The Juxtaposition of Art and Invention

Hook:

5 minutes: Gather students together and hold up objects and pictures the librarian has brought from her own collection. These can include baby items, souvenirs, letters, trinkets, gifts- any object that has special significance. The librarian will ask the fifth graders to guess why these objects were saved then briefly explain the specific personal import of the various items. 

Direct Instruction & Guided Practice:

10 minutes: (Direct Instruction) The librarian reads the students the book Mr. Cornell's Dream Boxes by Jeanette Winter and provides a biography of the artist. The students will be asked to articulate the book's main idea, that Joseph Cornell formed artwork by weaving everyday objects together in shadow boxes to express his dreams, thoughts and memories. 

20 minutes: (Guided Practice) The librarian directs the students to view the slide show of Cornell's boxes at The Smithsonian American Art Museum online. These include "Medici's Slot Machine," "Cabinet of Natural History" and "Swan Lake."

The students will work with a partner to select one box from the slide show to examine. The pair should identify the items used in the art piece, and what they speculate is being expressed in the way Cornell arranged these particular items in the box. This will involve formulating questions about what each object could have meant to Cornell, or to someone else, and what kind of story the combined objects create together. Sample questions could be: What did you think when you first saw these objects? What importance do objects and pictures have in communicating meaning? What objects would you include in your own box?

Independent Practice:

15 minutes: After students share their reflections on Cornell's boxes, encourage audiences to consider what they understand art is and what makes an artist an artist. The librarian will pose a few questions to get the students thinking, such as how artists are like inventors. They will also be asked to discuss whether or not they would describe Mr. Cornell's boxes as art. The fifth graders should be prepared to defend their answers, and establish their own description of what constitutes art.

The students will be asked to respond independently in short answers to the following questions posted on a white board in the front of the room:

1. How are artists like inventors? Give an example.
2. Would you agree that Cornell's boxes constitute art? Why or why not?
3. What is your definition of art and what is its purpose for the artist or society?

The librarian will circulate the room and provide feedback on the students' progress in responding to the questions. During these feedback sessions, students may be provided with a list of additional questions they might explore (e.g. What inventors or artists may have been confronted with skepticism about their work? Who are some inventors that upcycled or recycled ideas or objects in their discoveries? How can we find ways to look at everyday objects with a sense of wonder or transformation, as Cornell did?) The students may also determine some preliminary innovation or research ideas, if time permits.

Closing/Reflection:

5 minutes: As the class regroups we will look at the artist Joseph Cornell as a maker because he valued his "natural" and "spontaneous" origins as an artist. We will close class by establishing that like inventors, many artists create something new from nothing or from the juxtaposition or recombination of ideas. Cornell believed that artists renew and transform materials, experiences, and ideas, and this belief fueled his ability to communicate the beauty and magic in ordinary, often forgotten things, similarly inventors often reuse, modify or combine ideas or objects to solve problems.