Viewfinder

Students learn about perspective both in drawings and in the world around them.
Students start to question what they see and understand how their eyes can play tricks on them.
Students imagine and create narratives about places they might see through a viewfinder.

KEY QUESTIONS

1. How does the world look from different angles?
2. What does perspective mean?
3. How can you understand the world through perspective?
4. How can you understand the world in a new way through perspective?
5. Can you always trust your eyes to help you understand the world? How can your eyes trick you?

VISUAL REFERENCES

1. 610-3356 (2008) by Sarah Oppenheimer
2. Garden Installation (on-going), (1993) by Winifred Lutz
3. Unseen Blue, (2002) by James Turrell

ACTIVITY

Create a viewfinder by cutting a shape out of a piece of paper. Walk around with this viewfinder taking in different scenes. Draw several of these scenes that you see through the viewfinder. How does the viewfinder change what you see? What is beyond the frame of the viewfinder that you are choosing not to include? How does what you choose to include or not to include change the narrative of your work? Think about the 610-3356 (2008) by Sarah Oppenheimer, Garden Installation (on-going), 1993 by Winifred Lutz and Unseen Blue, 2002 by James Turrell. Do you imagine other places you might see when looking through these pieces? Draw an imagined scene that you might see through your viewfinder. How does the view through your viewfinder change when you hold it in one place?

BONUS

Think about where you might install a viewfinder in your house. Instead of cutting a hole, draw what you imagine you would see through your viewfinder at home and install this drawing there. Ask your family to contribute drawings about what they imagine. Take turns hanging these drawings.

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PENNSYLVANIA CORE STANDARDS
VISUAL ARTS

(9.1.5.A-9.1.12.A)
-know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities

(9.1.5.B-9.1.12.B)
-recognize, know, use and demonstrate a variety of appropriate arts elements and principles to produce, review and revise original works in the arts

(9.1.5.D-9.1.12.D)
-use knowledge of varied styles within each art form through a performance or exhibition of unique work

(9.1.5.E-9.1.12.E)
-demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts