Me Myself and Eye

Title of the activity Me Myself and Eye
Teachers/Schools/Country Netherlands: Theresialyceum.
Teachers: K.Wiegmink (arts) & E. van Alphen (technology&design)
Age of the students 12-13
class Arts and Technology&design
Topic of the activity Who am I
Description of the activity The end result for this lessons series is a 3d-sculpture (head) depicting the own personality of the individual student. For this sculpture a combination of materials (clay and wood) and techniques (clay modeling and laser cutting) had to be used. 

Starting point was a mindmap about the individual student. One mindmap done by the student him/herself and one mindmap made by his/her parent. The goal was to discover who they are and what distinguish them from each other.

During the “fieldstudy” phase the students learned about key elements of different art movements (impressionism, expressionism).  They also had an introduction to making digital designs for laser cutting. Based on the key elements of the different art movements, their mindmaps and knowledge of digital design the students had to come up with different ideas to represent themselves in a head sculpture. 

The final product had to be a combination of clay and laser cut wood/acrylic parts.

The clay part was done in the art lessons whereas the laser cutting was done during the Technology&Design lessons. In the end the two components needed to be put together.

The argumentation phase was not only in the end but continuous throughout the project. On different occasions during the ideation and fabrication phase the students had to explain to each other and/or the teacher what they have learned and how this is reflected in their “product”. To improve their product some of the students are using the feedback of the teachers and observation of other student works to reflect on their final product and go through the design cycle one more time. The students also have prepared questions for their twinning partners to get their work to the next level.