Instant Sculpture: Marshmallow Volcano!

When I found out that this week's blog had to be an "Instant Sculpture" made out of household items I had a bunch of different ideas flashing through my mind: sticks, stones, recycling boxes, hair elastics, bobby pins and more. Searching my mind for ideas I realized I was overwhelmed with the multitude of possible artifacts that I could use. I spent the next several days thinking of all the different things I could use, but was unsatisfied with the answers I was coming up with. Then all of a sudden it came to me while I was drinking hot chocolate and marshmallows... "that's it!" I thought, "I should use marshmallows!". And so I did, I poured my bag of mini marshmallows on the floor along with some toothpicks and markers and began my creation. 


I began creating without a real end idea in my mind. So often I create art knowing exactly what I'm going to make, so for once I decided to just let my fingers guide me. I began sticking toothpicks into marshmallows, and creating shapes and squares and triangles. After creating my original shape I realized it lacked colour... so I started splitting some toothpicks in half and coloured them pink and red. The end product reminds me of a volcanic buildup... with the pennies and pink marshmallows representing the lava building up, and the brightly coloured toothpicks representing it spewing from the top. Lately I've felt a little overwhelmed with everything that is going on in my life, so to me this was a sculpture that kind of represented what I feel like on the inside. It's not the most beautiful creation I have ever made, but it was something different and unusual and unexpected, and I was proud of it. 


After completing my Instant Sculpture I began leafing through our Art & Creative Development for Young Children trying to decide what word I could pick to describe this sculpture. Should I pick lines for the toothpicks, or colour for the volcanic flow? Then all of a sudden it came to me... I should use the word which so obviously is found all over my creation:

Shape

In the text book shape is described as "an appropriate criterion for critiquing two-dimensional art that has length and width" (Schirrmacher and Fox, 2009). My Instant sculpture has both length and width, and it's definitely 3-D so this was a perfect word for it. Just as shape has its own qualities and personalities, so too does my sculpture. I believe that my sculpture is both simple and complex, circular and angular and geometrical and non-geometrical. I have simple circles which can be found in the coins, 3D squares and triangles, and free forms shape found within the "exploding toothpicks" that are coming out from the topmost marshmallow. 

Shape is such an important part of art, because almost anything that you create has some form or type of shape in it. Shape is how children identify parts of their body, and learn about the world around them. They learn to distinguish things as big or little, small or large, open or closed, tall or short, hard or soft, solid or light... all different characteristics of shape. Without shape the world as we know could not function. Without rectangular tables, round cups and balls, and flat surfaces,  life would be very different and very likely chaotic. As important as it is for children to learn the function and necessity of shapes, it is also important that they learn shapes so they can go beyond those boundaries. Children must learn that shapes are important, but it's necessary to create abstract non-traditional things as well. Because in order to be creative, children must learn what can be found within our regular realm, in order to reach far beyond it.

This art activity was a creative way for me to push the boundaries within my self. Instead of creating a table or precise picture I pushed myself to create something abstract, to use found objects to create something that was unusual for me. Because after all, how can I expect to teach children to push their boundaries and become their most creative selves if I haven't first pushed myself? This type of activity is extremely important for children because it helps them to understand the importance of creating new things out of old things. It can help children to see old found objects in new ways, and forces them to use their imaginations. In todays society children are often obsessed with material things and sometimes do not see the value in creating their own things. As a teacher I am excited with my creation, which will carry over into the field and help me to share my excited for creation with children. I hope my dedication to the arts will influence children to see art as an important form of expression and play. 


Reference:

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6^th Ed.).Belmont, CA: Delmar.