“There is a thick wall that separates people who understand war and those who don’t. How to break the wall? It has to come from veterans, from people who remember the way they were before. Whom they became after war.”-K.W

Veterans/ Words/ Art Installation


  • Content Areas: English, Drama, Art
  • Lesson Objective: to introduce students to K.W’s art installation, to continue the work from yesterday that art can often say what individuals cannot
  • Skills: Performance, collaboration, reading
  • Common Core Standards: SL.7.1, SL.7.2, SL.7.5, SL.7.6
  • Time: 1 50-minute class period
  • Materials:
    • HW assignment—“If your statue could speak, what would it say?” (Lesson 3)
    • Print-outs of images of K.W’s Veteran Vehicle Project in Denver (or access to computers)
    • Copies of, or excerpts from, the article “War Wounds” by Nicholas D. Kristof. Read this article and extract what you find is most valuable for your students regarding the difficulties veterans face upon returning from war. Prepare whatever vocabulary aids you think are necessary for your students.
    • No Unwounded Soldiers website and video clips (for homework or in-class use)
  • Download:Lesson 4
  • Essential Question(s):
    What if memorials could talk?


Process

  • 1) Remind students of their class yesterday, in which they embodied statues their classmates designed. Explain that today they will be revisiting those statues, but they’ll be adding voice to them. They will also be learning about an art project that will make the Union Square Lincoln statue come alive by adding voice.


  • 2) Explain to students that today they will be adding voice to their statues, and re-performing for the class.


  • 3) Ask students to pair up with their partners again. Exchange homework assignments and allow each to read the other’s work. Explain that as they’re reading each other’s homework, to look for lines that are remarkable in some way. They may highlight or underline words or phrases that stand out as meaningful to the sculpture, and will be the lines they’ll speak as the statues. In this way, the statues will have a chance to “say something.” Ask statues and artists to speak to each other and decide together about the lines they statues will speak.


  • 4) Once you’re clear that all statues have their lines, ask students to take their positions again. Have all students stand in a large circle so they can see each other. One at a time, have each student take the shape of the statue they embodied yesterday and, while remaining frozen, speak their line loudly and clearly.


  • 5) After everyone has performed, debrief the activity:
    • Which statues sent shivers up your spine?
    • (How) did statues’ messages change once they added voices?
    • Are there some statues/memorials in the world that you think should have voices? Are there some that are better left silent?


  • 6) Explain that for a month in November, the Lincoln Statue in USQ is going to become a living statue. It will “speak,” using the voices of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.


  • 7) Discuss briefly the word “veteran” and Veterans’ Day. (Why do we have a day dedicated to veterans? What happens on that day? Is it enough? How is Veterans’ Day a kind of “memorial”?)


  • 8) Show students images of KW’s earlier installation in Denver—the Veterans Vehicle Project. If you have laptops or computers available for small groups of students, provide each group with a laptop and direct them to the Interrogative website. Explain to them the ideas behind and the process of creating the project.


  • 9) Allow students to peruse the images. While students are looking them over, ask them to process the images by considering these questions:
    • What is this memorial “commanding” us to think about?
    • Why did KW choose to use a vehicle?
    • Why was the location of this installation meaningful?
    • Why might veterans want to participate in this project?


  • 10) Ask students to brainstorm, or to pull from personal experiences, issues that veterans returning from war might be experiencing.
    • How do they think veterans feel coming home?
    • What kinds of experiences do they imagine these veterans had in “war” and how might they feel about talking about it?


  • 11) Tell students that only 1% of veterans speaks publically about war. Ask students to think about why there is such a small percentage. What does that number reveal about war? About being a veteran? About how the United States values veterans?


  • 12) Explain that for homework tonight, students will be reading an article (or an excerpt, whatever you decide is best for your students) from the NY Times about veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. *



    • *Variation: Additionally, or instead of the NY Time article, you could lead students to this website-No Unwounded Soldiers. Ask students to click on “Video Clips” and to watch the three clips. “No Unwounded Soldiers” is a documentary that follows several veterans through drama therapy. It may be worthwhile to get your hands on a copy of it to watch clips in class.