessment for learning
As a class, model the thinking technique of ‘I see, I think, I wonder’ using a picture of a manipulated environment. Give students a similar picture as a stimulus for creating their own ‘I see, I think, I wonder’
How has the landscape been manipulated to create a monument or structure?
What has motivated people to create such things?
Assessment of learning
Have students describe the natural structure they have researched through journal notes and drawings.
What structures have been created?
What makes these structures efficient?
Assessment of learning
Assess student understanding of the genre of environmental art through class discussion.
How does the environment inspire these artists?
Why have artists chosen the landscape to express their ideas?
Assessment as learning
Have students describe in their journals the structures, materials and techniques that Goldsworthy has used to create environmental works.
Note to the teacher:
Have students record these words in their journal, sorting words in order of importance. Some simple strategies can be used to encourage text construction e.g.:
  • Free verse
  • Haiku
  • Acrostic
Assessment of learning
Have students photograph their work, making decisions about composition – foreground/background/ depth of field, contrast, colour…
Have students make written notes describing the place, the materials, the weather conditions and how the pieces were attached to each other.
How have I arranged my work?
What materials were used?
How does this work fit in with its surroundings?
Assessment of learning
Assess student understanding of:
  • The way artists manipulate the environment to create art work
  • The inherent aesthetic qualities of the environment
  • techniques and processes for combining natural material
  • How secondary elements (sound, photography, free verse) can be used to support a story or idea

Resources

Kastner, J. (Editor) and Wallis, B (2005)Land & Environmental Art (Themes & Movements), Phaidon

Goldsworthy, A. (1994) Andy Goldsworthy, Viking Studio

Goldsworthy, A (1990) Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with NatureHarry N. Abrams

Goldsworthy, A. (2007) EnclosureAbrams Books

Goldsworthy, A, (1996) WoodHarry N. Abrams

Goldsworthy, A. (1994) StoneHarry N. Abrams

Goldsworthy, A., Baker, K. and Thompson, J. L. (2000) Wall: Andy GoldsworthyThames and Hudson

Goldsworthy, A. (2004) PassageHarry N. Abrams

Goldsworthy, A. (2008) TimeAbrams

Goldsworthy, A. and Friedman, T. (2004) Hand to EarthHarry N. Abrams

Goldsworthy, A. and Craig, D. (1999)ArchHarry N. Abrams