Movable Models

The circus came to visit Pelham Art Club’s youngest artists and we learnt to look at shapes, forms and different dimensions through several playful art projects.

To get inspired by the energy and excitement the circus brought to town in decades past, we watched a clip of the Cirque du Soleil to give a contemporary example of how circuses have progressed to become spectacular acrobatic displays.

Following a study on zoo animals, we decided to showcase our animals in a block abstract silhouette, using colour cut outs on a simple geometric background.

After learning from the Alexander Calder models for his “Circus” series of prints, paintings, sculptures and performance films, we looked at the human form.

We drew portraits of each other standing and holding poses based on ballet positions.

The models were then placed in different positions and the artists drew quick sketches to build up their hand-eye skills.  Some drawings were done in chalk on black paper, others in charcoal to enable an element of finger painting – rubbing the dust into the paper for highlights and shadows.

A kit of resources was provided to each child for their interpretation of a model and everyone was shown some techniques for how to secure the materials to the supporting rod.

These included: a cork, paper straw, wire, foam, copper tape, tin foil and masking tape.

We built up areas of the body on our models, where they would have more muscle, using the malleable tin foil.