Most of the time that I'm in my classroom with my kids I think in my mind "My goodness, it can't get much more fun than this!" but with THIS project I am fully convinced that I'll never have more fun than this!!!
The first thing we are exploring in art this year is light. I feel like light can be overlooked when making art but it can be a strong tool to use. I also want my kids to know that successful artists do not have be talented in drawing!! Drawing is wonderful-- but it is simply one tool, one talent in an endless amount of options to express themselves through art making. We looked at some work by James Turrell and Dan Flavin so they could see the gorgeousness that working with light can produce. We talked about those pieces being "installations" and really changing your experience while you are viewing them.
So in our first project we are "light drawing"- it's a photographic process that leaves the camera's shutter open for longer than usual, capturing the light's movement.
The kids pick a variety of LED light sources and they make movements in the air while I snap away on my camera. You can imagine I have a lot of excited kiddos playing with LED lights! It's such a gift to see how engaged they are.
I'm only halfway through my classes so far and I have over 1200 pictures- whew! I put just a fraction of them here on this video to share ;). I'll print one or two from each child to take home.
