Lesson video

Hi, I'm Miss Mia.

Thank you so much for joining me in this art lesson today.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I will.

Let's get started.

In this lesson, you will create an artwork that represents how nature can recover or heal.

Your keywords are on the screen now and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Ephemeral.

Resilience.

Great, let's find out what these keywords mean.

Ephemeral describes something that lasts for only a short time or is temporary.

Resilience, the ability to recover quickly from difficulties and continue growing.

Now, this lesson is all about art that shows nature's resilience.

We have two lesson cycles today.

Our first lesson cycle is to do with making art with a changing world.

We're then gonna move on to understanding renewal and care.

I hope you're excited as me.

Let's get started.

Ooh.

What do these images tell you about nature? Have a think.

Across the world, nature is always changing.

Sometimes in dramatic ways and sometimes quietly over time.

Today, you're looking at how the environment can recover, repair and grow again.

Look closely at these examples.

Coral bleaching.

So we've got a before picture here and an after picture.

Can you see how the coral has changed? What do they tell you about nature? Coral bleaching happens when the water around coral reefs gets too warm or polluted.

This causes the tiny animals living inside the coral, called algae, to leave.

Without these algae, the coral loses its color and looks white or bleached.

This is a sign that the coral is stressed and struggling to survive, because it loses an important source of food.

But coral can sometimes recover if the water cools down and the environment improves.

The algae can come back and the coral can regain its color and start growing again.

This shows nature's resilience.

Even after a hard time, coral can heal and keep supporting many sea creatures that depend on the reef of their homes.

Now, let's look at this example.

Moss growing on a stone wall.

So we've got a before picture here and a after picture.

We can see that the moss has grown quite a bit on that stone wall.

Again, what does this tell you about nature? Moss growing on a stonewall is a great example of how nature can come back and live in unexpected places.

Even though stonewalls seem hard and lifeless, tiny moss plants can find little cracks and spaces to grow.

Moss likes damp, shady places and it slowly spreads over the stones, turning the wall green and soft.

This shows nature's resilience, because moss can survive in tough conditions and help other plants and animals by creating a small home.

Over time, the moss can even help break down the stone, making soil where new plants can grow.

Just like artists change their work and keep creating, moss shows us how life keeps going and growing even after challenges.

These changes show that nature doesn't stay still.

Everything's always changing.

It breaks, mends and rebuilds, just like artists who experiment, change their ideas and keep creating.

Now, some artists create work that changes with nature.

Andy Goldsworthy uses leaves, stones and ice to make sculptures that melt, blow away or break apart.

Agnes Denes planted a wheat field in a polluted New York site to show renewal and care.

Mary Mattingly builds floating gardens that show humans and nature rebuilding together.

El Anatsui transforms discarded metal into shimmering artworks that show beauty and healing from waste.

These artists remind us that art and nature are both always evolving.

Over to you.

Which artist made sculptures that melt, blow away or change with the weather? Is it A, Mary Mattingly, B, El Anatsui or C, Andy Goldsworthy? Have a think, click pause and when you're ready, click play to rejoin us.

So what did you get? If you got C, Andy Goldsworthy, you are correct.

He creates sculptures that melt, blow away or change with the weather.

Let's move on.

Ephemeral means something that only lasts for a short time, so it is temporary.

In this lesson, you'll make ephemeral art, artwork that changes, fades or disappears just like nature does.

Can you think of any examples you may have seen? Here are some examples.

A flower that blooms for one day or a drawing made with water that disappears when it dries.

Maybe you did that in the playground or outside.

Sand castles on the beach.

They look amazing, but wash away with the tide.

Chalk drawings on the playground, they're bright and colorful, but again, they fade away or get washed away by the rain.

When you make art outdoors, the sun, wind, rain and time become part of the artwork too.

Your artwork might last for minutes, hours or days, and that's part of its story.

Over to you, true or false? Art made from natural materials always stays the same.

Is this true or is this false? You can pause the video here and click play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get? If you got false, well done.

Why do you think that is? You can pause the video again.

So what did you get? If you got, natural artworks change, because nature keeps moving and transforming, good job.

Remember, nature's always changing.

Let's move on to the main task for this lesson cycle.

Using only natural materials, for example, leaves, sticks, petals, twigs, sand, stones, I'd like you to create an artwork outdoors.

You could try rain drawings and you could do this by sprinkling water onto chalk or ink drawings to let the marks spread and shift.

You could also try sun prints, and you can do this by using leaves to create shadow shapes on light-sensitive paper, or chalk silhouettes outside.

And lastly, you could try wind marks.

Let the wind drag thread, grass or petals across painted paper.

You'd have to do this on a windy day.

You can pause the video here.

Off you go, have fun and click play when you're ready to rejoin us.

So how did it go? You should have created an artwork outdoors using only natural materials.

So you may have used leaves, sticks, petals, twigs, sand or stones, or a combination of any of those.

Here are some examples you can see below.

Fantastic, let's move on.

Now we're going be moving on to understanding renewal and care.

Let's begin.

Ooh, look at the images below.

What do they tell you about resilience? So we've got a before picture here and then an after picture.

Have a look at both.

Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties and continue growing, like a tree that grows new leaves after a storm or a forest that grows back after a fire.

Now, this resilience is to do with nature.

Humans can also be resilient too.

Can you think of a time where you were resilient or showed resilience from recovering quickly from a difficult time? Nature is also able to do the same.

Nature is resilient, because it can recover, repair and keep growing.

Over to you.

Resilience means A, not being able to recover from difficulties, B, the ability to recover quickly from difficulties and continue growing or C, slow growth or no growth after something difficult happens.

What do you think? You can pause the video here and click play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get? If you got B, you are correct.

Resilience means the ability to recover quickly from difficulties and continue growing.

Fabulous, let's move on.

Some artworks fade, blow away or melt, but their story and message remain.

Just like nature regrows, art can continue to inspire even when the object disappears.

Artists sometimes choose to capture ephemeral art using their camera or a digital device.

Environmental artists help us notice cycles of growth and repair, how small changes build into big differences, why caring for nature matters.

Andy Goldsworthy creates site-specific sculptures from natural materials like leaves, ice and stones, often highlighting nature's cycles of creation, decay and renewal.

Agnes Denes did a project called "Wheatfield, A confrontation." She planted a big field of wheat in the city to show how plants grow and how people and nature can work together.

Your artwork will change.

Tomorrow it might look different, colors faded, petals blown away, shadows moved.

That does not make it less art.

It helps us understand impermanence.

In other words, it makes us understand that art can also be temporary.

Aisha says, "My artwork will change with the wind and rain tomorrow, just like the leaves on an oak tree." Alex says, "Even if it disappears, it's still art, because it showed something beautiful while it was here." Over to you.

If your artwork blows away or fades, what might that teach you? Is it A, it wasn't really art, B, nature destroys everything or C, art can change just like nature does? What do you think? You can pause the video here and click play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get? If you got C, art can change just like nature does, you are correct.

Even if your artwork blows away or fades, the idea that art can change is always there.

Fantastic, let's move on.

This is our last task for this lesson.

So with a partner, I'd like you to reflect on the following questions.

Your first question.

What will happen to your artwork that you've created tomorrow? Question two.

Is it still art when it disappears? And question three.

How does this connect to caring for nature? If you don't have a partner, you can jot your ideas or answers down onto a piece of paper.

You can pause the video here and click play when you're ready to rejoin us.

So what did you get? Well, here is an example of Jun and Laura's reflection and discussion.

Jun says, "Tomorrow, my artwork will slowly fade or change, because nature moves and grows, just like leaves falling from an oak tree.

It reminds us that nothing stays the same forever." Laura says, "Even if it disappears, it's still art, because it helped us notice the beauty and importance of change.

This teaches us to care for nature, knowing everything in the environment is connected and always growing." Well done if you managed to reflect and have your discussion.

Let's move on.

Today, we looked at art that shows nature's resilience and you also had a go at creating ephemeral art.

You now know that nature can recover and grow back after damage, showing its resilience.

You also understand that nature's changes inspire artists to create artwork that also changes or disappears.

And lastly, creating art that is ephemeral helps us understand and appreciate the ongoing cycles of growth and repair in nature.

Thank you so much for joining me in this lesson.

I really hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson.

Bye.