Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? Hope you're doing well.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling pleased about that because today we are looking at 3D Design.

Our lesson is called "3D Design: An introduction to the areas of study," and it comes from the unit of work, "Foundation workshops: An Introduction to the units of study." So this is really something foundational we're looking at today.

And so I hope you have some energy, focus, and enthusiasm.

And if so, we're ready to begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can explore how different materials influence the making and meaning of a sculpture.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them, material, theme, and qualities.

So what do these keywords mean? Well, material, this is the physical substances artists use to make a sculpture, like clay, wood, metal, paper, or fabric.

Theme, the main idea or message behind a sculpture.

And qualities, the features or characteristics of a material such as texture, weight, flexibility, or strength that affect how it feels and behaves.

So these are our keywords, material, theme, and qualities.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called "3D Design: An introduction to the areas of study." and it has two learning cycles, testing the qualities of materials and responding to a theme through material choices.

Let's begin by looking at testing the qualities of materials, and let's skip ahead to the end of the lesson and have a look at what some outcomes for this lesson could be.

so interesting and varied.

Let's begin with this question.

Have you ever been drawn to a material just because of how it feels? Pause here and share with someone.

Soft, smooth, rough, cold, heavy.

Materials affect how we feel, and we can see an enlargement of some sandstone in the image.

Materials can spark a reaction, shape a message, or create a connection.

In sculpture, the material is never neutral.

It transforms meaning, and we can see an enlargement of a knotted fur sculptural form.

I know we can't feel this image right now, but pause the video and share with someone.

What does even looking at the texture of this artwork on the screen make you feel? Thanks for sharing.

For me, there's something I'm really drawn to.

It feels like it would.

I imagine it would feel so soft, but at the same time it's confusing because it looks almost like a chain, something which would normally be made of hard metal.

It's a great contrast.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false.

All materials are equally good for every sculpture idea.

Pause here and decide.

Is this true or false? Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Different materials have different strengths, textures, and meanings.

The right material supports the theme or feeling you want to express.

A sculptor or designer needs to understand the materials' qualities as this is key to planning a sculpture and imagining how it will behave in space.

What materials would you choose for a sculpture that needs to biodegrade into its environment? And why? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Perhaps you chose some stones at the sea, as you can see in this sculpture, or maybe something else.

Sculptures who focus on the qualities of fragility in materials include Reena Saini Kallat, works with fragile materials like thread, salt, and wire to explore themes of memory, migration, and the fragility of borders and identity.

Eva Hesse experimented with latex and fibreglass to explore impermanence and vulnerability.

Gordon Matta-Clark created architectural sculptures by cutting through buildings, revealing their fragility.

Do you know of any interesting sculptures that suggest fragility? Put here and share with someone? Thanks for sharing.

Understanding a material's qualities helps sculptors predict how it can be shaped, how strong or fragile it is, and how it might interact with light, scale, or touch.

What materials would you choose for strength and why? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you chose stone or some other strong material.

And we can see a stone sculpture near a metal building on the screen.

Sculptors who focus on the qualities of durability and strength include.

David Mach uses materials like coat hangers and tyres to create strong dynamic sculptures.

Rayvenn Shaleigha D'Clark is known for monumental cast sculptures using strong materials like bronze and resin to create powerful enduring forms that explore themes of race and identity.

Aiko Miyawaki was a Japanese sculpture best known for her Utsurohi series, graceful abstract forms crafted from industrial metal wires.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why is it important to understand the qualities of the material before starting a sculpture.

There's A, so you know how much it costs, B, so you can copy other artists' work, C, so you can predict how it behaves, or D, so you don't get your hands dirty.

Pause here while you choose why it's important to understand the qualities of a material before starting a sculpture.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, it's so you can predict how the material will behave.

Any materials can be used for sculpture, but it's a good idea to start with a few accessible options.

These materials can help you understand how different textures, weights, and qualities affect the sculpture you create.

Start with what you have available and explore their possibilities.

Sketching to record helps you look closely at how materials are put together, their shape, texture, and structure.

For example, sketching, twisted wire or layered cardboard can reveal how flexible, rough, or rigid it is.

Observing the qualities of materials can help you make informed creative decisions.

The recording method below explores how each material feels, behaves, and responds to being shaped, so you can test the material by feeling manipulating and observing.

So when you feel you could record, is it soft, smooth, or rough? When you manipulate, try shaping it into a simple form, like a ball or a coil.

And when you observe, pay attention to how the material reacts.

Does it hold its shape easily, or does it crack, or bend, stretch, or remain unchanged? And now it's time for your first task in which I would like you to explore material qualities.

Explore and test the qualities of four materials.

For example, clay, wire, wood, paper, or card.

Sketch to record each material, annotate how each material feels, moves, and might be used in sculpture.

You might record your observations as a chart, a mind map around each material, annotated sketches or photos, a short paragraph, or an audio or video reflection.

So pause here while you have a go at this task of exploring material qualities.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of exploring material qualities? You may have said something like this.

Let's, let's look at this test of clay.

So how did it feel? It was cool, smooth, and soft manipulating it.

Tried rolling into a ball, twisting lengths of clay, pressing into the clay with objects, and stretching, and observing the clay.

Holds shape easily, cracks without water, texture changes when stretched to create feathered edges.

You may have explored material qualities in this way with annotation.

Clay feels cool, smooth, and soft.

Holds shape easily, cracks without water.

Texture changes when stretched to create feathered edges.

Tried pressing into the clay with thumbprints and stretching the material until it broke and frayed.

I like the way it looks organic and a bit like a skull.

Next, I would like you to reflect and discuss material qualities.

What was the easiest way to shape your chosen material? Did anything surprise you about how the material reacted when you tested it? What type of sculpture or form might suit this material best and why? Where else have you seen this material used? And how does that affect how you think about it? So pause here while you have a go at this next part of your task, reflecting and discussing material qualities.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with reflecting on material qualities? Here's Sam.

"I tested clay.

It was soft and easy to shape just using my hands.

Pressing with my thumbs work best.

It holds shape really well though.

I think it would be good for making detailed parts of a sculpture." And Sofia, "I found that too, but when I tried to stretch it, it started to crack and fray at the edges.

It's used in pottery and model making, so it makes sense that it works well for stuff like that." And now we're onto our next learning cycle, responding to a theme through material choices.

Artists often work to a theme or design brief.

This helps 'em choose the form, materials, and meaning of their sculpture.

This sculpture shows an abstracted person holding a phone.

How do these materials help communicate ideas about the theme? And the materials used are cubes, broken wire-like forms. Pause here and share with someone.

How these materials help communicate ideas about the theme.

Thanks for sharing ideas.

Let's here's some responses.

Here's Jacob.

"I think the hard box-like edges remind me that technology can be controlling." Alex, "It's abstract, but the shape still feels human.

It makes me think about how much we rely on our devices." Very true.

And Sofia, "The wires make me think about how technology connects us in the world today." It really does.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What does a theme help an artist do when creating a sculpture? Is it A, choose the most expensive materials, B, copy the materials from another artist's work, C, make decisions about form, material, and meaning, or D, avoid using certain materials and techniques? Pause here while you decide what a theme helps an artist do when creating a sculpture.

Well done if you chose answer C.

Indeed, making decisions about form, material, and meaning is what a theme helps an artist do when creating a sculpture.

Artists often respond to commissions like The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, where their ideas must communicate clearly to the public.

And then we can see an empty plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Samson Kambalu created a sculpture called antelope for The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Antelope is a figurative response to a 1914 photograph of Pan-Africanist preacher John Chilembwe and John Chorley, a European missionary.

By dramatically altering the scale, enlarging Chilembwe and reducing Chorley, the work challenges traditional colonial power dynamics.

This commission invited artists to reflect on contemporary issues and memory.

Kambalu's sculpture questions, who is remembered in public spaces and why? Let's have a check for understanding.

Select the option that does not describe a key purpose of sculpture.

A, to share ideas, B, to tell hidden or overlooked stories, C, to respond to place culture and memory, or D, to use up spare materials.

Pause here while you select the option that does not describe a key purpose of sculpture.

Well done if you select answer D.

Indeed, to use up spare materials is not a key purpose of sculpture.

Not all sculptures look like real people or events.

Even abstract forms, shapes, textures, or arrangements that don't directly resemble something are often built around a theme or idea.

Sculptures might explore themes like protection, belonging, identity, memory, change.

These concepts give purpose to the work even if the sculpture doesn't look like anything recognisable.

The charity Art UK recently did a survey of public sculptures across the UK.

It features more than 13,500 works.

They found that out of all the statues and sculptures dedicated to named people, 79% were dedicated to men and only 15% to women.

Of the sculptures of works dedicated to men, only nine works depict named men and boys of colour.

There are more sculptures in London depicting animals, 8%, than there are of named women, 4%.

Do you think this should change? Pause here and chat someone.

Thanks for sharing.

What do you think about the representation of statues across Britain? Pause here and share with somebody.

Thanks for sharing, Lucas, "I was quite shocked.

I think there should be more balance showing all kinds of people to show the diversity of the country.

But I have heard some people say there aren't many statues of women because in the olden days, they usually had traditional roles in the home." And Sofia, "Well, we now know that lots of women and people of colour did do many amazing things.

They just weren't written about in history books, but we're now discovering more stories." Hurrah.

Sometimes sculptures and their themes can become controversial or outdated.

Public sculptures often reflect the values of the time, but ideas and societies change.

Who decides what is remembered in public spaces? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Edward Colston was the 17th century merchant involved in the transatlantic slave trade.

His statue designed by John Cassidy was put up in Bristol in 1895.

In 2020, during a Black Lives Matter protest, Colston statue was pulled down by demonstrators who argued it celebrated a figure linked to human suffering.

Later the statue was placed in the museum, still covered in graffiti to encourage reflection and discussion.

Is it important that we reconsider our street sculptures and their contemporary meanings? Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing.

Here's Lucas.

"Yes, because art should reflect what people believe in today, not just the past.

It's part of art to question things, even old sculptures that no longer feel right." And Sofia, "Some people think these old sculptures with their problematic histories should be kept as they're part of our history." What do you think? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false.

Themes and sculpture are not always neutral.

They can express power, memory, and identity.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false? Well done If you said true, and now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Artists today are often asked to respond to these histories, challenge them, or offer new perspectives.

The materials used in sculpture aren't just practical.

They help tell a story about culture, power, identity, or memory.

Public statues like the Edward Colston sculpture were made in bronze to feel permanent and important.

But when society changes, the meaning of these materials can be questioned too.

Lucas and Izzy are discussing what materials might tell an important story today.

"I think recycled plastic could tell a story about pollution and environment." "I'd use old books.

They can show how knowledge is powerful when passed on or even challenged." Can you think of any other materials that might tell a story? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to create a small sculpture or design experiment in response to a theme.

You could respond to a given theme, environment, protest and power, belonging.

Respond to your own personal theme.

You can either make a drawing or design plan that shows your ideas with annotated materials and reasons for your choices.

Build a small sculpture using provided materials.

What material qualities help express your theme and why? Pause here while you have a go at this task.

How did you get on with your task of creating a small sculpture or design experiment in response to a theme? You may have made a drawing or design plan that shows your idea with annotated materials and reasons for your choices.

Theme, environment.

Large-scale woodlouse-inspired sculpture rolled up to show its protective shell symbolising environmental care.

Made from waste materials like scrap metal, plastic, cardboard, and fabric.

You may have built a small sculpture using provided materials.

Theme, protest and power.

Both pieces use knotting and binding to show ideas linked to control, resistance, and tension.

And now for the next part of your task, I'd like you to review and discuss.

How did the material qualities influence your theme or help to express it? Did you adapt your technique based on how the material behaved? What worked well? And what might you do differently next time? Pause here while you review and discuss.

Good to be back with you.

How did you get on with reviewing and discussing? Here's Aisha.

"I wanted it to look like a curled-up animal, so I used lots of curved lines and rough textures with a pen and pencil to show the layers of recycled armour.

I added rough outlines of buildings to show its huge scale." And Jacob.

"I wanted my sculptures to feel abstract.

I wrapped string around the pebble at different angles to keep it secure.

I had to tie knots quickly in the clay to prevent it breaking.

To improve, I'd use materials like wire or fabric to better show tension to support the theme of protest." In our lesson "3D Design: An introduction to the areas of study," we've covered the following.

Sculpture materials affect the look, feel, and meaning of the work.

Artists select materials based on their qualities, such as strength, fragility, or texture to support a message, cultural reference, or theme.

Different materials require different making techniques.

Experimentation helps us understand how materials behave and how their qualities can be used to express a theme.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

It's great to explore different materials together, how they feel, their meanings, what they convey, and how they behave.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson.

I really enjoyed teaching you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.