Being Statues

Process

For this class, you will want to create space in your classroom, go outside, or use another room that has a lot of space in it.

• 1) Using students’ sketches from the previous day’s lesson or from homework, explain that today they will have a chance to “perform” their statues in pair or small groups.




• 2) Using a technique called “tableaux,” you will be instructing students to “sculpt” each other into statues. Students will work in partners, where one student is the “material” and the other student is the “artist.” Classmates will then have a chance to view each statue and to ask the artist questions about its location, its physical stance, the concepts behind its creation, its symbolism.




• 3) Pair students up however you see best, or let them choose. It is perfectly fine to have students in groups of 3 or more, and you may find it necessary to ask if any student has designed a statue that requires more than one body.




• 4) Explain that for 5 or 8 minutes, each artist will have an opportunity to explain his or her plans to his or her partner. Partners may ask questions about any aspect of the plans, but they are not allowed to change any of the artists’ plans.




• 5) Explain to students that one partner will now sculpt the other. A statue should remain frozen and is not allowed to talk—they will have a chance for speaking later, but for now should remain silent. Allow students 5 minutes to sculpt, place, organize, find props, etc for their statues. Keep a watchful eye on the “statues” and ensure that they’re cooperating with the artists.




• 6) After 5 minutes, say “freeze” and ask statues to memorize the placement of their bodies. All statues but one may “unfreeze,” and join around the remaining frozen statue.




• 7) At this time, ask the artist to explain the statue. Where is the statue’s location? What is it made of? What is the artist commanding people to memorialize?




• 8) Do this for all of the statues. Call attention to particularly meaningful or effective facial expressions, symbolic objects, physicalizations.




• 9) Ask all statues to freeze once more in their positions and allow the artists to wander amongst them. You may want to take a photograph at this point, to capture a room full of statues, each memorializing something important to each of your students.




• 10) Now switch—each statue will become an artist—and repeat the process. This could take a full period, or spill over into a second.




• 11) Processing questions could be something like, “What are we feeling we when look at this statue?” “What are we learning about the artist when we look at this statue?”




• 12) For homework, ask students to write a response to the following question: If your statue could also speak, what would it say? And why?