7th Grade Art by Chance

7th graders learned the value and beauty in exploration and randomization. After talking about how art (a control, intentional act) and chance (accidental act of randomness) can coexist, students learned about artists that relied on the partnership between art making and chance (Jackson Pollock, André Masson, Paul Klee and Hans Arp) before creating their own work of art based on chance.

Students picked their color scheme out of a bag of paint chips and their artwork must be inspired by the title of their paint chips. Students will then roll dice with the elements of art and principles of design on them providing the student a specific element and principle they will focus their painting on.

Students were asked to spend a substantial amount of a class period on a brainstorm sheet provided that ultimately was their guide throughout the artmaking process. We also used one full class period learning how to mix paints to get the exact color(s) of the various paint chips selected. Students were asked to write about their experience and present their learnings to their classmates.