Freedom within a Square

For Grades K–12

Works from Fletcher Benton's "Alphabet" and "Numerical" series. Painted steel, dimensions variable. © 2010 Fletcher Benton / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Inspired by Fletcher Benton: The Alphabet
(July 30, 2009–July 3, 2010)

This lesson plan is inspired by Fletcher Benton’s “Folded Square Alphabet” series of sculptures. It uses a two-dimensional square as the starting point for sculpture.

Decide when you would like to share information about the artist under study, Fletcher Benton. If you have time only for a very short lesson in which the students make sculpture, show this after they have completed their sculptures. If you want to be able to explore his working methods in a longer project, share this information early during the project.

Artist under Study: Fletcher Benton

Show the PowerPoint Presentation Fletcher Benton: The Alphabet. Make sure to point out that he began with a square piece of paper, too! 

GRADES K–2

Objectives

• Students will understand the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional
• Students will understand how geometry can be a creative starting point
• Students will create a three-dimensional artwork from a two-dimensional piece of paper
• Students will synthesize learning in a presentation to the class describing what they did and what their sculptures represent

Materials

• Scissors
• Transparent tape
• One eight–inch square of paper per student
• Photos of Fletcher Benton’s “Folded Square Alphabet” series, including drawings, paper maquettes, and sculptures (see photo at top right of page; click on the photo to make it larger)

Activity: From Two Dimensions to Three

Explain to your students that the paper is two-dimensional and that all flat things are two-dimensional. Find other two-dimensional objects in the classroom (for example, posters, the blackboard’s surface, the flat screen of a computer).

Reveal that each student will magically transform a two-dimensional square into a three-dimensional object. Make an example ahead of time to show students. For this age level, it is easiest to show an abstract sculpture.

Only one rule: They MUST use the whole sheet of paper! They can use many methods for constructing their sculptures: rolling, cutting, tearing, taping, slotting, tabbing, folding—anything they want! Make sure to include each of these in your example. Below are photos of two examples.

These examples show two views of two different sculptures, each created from one eight–inch square of white paper. The sculpture on the left is mounted on a square of cardboard; the one on the right is freestanding.

Display the students’ finished sculptures and have each student describe what he or she did and what (if anything) his or her sculpture represents.

New York State Learning Standards

• English Language Arts Standard 1
• Math, Science, and Technology Standards 1 and 7
• Visual Arts Standards 1–3

GRADES 3–12

Objectives

• Students will understand the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional
• Students will understand how geometry can be a creative starting point
• Students will create a three-dimensional artwork from a two-dimensional piece of paper
• Students will synthesize learning in a presentation to the class describing what they did and what their sculptures represent

Materials

• X-Acto knives for older students
• Scissors
• Glue sticks
• One eight–inch square of paper per student
• Cardboard for the sculpture bases
• Pencils (optional)
• Photos of Fletcher Benton’s “Folded Square Alphabet” series, including drawings, paper maquettes, and sculptures (see photo at top right of page; click on the photo to make it larger)

Group Activity: From Two Dimensions to Three

Divide the students into three groups and give each student an eight–inch square piece of paper. Have one person from each group draw from a hat filled with possible subjects, which could include:

• Airplanes
• Butterflies
• Cars
• Cats
• Dogs
• Elephants
• Trains
• Trees

Choose a topic yourself—for example, cats. Demonstrate making a three-dimensional paper cat of some sort from your piece of paper, without using a pencil to draw. Use several paper techniques, such as slotting, tabbing, folding into a fan, gluing. You don’t need to be literal—you might just include the shapes of the whiskers, the ears, etc. Point out the way positive and negative space creates elements of the sculpture. Demonstrate looking at the sculpture from all sides, making sure to create visual interest from at least three viewing perspectives.

Ask each individual in the group to make a sculpture of their assigned subject. If they have trouble getting started, you might provide them an assortment of pictures of their subject, gathered from the Internet (but these are only to be used for inspiration). The only rule is they must use every piece of paper from the original square. Encourage them to look at their sculpture from all sides and adjust shapes to make sure it is interesting from all viewpoints. Be supportive of all attempts, and make sure to encourage original solutions.

Glue each sculpture onto a base sheet of cardboard. Display all the examples of each subject together and discuss them.

Possible Approaches to the Discussion

What is similar about the sculptures? Are any of them the same? Compare them all. What shapes did students use? What methods and paper techniques? Which ones have more detail? Which ones have less? What was the hardest part about making the sculptures?

Additional Study

Students can choose which sculpture they prefer and then recreate it in cardboard. The sculpture might need to be dismantled and the pieces traced for the cardboard version. So that the students can remember how to put the pieces back together, have them devise a method so that they can make a copy. Options include numbering the pieces and indicating with pencil where pieces attach, taking photographs from several angles, etc. Choose one color to paint the entire cardboard sculpture.

New York State Learning Standards

• Visual Arts Standards 1–3

VARIATIONS FOR GRADES 6–12

Students should select a set of objects or symbols to inspire a series of sculptures. Tangible sets might include:

• Mathematical symbols (satisfies New York State Learning Standards 2 and 3 in Mathematics, Science, and Technology)
• The Periodic Table (chemistry elements) (satisfies New York State Learning Standard 4 in Mathematics, Science, and Technology)
• Car company logos
• Yoga poses
• Sports teams logos

Intangible sets might include:

• Emotions
• Tastes (sweet, sour, salty, etc.)

Select six members of your set and make a sculpture representing each one of them from the same starting shape—an eight-inch square. Remember, the finished sculpture does not have to be immediately recognizable as the object or symbol it represents, but the entire sheet of paper must be used.

If you have time for a longer project, have them sketch their options on squares. This will result in more planned-looking sculptures. They also may need quite a bit of time to sketch and then attempt the sculpture, and then start again.

Another variation would be for them to sketch their design first, then make cuts along some of the lines and attempt to make a sculpture WITHOUT CUTTING ANY PIECES off of the square.

Reproduce each favorite sculpture in more permanent materials.

New York State Learning Standards

• Visual Arts Standards 1–3

FOR ALL GRADES

Fletcher Benton: Add a Descriptive Poem 

The photographer, poet, and writer David Finn has written descriptive poems about all of Benton’s “Alphabet” and “Numerical” sculptures. Look at the photograph of the “T” and see if you think David Finn’s poem is a good description.

Folded Square Alphabet T (A.P.), 2007. Painted steel, 12 x 12 x 12 inches. Collection James J. Curtis.

“Folded Square Alphabet T”

By David Finn

Round circle of steel
mirrors an open space.
A long diagonal line
ends in two right angles.
As one moves around the sculpture
detail views
show combinations of geometric forms,
with angles, curves,
open spaces, and solid squares.

(Reproduced, with permission, from David Finn, Fletcher Benton: The Alphabet. New York: Ruder Finn Press, 2005.)

Have each student write a poem describing the sculpture that he or she made.

New York State Learning Standards

• English Language Arts Standards 1–3