Toothpick Sculptures, How Art Inspires Art

 
Both of these miniature Ferris wheels are made entirely of toothpicks and white glue. The Ferris wheel on the left was created by inmates at San Quentin prison in the early part of the 20th century. It has a working motor and is on display, together with the rest of an inmate created miniature toothpick amusement park,at San Francisco's Museé Mecanique. 

The Ferris wheel on the right was created by contemporary artist Scott Weaver. It is part of a giant toothpick sculpture representing the entire city of San Francisco.Weaver began the sculpture as a child, growing up in San Francisco, and added to it on and off for 35 years.

 
Here is a photograph of Scott Weaver's giant sculpture. It is made entirely of toothpicks and held together with white glue. Both works of art are kinetic sculptures, which means that they have moving parts.

The tetrahedron is the building block of this three dimensional design project. Composed of four identical triangles, it forms an extremely stabile structure.

STUDENT GALLERY

Work in progress by a 7th grade boy. 

He is figuring out how to design a roof that doesn't collapse. Together we looked at geodesic domes. I reminded him of the arches, vaults and domes of Ancient Rome and Medieval Europe from his social studies class. We discussed forces, physics and engineering.

Miniature Playground by a 9 year old girl

Tower designed by a team of five 7th grade girls

Tower designed by an 8th grade girl

Miniature Roller coaster created from toothpicks by San Quentin Prison inmates, early 20th century. Museé Mecanique, San Francisco

Miniature Ferris Wheel Created by San Quentin Prison Inmates, Early 20th century. Museé Mecanique, 
San Francisco

Miniature amusement park ride, created by San Quentin Prison Inmates, early 20th century. Museé Mecanique,
 San Francisco

PRINTABLE WORKSHEETS

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT..,

Both Scott Weaver's toothpick sculpture and the toothpick amusement park created by San Quentin inmates have moving parts. Weaver's creation uses gravity to move the balls through the maze of tracks. The San Quentin sculpture uses electric motors. A sculpture with moving parts is known as a kinetic sculpture. Kinetic sculptures can be powered by sunlight,wind, gravity, electricity or even a person turning a crank. The movie below shows a kinetic sculpture powered only by the wind.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCOTT WEAVER'S TOOTHPICK SCULPTURE, "ROLLING THROUGH THE BAY"

For related art projects, lessons and information, please see my blog post on the basic elements of three dimensional form: http://thehelpfulartteacher.blogspot.com/2010/12/basic-elements-of-three-dimensional.html

Follow up activity: Do an 'earthquake' test on your towers by placing them on a pan of jello and tapping the sides. Which buildings stay up? Which buildings collapse? How can they be redesigned? 

http://www.teachengineering.org/view_activity.php?url=collection/cub_/activities/cub_natdis/cub_natdis_lesson03_activity1.xml

Scott Weaver's Website:
http://www.rollingthroughthebay.com/index.html

COMMON CORE MATH STANDARDS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO THIS ART LESSON:
Apply geometric methods to solve design problems CCSS.Math.Content.HSG-MG.A.3 e.g., designing an object or structure to satisfy physical constraints or minimize cost.

ART STANDARDS:

Designing A Three-Dimensional Miniature Circus From Wire andFoundObjects

From 1926 to 1933 The famous artist Alexander Calder created this miniature circus, using wire and scraps from his art studio and around the house. He carried his circus with him in suit cases and put on performances for his friends. 

Compare Calder's performance to the film, of a circus parade, created by the famous designers Charles and Ray Eames in 1952.

How are the two films similar?

How are they different?

What materials would you use if you could create your own miniature circus?

Look at the unique whimsical circus characters that Calder built. Can you identify some of the materials and common household objects he used? Start collecting things that you might use to design your own circus.

You can see Calder's Circus at 

The Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York City. 

Here are some materials listed on the museum's website that Calder used to create his magical circus: Wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps. 

One of the tests for creativity is a person's ability to take a common household object and use it in an unconventional way. Where other people saw junk, Calder saw possibilities. How creative are you? What objects can you find around your house to create your own miniature world? 

Alexander Calder, Little Clown, the Trumpeteer, from Calder’s Circus, 1926–31. Wire, cloth, paint, yarn, thread, rhinestone buttons, electrical tape, rubber tubing, and metal horn,

 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York;

Alexander Calder, Elephant and Trainer, from, Calder’s Circus, 1926–31. Painted wood, cloth, rubber tubing, wire, fur, pipe cleaners, cork, and nails,

 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; 

Below are two chairs, one designed by Alexander Calder, the other designed by Charles and Ray Eames. How are they alike? How are they different?

Like Calder, Charles and Ray Eames approached design challenges with a sense of playfulness and fun. Unlike Calder, Eames created items that were manufactured, mass produced and sold in stores.

Printable Worksheets

Science connections: Calder's Circus is a kinetic sculpture, because it has moving, mechanical parts. Calder used pulleys, ramps, and other simple machines to bring his art to life. How many simple machines can you identify in the movie? What machines would you create to bring your circus to life? How would you power your own kinetic sculptures?

In 1957 Charles and Ray Eames created the first solar powered kinetic sculpture, called the 'Do Nothing Machine'.

SAFETY TIPS FOR SCULPTING WITH WIRE http://awesomeartists.com/ART/AWesomeAwesomeGettingWired.html

The excellent worksheets posted below come from the Awesome Artists blog written by M.C.Gillis. There are many wonderful ideas on that blog and I encourage you to visit there for lesson ideas and printable worksheets.

Please include the following copyright information when copying & printing these materials: This work may be copied for personal use & sharing, not for commercial use. Please direct feedback to mo@expandingheart.com. Thank you. Copyright © 2003-2008 All Rights reserved M.C.Gillis

STUDENT GALLERY

Miniature circuses

Work in progress by my middle school students. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. 

We started out by painting the cardboard circus 'rings', applying our previous knowledge of rotational symmetry and Mandala design. We discovered that some combination of red, yellow, blue or white can be found in most circus designs and that they are usually simple, symmetrical and graphic (clear or vivid, like a diagram) with flat contrasting colors.

Next we hot glued in the wooden barbecue skewers after sticking the points into the corrugated cardboard. We used Twisteez brand colored wire for the tightropes. First we twisted the wire in place and then we used hot glue to keep it from slipping. Then students used beads, wire and pipe cleaners to create animals and people.

Some students opted to hot glue their circus characters in place.

The students brought in found objects from home. The ladders were made with hot glue, toothpicks and bamboo sticks from an old placemat.

The students were allowed to take anything they needed from my scrap bag as long as they had a circus related use for it in mind ahead of time. I told them it was like finishing your plate at dinner; they would be required to use everything they took. This forced them to think and plan and minimized waste.

A piece of lace makes the perfect net

Leo jumps through the hoop of fire!

For the next lesson, I took out Crayola Model Magic, toothpicks and Elmer's glue. I showed the students how to use the toothpicks as an armature (skeleton). We used glue to reinforce any area where two pieces of clay were joined. Each student was allowed one small package of clay. They had to tell me which circus animal they planned to create before I gave them the package. 

Work in progress: This student creates a giraffe 

Work in progress: using a toothpick armature and markers to add color, these students created a zebra and a clown from Model Magic

Check out the seal balancing a ball in the background. 

The show opens with the national anthem

Mr. Bear wants to try the trapeze too!

"Ha! Ha! You can't catch me with your whip!"

 Says Dancing Bear to Mr. Ringmaster

Aging Diva Dancing Bear is ready for her grand entrance. 

She steadies herself with her cane as she enters the ring.

So many things going on! A juggler, a dancing bear with a lace skirt and pearl necklace, a fancy pipe cleaner horse with feathers, pipe cleaner men jumping rope and climbing ladders and even a giraffe.

Mr. Honey bear is about to walk the tightrope without a net!

Hello Mr. Lion!

Student ingenuity: A toothpick keeps the seal's neck from slumping, while the clay dries 

Materials: Cardboard circles (free from the school cafeteria, they come from the frozen pizzas)

Wooden barbecue skewers (inexpensive from any supermarket)

Pencils, rulers and compasses (to draw the design on the cardboard base before painting)

Acrylic paint and brushes (my students had to switch brushes when they switched colors instead of washing them. This worked well since we were not mixing colors)

Low temperature hot glue gun (available in the craft department of  Walmart for about three or four dollars)

Low temperature hot glue sticks

Twisteez brand colored wire

Pipe cleaners

Plastic beads

Crayola Model Magic

Toothpicks (for armatures)  

Elmer's glue

Miscellaneous found objects supplied by the students.

Scrap fabric, ribbon, felt and feathers (optional)