This week, look around you and get inspired by what you find!

These awesome activities are all about transforming things that may not seem like art materials...but add a bit of creativity and wow! You’ve made a masterpiece! Use your body to make a sculpture (strike a pose!) and build structures big and small using unconventional materials. Recreate iconic works from the AGO collection at home and create art inspired by the sounds around you. 


Body Sculpture

Get moving and turn your body into a living sculpture! Watch AGO Artist Instructor Amanda Arcuri use household objects to create sculptures that only exist while you get creative and strike a pose.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Three examples of body sculpture

AGO Remix!

This spring, the AGO held a contest asking people to re-create artworks from the collection. Get inspired and make an AGO remix of your very own!

Activity

Step 1. Choose your artwork

Did you know that the AGO is now open? You can visit with your family to choose an artwork in real life, or you can browse the collection from home!

Step 2. Gather your Materials

Instead of working with paint or pencil crayons, YOU become the artwork! Find objects and materials from around your home to help set the scene, dress up in character and find some props to use. You don't need to copy every element of the artwork - start by choosing 2-3 things and see how it looks!

Step 3. Play and Experiment!

Play with the lighting to capture the right mood. If you need more people or different objects than you have at home, don't worry, make substitutions! Need a person you don't have? Use a stuffed animal instead. Need a horse? Use a chair instead. Need a lake? Use a rug.  Have fun and get creative!

Step 4. Capture the Moment

Once you like your composition, get someone to take a picture, or set that self-timer on your phone and pose!

Step 5. Post your AGO Remix Creation!

Congratulations, you’ve finished your AGO artwork remix! Share your creation with us by tagging #AGOmakes.  We can’t wait to see it!

Fun recreation of artwork from the AGO Collection

John William Waterhouse. " 'I am half sick of shadows,'  said The Lady of Shalott" (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott, Part II), 1915. Oil on canvas, 100.3 x 73.7 cm. Gift of Mrs. Philip B. Jackson, 1971. © Art Gallery of Ontario 71/18


Live Conversation: Sound & Art With Laura Barrett

Wednesday, July 22, 2020, 10 am
Learn how to create art using the sounds around us! Join Tiana Roebuck, AGO Associate Curator, Studio Programming and Learning in conversation with special guest, Laura Barrett, a recording artist, composer, and teacher who has released multiple albums, including three feature film soundtracks. In this conversation Laura will show us fun ways to experiment with sound and incorporate sound into your artmaking at home.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Photo of Laura Barrett

What is it?

Can you guess each of these materials? Hint - you don't always find them in artwork.

Click here for the answer

Image A

Extension Cord

Image B

Horse Hair

 

Image C

Resistors (found in electronic equipment)

Image D

Fabric

Solution

Trinity Suite by artist Barry Ace

All of these materials are used in this artwork Trinity Suite by artist Barry Ace. Have a close look. Can you spot all the materials?

Barry Ace, trinity suite

Barry Ace, trinity suite, 2011–2015. Mixed media (motion sensor display monitors, fabric, metal, horsehair, extension cords, mirror, plastic, capacitors and resistors), Installed (McLean Centre, 2018): 207 x 95 x 53 cm. Purchase with support of the Max Clarkson Family Foundation and the Dennis Reid Fund, 2018. © Barry Ace. 2018/3586.

In this artwork Barry Ace has reimagined a traditional bandolier bag using unexpected materials. Many Nations across North America made and wore these types of bags. By using computer parts to replicate floral designs from his ancestral home, the M’Chigeeng First Nation located in Odawa Mnis (Manitoulin Island), Ace connects the present-day to the past. Ace also references the tradition of using new materials, like his ancestors’ did when they were introduced to new materials through trade.

For more information check out our Barry Ace Trinity Suite Teacher Resource (PDF) created for grades 7-12.


Build It: Big & Small

In this short film, I Can Make Art Like Kai from the National Film Board of Canada, sculptor and textile artist Kai Chan shares his artistic philosophy of economy and repetition with young artists who build extraordinary, complex 3D structures using simple materials and basic techniques.

Check it out and then click the activity below to see how AGO Artist Instructor Melissa Pauw was inspired by this local Toronto artist to build big & small using everyday materials.

TRY THE ACTIVITY HERE (PDF 581.74 KB)


Monochromatic Art

Watch Tiana Roebuck, AGO Associate Curator of Studio Programs & Learning, create monochromatic art using objects she found at home. Get inspired by the work of Louise Nevelson and make your own monochromatic masterpiece.

See the full activity here


Tea Towel Garden Banner

Let’s celebrate urban gardens everywhere - in our backyards, porches or balconies! Click below and See how AGO Artist Instructor Daphne McCormack uses recycled fabric to create a stunning garden banner. Make your own and display it outdoors or indoors, wherever you want to be surrounded by the beauty of nature!

TRY THE ACTIVITY HERE(PDF 936.67 KB )

Tea towel banners

Found Object Hanging Sculpture

Any object you find can be transformed into a new piece of art! In this project, AGO Artist Instructor Olia Mishchenko is inspired by wire coat hangers to create hanging sculptures. Twist, bend, cut and play and - have fun!!

TRY THE ACTIVITY HERE(PDF 643.38 KB)

Found object sculpture

#AGOmakes

Show us your AGO Makes: Summer Edition artwork and join our online gallery!

 

 

 

 

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