Fifth Grade Giacometti Sculptures

Materials Needed

         • Plastercraft cut into small strips


• Water containers
• Aluminum foil (heavy)
• Masking tape
• Acryllic Paint
• Mod Podge

• Giacometti prints





We did this project as a continuation of the Schapiro project. The students had to create a sculpture of the figure that they had created out of paper.

We looked at different artwork by Alberto Giacometti and talked about how they were all similar. Then we created an armature for our figure out of aluminum foil. We used a piece of foil about 15-18" long and made 3 cuts.

They scrunched the foil to form the human figure. It was important that they do this slowly and carefully or their foil would rip. Once they had the general form for their figure, they could then scrunch it tighter to make it skinnier. They posed the figure into the action that they had used on their 2D project and then they were ready to cover it with Plastercraft strips. I had them cover the entire sculpture 1 time and then use Plastercraft to attach their figure to a cardboard base (corrugated cardboard works the best).

When the Plastercraft was dry, they used papier mache glue and glued tissue paper squares to their figure. I told them to use as many different colors as they could. This was easier for some than others. Many of them really wanted them to look real!

They covered the tissue paper with Mod Podge (you could probably skip the papier mache glue and go right to the Mod Podge to attach the tissue paper) and let this dry.

The final step was using metallic acryllic paint to add all of the fun details that they had added to their 2D project. Again, I told them to go CRAZY- they aren't used to me saying this, so they had fun with it.

Vocabulary:
Armature, balance, form, Plastercraft Pin It