Sqares, Squares, Everywhere! (5th Grade Mondrian Cubes)
5th grade has finally completed a really big (and really great!!) exploration into all things Mondrian. I am so excited about these cubes and the effort, craftsmanship and creativity that every single student put into this project! They're awesome!
We began by researching the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. He is best known for his super abstracted paintings that are reduced to a few shapes and lines (mainly squares, rectangles and vertical/horizontal lines) and the simple use of only the primary colors.
What we found most interesting is that he hadn't started out as an abstract artist. In fact, Mondrian began his artist journey as Naturalist, painting realistic portraits and landscapes. As time, society and his location changed, so did his artistic view and intention. Mondrian began to reduce his images into the most basic and simplistic of shapes so that they no longer resembled everyday objects.
(To see our presentation that accompanied this discussion, please click over to MEDIA and look for 5th Grade Mondrian. :)
What was also interesting about Mondrian's more famous abstract work (and what became the inspiration for our designs) was that even though he only used a very short list of the Elements of Art, all of his paintings appeared different and represented different compositions. 5th graders learned about composition in art and how even with a few elements, the possibilities in their designs were endless.
After looking at and discussing Mondrian's art, we watched a few fun videos (the OK Go Primary Color video is a FAVORITE of mine... no matter what age! The kids also loved the Lego inspired Mondrian Boogie Woogie!)
We began by creating thumbnail sketches of 6 designs (one for each side of our cubes). Each composition had a requirement (such as ONLY use squares or overlap shapes.) This was helpful for them to plan their collages before adding them to their cubes.
The cubes were made from poster board. In order for the students to create the cube, theyhad to use a ruler to measure out a grid (this was frustrating for a few, but I'm happy to report everyone was successful and no one game up! :) They then used their sketches to begin collaging papers in the primary colors onto each of the sides of their cubes.
These turned out really, really, really great! I am so proud of our 5th Graders! Their creativity and craftsmanship really shines in these awesome 3D compositions!! Enjoy!
