Children at Byron House have learned about Swiss sculptor, Alberto Giacometti, in their remote learning Art lessons and have studied the artist's bronze figures. After sketching stick men, the children considered how we position our bodies for different movements and how body language can convey varying emotions. The children used kitchen foil to create elongated figure sculptures with the help of a pre-recorded introduction and explanation from their Art teacher, Miss Muñoz .
Alberto Giacometti was born in 1901 and died in 1966. He began painting, drawing and sculpting from a very early age and explored many art forms throughout his life. Giacometti is most famous for his tall, thin figures made of bronze. These textured figures have thin, elongated arms and legs, which contrast with the strong metal they are made of. The children considered what words they would use to describe Giacometti's abstract figures..
Before looking at any of Giacometti’s work, the children carried out a playful exercise to get everyone drawing stickmen in different positions of movement. To create the actual figure sculptures, they learned how to turn flat, delicate kitchen foil into sculptures of people, inspired by the textured figures that Giacometti created. The children thought about their sculptures striking a pose, doing yoga, running, kicking a ball, etc. and considered their centre of gravity to give them balance. Once they mastered the technique of working with the foil they were able to move their figures to recreate some of the stick figures they had drawn.
One Form 1 commented, “I loved bending the foil to make my figures come to life and I couldn’t believe that silver stick men could look so realistic and have their own mini characteristics!”
