So when I went to the Museum of Anthropology, I saw a lot of interesting things. But the main thing that got me excited about my Tiger Artists day was looking at the Kachina dolls and their lovely head dresses! I loved the idea of these dolls being the visual representation of the spiritual realm (similar to how art is the visual representation of thought or Big Ideas!) Each doll represented important traits or values to the Hopi or Zuni North American tribes. And I think that this meaning and individuality associated with each doll could easily be shifted over into a classroom setting.
Seeing the many varied and elaborate headdresses began to make me think of how fun it would be for students to make their own intricate head garments. Students could begin by making an armature that would support their decorations (learning about armature is always a good experience for individuals interested in pursuing art!)
But to take this project to the next level, the artwork of Nick Cave could be brought in. In the picture above, one of the dolls seems to be holding an arrow or stick of some kind. This made me think of the possibility that kids could make head garments that could be played! While Nick Cave's sound suits typically make noise by dance or movement (which could easily be a possibility for head pieces using bells or shakers) these head dresses could also be a lot of fun to play by running a stick along the piece. Kids could construct head pieces that were actually played. This would not only allow but FORCE the movement or dance to create the sound or music.
I really think that there would be some lovely mixing of art forms with a project like this. Just as Cave has done, there is a chain reaction of sorts when art causes dance which causes music which might even inspire more art! This project would allow for so many talents to be displayed. It would challenge each student (some might love performing but not know how to construct an armature, or another might make something amazing but have no rhythm.) Coming up with a project that has opportunity for each child to be successful in aspects and be challenged in other aspects, ensures that kids will do something new and feel successful at the same time! If you can't tell....I'm pretty excited!
~Heather
Oh! Here's another sweet head dress from the Anthropology Museum!
I think I'm seeing feathers in the near future!
I completely love your hat idea, probably because it sounds a lot like mine! But I really like how you said the hats represent values of the cultures. This can be a very interesting lesson for students because it would cause them to have to think about what they hold important in their lives. The variety of head dresses that would be made would be amazing I am sure.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Erika that hats represent values in cultures past and present. Your thinking resonated when you wrote: "Just as Cave has done, there is a chain reaction of sorts when art causes dance which causes music which might even inspire more art!" I like the chain reaction idea and working backwards I could see students thinking about ornamentation and materials and then sounds and then movements that would produce the sounds and so on. What essential questions would you ask a la the Walker text? I would like to see how you would define the creative investigation by the questions you ask the students to pursue and answer.
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of having the head dress be able to make sound in the sense that it's almost like it's own one of a kind musical instrument! That just takes on another role of what Nick Cave does! I also loved the Anthropology buildings feather head dress. It really shows how much a culture can express through their clothing!!!
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