Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling good.

My name is Ms. Afzal.

And I'll be your art teacher for this lesson, which I'm feeling very pleased about, because today, we're looking at quite an interesting subject, which is found materials.

I wonder if you've worked with some found materials before.

I love the spontaneity of this and of the excitement of not knowing whatever, what it is that we're gonna be working with.

Our lesson is called 3D Design: Found Materials, and it comes from the unit of work Foundation Workshops: An Introduction to the Areas of Study.

So if you are ready with some energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can create a sculpture using found materials that reflect a theme or concept.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

Assemblage, found materials, and collect.

What do these keywords mean? Assemblage is a sculpture made by combining different found materials.

Found materials, materials that have not been bought or created for the purpose of making art, but have been collected from more random sources.

And collect, to gather and group objects that link to an idea or theme.

These are our keywords, assemblage, found materials, and collect.

Let's look out for them and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called 3D Design: Found Materials, and it has two learning cycles, explore personal themes and curate materials.

Let's begin by exploring personal themes.

So here's a question to begin, what counts as a found material? Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing.

Objects might include fabric, wood, metal, paper, card, natural forms, like leaves, twigs, and stones, broken, recycled, or discarded scraps of objects.

Unlike traditional sculpting materials, found materials bring their own history, textures, and stories into the artwork.

Pause here and share with someone which of these groupings of found materials might you be more interested in working with, the fabric, wood, metal, paper, and card, natural forms, or broken, recycled, or discarded objects.

Thanks for sharing.

I've really enjoyed working with broken, recycled, or discarded things, especially things that I've literally found lying around or on the street.

On the screen, we can see some found natural forms, which I've also enjoyed working with.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Found materials let artists explore ideas not possible with traditional sculptural materials.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected 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, found materials are often unusual or unexpected objects.

When artists reuse them, they can create effects and ideas that traditional materials, like clay, stone, or metal, alone might not achieve.

If you looked around your bag, classroom, or home, what might you use as a found material? Pause here while you consider this.

Thanks for sharing.

Here's Sam.

"I always find things in my bag I'd forgotten about, like receipts, scrap paper, or old class books.

In the classroom, there are newspapers, magazines, beads, and fabrics." Izzy, "I could collect natural items, like leaves or stones, or use things from home that we recycle or no longer need." An assemblage is a sculpture made by combining found materials.

Assemblages can bring new life to old objects and use them to convey ideas, memories, or feelings.

Artists often use collections of objects in their assemblages to tell stories or explore themes.

Collections can be precious or ordinary.

They can include almost anything, such as stamps, badges, pebbles, toys, food packaging.

Pause here and share with someone what are you most drawn to out of either this jewelry collection or this logo collection.

Thanks for sharing.

I've got my eye on one or two of those rings, they've beautiful stones.

What do you collect or notice others collecting, and why? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Here's Laura.

"I collect keyrings from places I visited.

They remind me of trips." Jacob, "My brother collects trainers because it shows his style." And Jun, "I've seen shell and pebble collections.

As the objects natural, their patterns and colors are all slightly different." I wonder if you collect any of these things or maybe something else.

When using found materials and collections, artists think about placement, how objects sit together, contrast, rough with smooth, organic with human-made, relationships, balance, stacked, suspended.

Pause here and share with someone your impressions of the assemblage you can see on the screen, perhaps thinking about placement, contrast, and relationships.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Found materials are randomly placed when making an assemblage.

Pause here while you 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, even if an assemblage looks spontaneous, every creative choice helps to tell a story or create meaning.

Joseph Cornell created assemblages using found materials to explore memory, imagination, and wonder.

He's best known for his glass-fronted box assemblages filled with everyday objects and images.

His work often suggests dreamlike worlds, personal stories, or nostalgic collections.

Cornell used boxes as containers for his collections.

The container itself became part of the artwork.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Joseph Cornell's boxes are A, practical storage containers for found materials, B, assemblages that tell stories with found materials, C, recycling bins for found materials, D, paintings made with found materials? Pause here while you decide what Joseph Cornell's boxes are.

Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, Joseph Cornell's boxes are assemblages that tell stories with found materials.

Veronica Ryan is a sculptor who uses found materials and everyday objects in her art.

She says, "I collect things wherever I am, like a magpie." Her work explores identity, movement, and memory, how people, objects, and stories travel.

She uses contradictions, strong with fragile, natural with human-made.

She combines soft textile crafts with hard objects, shaping containers that hold memory and meaning.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Found materials bring history and meaning, letting artists comment on culture, history, or social issues.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected 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, because found materials already have a story, where they come from, who used them, or what they were for.

What found materials or objects might you collect to reflect the themes of memory or home? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear from Sofia.

"I keep tickets from places I visited, because they remind me of trips and special times." And Lucas, "For the theme, home, I might collect bits of fabric, food wrappers, or things from the garden." What types of container could you use to hold and display a collection of found materials? Pause here while you consider this and share with someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you had some ideas like these, glass jars, textile knitted bag, cardboard packaging.

And now, it's time for your first task.

I would like you to, first of all, choose and collect.

Choose a theme, such as memory, home, or a theme of your own choice.

Select a container, box, jar, tin, textile, or something else.

Begin a collection of found materials that connect to your chosen theme.

So pause here while you have a go at this first part of your task, choosing your theme, and then beginning a collection.

Enjoy your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task, choosing a theme and beginning your collection? You may have chosen the theme, memory, who can see a container, modified box, and a collection of found materials relating to memories.

And here's another example, container, some recycled lids.

And here's a collection of found objects connecting to home.

Pause here and share with someone how do you think these found materials, these objects, connect to the theme of home.

Thanks for sharing.

And now, onto our next learning cycle, curate materials.

Found materials can be put together or curated in many ways to create an assemblage.

Found materials may be painted, wrapped, or covered, placed and combined to change or create meaning.

An example of curating objects to suggest meaning could include making a dangerous object appear safe by placing it with comforting or soft materials.

This can suggest protection, danger, and disguise.

Pause here and share with someone your impression of these wrapped pins in bubble wrap that we can see on the screen.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Assemblages must all be made in the same way.

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, assemblages can be made in many ways.

Artists choose different methods to change meaning and create contrast.

Assemblage can bring new life to old materials.

Using found materials supports recycling and sustainability, sparks innovation, adding unique character to your work.

Artists have often used found materials to challenge assumptions about value, identity, and representation.

Nnena Kalu creates large, layered sculptures from recycled media, like VHS tape, plastic, and fabric.

Her installations wrap and cocoon everyday materials, showing how discarded found materials can become powerful non-verbal expressions of identity and energy.

James Lake sculpts detailed human figures entirely from reclaimed cardboard.

His work embraces the textures and limits of simple materials, proving that even fragile, disposable objects can carry strength, dignity, and presence.

Mataaho Collective's "Takapau" is a giant woven piece made from industrial straps, inspired by Maori weaving.

It mixes cultural memory with modern materials, showing how assemblage can be bold, structural, and deeply symbolic.

Daniel Baker's "Shine" uses foil blankets, keyrings, and acrylic to create reflective artworks.

Drawing on Romani traditions of ornament and protection, his assemblages turn ordinary found materials into powerful symbols of identity and memory.

How could you transform or curate found materials, so that they tell a different story? Pause here and share with someone, how could you do that? Thanks for sharing.

You could transform a sweet wrapper by twisting, scrunching, or repeating it at scale.

This can create a narrative about waste or the environment.

Combining objects can change their meaning.

You might use just a small part, so people only see what you select.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What reason best describes why artists use found materials? Is it A, to make sculptures easy to recycle, B, to make sculptures easier to build, C, to bring new meaning into their work, D, to save money on buying new art supplies? Pause here while you decide what reason best describes why artists use found materials.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, it's to bring new meaning into their work.

When you curate your materials, you should think about placement.

Consider how the objects talk to each other, if they create harmony, fitting together, if they create contrast, tension, if there is a paradox, unexpected combination.

Here's Alex, "I'll explore different arrangements before choosing one." And we can see quite a contrast in pattern and texture, and what we can see on the screen now.

Experiment with contrast, rough with smooth, organic with human-made.

Add additional found materials as you go.

Consider what to add and what to remove.

Play with repetition.

Play with relationships, balanced, stacked, layered.

Balancing composition, stacked assemblage on jars, layered cutting of image.

And now, it's time for your next task.

I would like you to use your container and collection of found materials to construct an assemblage.

Experiment with different arrangements and decide what to include.

Think about placement, how objects sit together, contrast, rough with smooth, organic with human-made, relationships, balanced, stacked, layered.

And then construct and complete your assemblage.

You might use painting, collaging, or joining.

So pause here while you have a go at using your container and collection of found materials to construct an assemblage.

And I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with using your container and collection of found materials to construct an assemblage? You may have created some wonderful like this, used a recycled box as a container, positioned layered found materials, contrasted painted and collaged areas, created relationships between objects and paintings, photos, or drawings.

You may have created something like this, used recycled lids as a container or frame, positioned your objects to be hung in a frame, contrasted textures of found materials, stacked objects and paintings, photos, or drawings.

And now, for the next part of your task, I would like you to reflect, review, and refine, all the R's.

How do your found materials link to your theme? What contrast or relationships did you create? How does placement affect the story or feeling? What would you change to strengthen the meaning? Pause here while you reflect, review, and refine.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that next part of your task, reflecting, reviewing, and refining? You may have said something like this.

Here's Aisha.

"I chose the theme of memory.

Like Joseph Cornell, I used a bird as a symbol of freedom and imagination.

The shells, ribbon, and buttons remind me of happy times.

And although the objects don't match, they feel precious because of their memories." It's really quite touching.

Here's Jun.

"My assemblage shows the theme of home through human-made and natural materials.

The fossil represents time, the cat for comfort, and yin-yang for balance.

The circular frame connects these contrasts.

I could hang it and add more wire, like Nnena Kalu, to strengthen the meaning." I love how you thought so carefully about this, Jun.

And I hope you've enjoyed your task in creating your assemblages and reflecting on them.

In our lesson, 3D Design: Found Materials, we've covered the following, found materials allow artists to create assemblages with new forms, textures, and ideas beyond traditional sculpture.

They support sustainability by reusing and recycling objects.

Because found materials carry their own history, they can give artworks personal or cultural meaning.

Artists also collect and arrange these objects to highlight contrasts, explore relationships, and comment on social issues.

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

I loved exploring 3D design together with you, and especially looking around and collecting those found materials to become part your final creations.

I hope you've 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.