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Playing with Basic Elements

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)

Fletcher Benton has another strategy for working. He uses a group of small basic elements and combines them in different ways to create small sculptures. Then he looks at all the sculptures and decides which ones are most interesting. These he turns into large-scale sculpture.

Objectives

  • Students will learn that everyday materials can be used as shapes
  • Students will use everyday materials as repeated shapes in designing and building their own sculptures
  • Students will learn about balance

Materials

Select a half dozen elements and give each student a half dozen or so of each. Some everyday objects that might be easy to include as elements are:

  • Cotton swabs
  • Peppermint puffs
  • Styrofoam packing pieces
  • Sugar cubes
  • Cotton balls
  • Toothpicks
  • Geometric shapes cut from cardboard

Ask each student to build a small sculpture using whatever means they can to get things to stay together—twist ties, glue, etc. Evaluate each sculpture using the evaluation included with this lesson plan. Choose one sculpture to make a larger version. Have each student build a version of that sculpture, adding color. Compare these sculptures. How are they the same? How are they different?

New York State Learning Standards

  • English Language Arts Standards 1 and 3
  • Visual Arts Standards 1–3