DECONSTRUCT/RECONSTRUCT Cut Paper Animation: Degrees of Abstraction

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1 DECONSTRUCT/RECONSTRUCT Cut Paper Animation: Degrees of Abstraction This lesson plan was created by Joel Javier and Kendall Swett, Instructors for the Art Institute of Chicago s Teen Lab, an After School Matters program held in Spring 2013 at the museum. Teen Lab s Spring term focus was on stop motion animation, and this lesson features one of several projects from that curriculum. This lesson plan presupposes a basic working knowledge of the stop motion animation process, including imovie software. Grade Levels: 9-12 (suitable for modification for grades 6-8 as well) Big idea(s): Surrealism/Fragmentation Essential Questions: What does it mean to fragment something? How can we fragment/ deconstruct images and then reconstruct them to form new images and ideas? Timeline: Four 1 to 2 hour sessions 2 hours in the gallery and studio (modify to classroom: looking/discussion/activities with images shown via projector) 2 hours in the studio for creating the animation 1 hour in the studio for editing the animation 1 hour in the studio for reflecting and share- backs This timeline can be spread out over multiple days, or parts can be combined for completion in fewer days. While we originally taught this in the museum, we have modified the following activities to work for classroom viewing and completion. Description: In this project, students will analyze works of surrealist art and reflect on the concepts of fragmentation/deconstruction and reassembly/reconstruction through a series of exercises. These activities will serve as an introduction to surrealist art that will culminate in a stop motion animation. Students will choose works of art in the museum s collection, print them out and fragment them to create new characters and scenes in their animations. Objectives: Students will demonstrate an understanding of fragmentation by analyzing how Surrealists deconstruct and reconstruct shapes and forms.

2 Students will demonstrate the ability to create abstract works of art through creating a cut paper stop motion animation featuring works from the museum s collection that have been fragmented and reassembled into new re- envisioned works. Art Institute of Chicago artworks: Salvador Dali s Inventions of the Monsters, Oil on Canvas. Max Ernst s Marceline and Marie, Collage composed of printed, cut elements, with touches of watercolor, laid down on cream wove paper Man Ray, Joan Miro, Yves Tanguy and Max Morise Exquisite Corpse, Pen and black ink, and graphite with smudging, with colored pencils and colored crayons on tan wove paper.

3 Activities 2 hours: Surrealism, Exquisite Corpse and Gallery Activity: Surrealism: Surrealism began in the 1920 s when artists wanted to create something more than a mere copy of what they saw in nature. Surrealist artists were fascinated with the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and his theory that the subconscious mind was where our deepest ideas were lurking. Surrealist artists wanted to release the creative potential of the subconscious mind. They believed the realm of the subconscious was where the true reality was and they tried to depict that reality in their works of art. They developed many techniques to unlock the subconscious mind: dream analysis, free association, automatic writing, word games, hypnotic trances etc. These artists are known for being bizarre: combining different images and elements within the same framethings that normally wouldn t be found together- to produce a sort of illogical or startling effect. They were interested in uniting different elements to spark a new reality for themselves and for their viewer. Exquisite corpse activity: Explain that in order to think in a new way like the surrealists and to generate ideas for our project we will try out a game the surrealists used to come up with hybrid creatures. Give instructions: In groups of three, take one piece of paper and fold it into three sections. Only one student can look at the drawing at a time and that is the student drawing. The first student will draw a form in the first section. When that student has completed their drawing they will unfold the paper to draw a few lines that lead into the next section. The second student in the group draws a form in the second section. The third student draws a form in the third section.

4 Now instruct the students to unfold the paper and discover the surreal form they created as a group! Share exquisite corpses and encourage students to keep these hybrid creatures in mind as we look at more works of art by the surrealists. Surrealism gallery activity/analyze AIC works in classroom - examine juxtaposition, dislocation and transformation in surrealist works: Have students explore the surrealist galleries on the 3rd floor of the Modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago or examine the works listed above. Have the students familiarize themselves with surrealist works and then choose their favorite work to answer the following prompts: Can you find examples of juxtaposition (putting 2 different things side by side that don t normally go together), dislocation (when objects are placed where they shouldn t be) and transformation (turning something familiar into something unusual and disturbing)? How would you animate this scene? What would you make happen? Have students share their responses with the group! Now have students choose 2-3 works in the museum or on the AIC website that they d like to use in their group project. Have the students consider the following: What scene do you want to create? What do you want to have happen? How might you animate your piece in an interesting way? 2 Hours: STUDIO ACTIVITY Come back to the studio- have students find their chosen works on the Art Institute s website. Each group may choose one or more works of art that they like, find interesting, inspirational, etc. Once their work is selected have them print out a copy of it. Have groups of two or more share their chosen images with the group. Explain to them that each group will create a cut paper stop motion animation that deconstructs their chosen works and reconstructs them into a new and exciting composition, shooting photos of each step and movement so that the process of deconstructing and reconstructing will become the animation. Each group should shoot at least 60 photos to combine together into an animation. This will be a silent animation project (no sound). Demonstrate how to set up the tripod and camera. A blank posterboard can be a useful background. Show students how to tape off the edges of the frame/shot when viewing through the camera.

5 Have them then begin cutting their print- outs into fragments until the work is no longer recognizable and move, recombine, shift, etc. while they shoot. The important thing to remember is that they must move the cut paper ever so slightly for each shot, and remember to keep shooting! 1 Hour: imovie PRODUCTION/EDITING Lead a basic demo in imovie. Cover importing, adjusting frame rates and effects, adding title frames, exporting. Have students import their images to imovie. They should set their frame rates and turn off the Ken Burns effect, if necessary. Frame rates should be between.1 and.5 seconds per frame (have them experiment with what they feel is the best rate for creating their intended movement) Have students add a title frame and a credits frame at the beginning/end. To save/share, export files using Quicktime. 1 Hour: REFLECTING Ask each group to collaborate to write a brief statement about their short animation. What were their initial ideas/goals, and what came up/was modified during the shooting process? What challenges did they face, and how did they solve these problems? How did they deconstruct and reconstruct their images in unexpected or playful ways? How did they use movement purposefully and expressively? Lead a screening of each group s animation. Ask them to share their statement aloud before screening the animation. Lead a discussion about the ideas, challenges, breakthroughs, results as each group shares their work. Materials: Digital images and printouts of selected works from AIC s collection Pencils Scissors Blank poster board (or butcher paper) - one for each group Painter s tape Digital cameras Tripods Memory card readers or USB cords for cameras Computers with imovie Printer Key words: Abstract

6 Surrealism Deconstruct Fragment Stop- motion animation Composition Movement Assessment In Teen Lab, we used our group reflection/screening/discussion as a form of assessment, where teens could relate/compare their process and results to their intended goals as well as to each other s work. This project could also be assessed with a rubric if desired. Resources/bibliography: Here are some links to other stop- motion animations using the cut paper technique: Neoplasticismo - Estetica _HV96ZIU#! Untitled cut paper animation Early Morning in the Universe by Zegeer Jodie Mack Unsubscribe #3: Glitch Envy - Yard Work is Hard Work (first 30 seconds) -