Interpreting the Elements of Art, Music, and Creative Movement

Throughout history, visual art has been a means of communicating feelings, emotion, and other forms of human expression. Often, visual artists are inspired by various forms of music and motion (creative movement) in their environment to help communicate their meaning to the world.  Traditional artists often depicted realistic dancers, musicians, etc. in a setting that told the viewer the type of emotion, music, and movement they were supposed to be representing.  Contemporary artists, on the other hand, broke away from this mold and began to use abstract forms of art by carefully manipulating the elements of art to represent this meaningful communication.

The third and fourth grade students are exploring how the various art forms (visual art, music, and creative movement) communicate meaning. The unit emphasized communication and collaboration in an inquiry-based cooperative learning environment.
    The main goals of this unit included:
1.    Students seeing art, music, and creative movement as a form of communication.
2.    Students reflecting on how they communicate in order to improve their communication skills.
3.    Students understanding the value of communication, self-control, and collaboration in group work.

All students had an opportunity to explore the elements of art on four large poster boards, and discussed the strengths and challenges of doing a collaborative art piece. As individuals, they explored the elements of art (line, color, shape, and texture) as they listened to The Carnival of Animals, by Camille Saint-Saens, and identified the elements of music (pitch, harmony, rhythm, and layered voice instrument or voice). One class had the time to explore how these elements could be connected and communicated through body movements as well. In addition, another class created an inquiry game to explore how art and music can interconnect through the elements. The third and fourth grade students are beginning to realize that the elements of art, music, and creative movement are rarely isolated but work together in harmony to express emotion and communicate meaning.
   
Finally, students used inquiry techniques and letter-writing communication to brainstorm for this grade level project.  The painting is intended as a gift to celebrate Mid-Pacific Institute's "100 Years in Manoa" and as a prop for the Kahalopuna opera. The students brainstormed ideas through respectful communication and self-control, allowing nearly 80 students to work on one large, four-foot canvas. The earlier plans for an abstract painting morphed into a beautiful composition of both abstract and realistic ideas, while utilizing the elements of art and music to convey the feeling of the song What A Wonderful World. The painting also illustrates the group identity of students at Mid-Pacific Elementary while aesthetically addressing the parameters of the Kahalopuna opera theme.

 

Posted on April 22, 2008 3:43 PM | Permalink