STANDARDS

Lexile: 1140L

Core Art Standards:

VA1: Generate artistic ideas and work.

VA2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

VA10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.

CCSS Anchor Standards:

R2: Determine central themes.

R3: Analyze ideas and sequence events.

R4: Interpret words and phrases.

Essential Question: What responsibilities come with the freedom to create?

Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers balance experimentation and safety, and freedom and responsibility while developing and creating artworks.

Vocabulary: contours, forms, installations, monumental, preparatory sketches, scale, silhouettes, sitespecific, technical drawings, translucent, wrapping

Materials: computer or interactive whiteboard, “Graphic Organizer: Art and Nature” skills sheets from Lesson Plans 1 and 2,

Lesson: Trees Under Wraps

Use with pages 8-9.

Objective: Students will consider the variable relationship between Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work and its environment.

PREPARATION:

Review students’ notes from their “Graphic Organizer: Art and Nature” skills sheets.

PROCEDURE:

1. As a class, read “Trees Under Wraps.” Ask students to observe the sketches and photographs of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work.

2. Divide the class into groups. Ask each group to consider the questions: How do the artists explore nature in this installation? What messages do they convey? (Christo and Jeanne-Claude create monumental sculptures by wrapping trees with fabric and inviting viewers to experience the effects on the work as the light and weather change. Invite each group to share its findings with the class.

3. Have students record their findings in their “Graphic Organizer: Art and Nature” skills sheets.

DISCUSSION:

Observe the preparatory sketch for Wrapped Trees. How does it relate to the final work? (Answers will vary but should refer to the images and text.)
Compare the three photographs of the installation. What do you notice about how the work transforms based on the time of day and the weather? (Changes in the natural environment change how the wrapped trees appear. This creates unique visual experiences at different times.)

REMOTE LEARNING:

Create a wrapped artwork in the style of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Choose a natural object and wrap it, or build a sculpture out of clay, wood, or other materials and wrap it. How does the process of wrapping change the way you see the object?
Research other projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. What similarities do you see among their installations? How do some of their installations relate to nature? Write a paragraph about how one of their other installations relates to nature. Write a paragraph comparing your chosen work with Wrapped Trees.