8th Grade Holocaust Memorials

This year our school had its Cultural Festival, and I had the pleasure of working with some 8th graders on their presentations. Since we were learning all about Art of the Holocaust (Propaganda, Degenerate Art, Spiritual resistance, etc.), It seemed appropriate to let them design and create mock-ups of Memorials. They did a lot of research on existing monuments and themes and in small groups made their pieces using papier maché, wire, clay, cardboard and even fire! Here are some of the most remarkable ones.

 

This one is called "Lost Souls", its basically a pile of bodies...very graphic, but powerful.

This beautiful piece reminds me very much of Anne Frank

These kids made a mock-up of an incinerator in a concentration camp, with a huge metal fist burning on top. I wish I had more pictures because shortly after this they went a little overboard with the special effects and nearly burned the school down! Very memorable ;-)

What 8th graders are up to...

I haven´t posted any 8th grade projects because they are currently working on a big one. Since they are working with the Cartesian Plane in their Geometry class, I figured Grid Drawing would be appropriate.

First, we researched American artist Chuck Close. Students were handed, in pairs, a chapter of his biography which they had to summarize and present to the class. They learned how Close overcame his mental and physical disabilities and developed grid drawing to help him create his massive portraits. Next, we did some simple lineart grid excercises to help prepare for the BIG project: A value self-portrait using a grid. I took their picture (they all hate theirs but at 14 everyone hates they way they look anyways) and used Photoshop to enhance the tonal value. They created a big grid and began copying and enlarging their photos.

By this week most students have finished with the line drawings and next week will begin painting using only 4 shades of gray. They are doing great so far, here are some examples. I will post the end result when they are ready.