For the Koffler Gallery’s Winter 2017 exhibition, No Work, Nor Device, Nor Knowledge, Nor Wisdom by Leopold Plotek, we developed three different workshops that allowed both elementary and secondary school students to interact with the various themes, narratives, and artistic methods Leopold Plotek utilizes in his own work.
MUSICAL ABSTRACTION
Students in Grades 1-3 were asked to translate sound into a visual language, and to consider what jazz “looks” like compared to pop music, say. Students listened to four different songs, each belonging to a particular genre: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Benny Goodman’s Where or When, Pharell Williams’ Happy, and A Tribe Called Red’s Stadium Pow Wow. Students created line drawings in pencil that reflected their individual interpretations of sound.
Students then selected one line drawing to create a refined, larger scale work while incorporating colour and texture into their artwork.
This workshop created several links with Ontario Curriculum for students in Grades 1-3, including Language (1-2), Music (C2.1-C2.2), and Visual Arts (D1-D2).
THE ABSTRACTED NARRATIVE
Students in Grades 4-8 considered how a story could be reduced to key visual elements, and how these elements in an abstract composition can still convey personal meaning. Drawing inspiration from the various forms, lines, colours, and shapes in Leopold Plotek’s paintings, students created abstract artworks of their favourite day.
This workshop created several links with Ontario Curriculum for students Grades 1-3, including Language (1.1-1.6, 2.1-2.7) and Visual Arts (D2.1-D2.3)
THE PAST IS NOW
Students Grades 9-12 explored facets of “allusion,” an artistic technique which makes references to Classical, Biblical, Romantic, and Renaissance tropes and motifs. Students were asked to consider a moment in their recent or distant memory and create their own “allusive” artwork through collage and assemblage. Students brought with them family photographs, magazines, and other sources to produce their individual artworks.