Older Children

Older Children
Silhouette of sculpture
Joel Perlman
American, born 1943
Square Tilt
1983
PDF icon oc_perlman.pdf

 

 

 

Subject: Geometric abstraction
Activity: Creating a sculpture that uses a frame
Materials: Glue and different shapes or sizes of cardboard or balsa wood
Vocabulary: diagonal, geometric abstraction, horizontal, steel, vertical

Introduction: 

Joel Perlman studied art in New York, California, and London, England. He created abstract steel sculptures that are best seen from the front, like the way we look at paintings. Perlman often creates a heavy steel frame for his sculptures and attaches smaller steel plates to it. In this way, he draws our attention to the sculpture as well as to the subject that it frames. Joel Perlman’s style is geometric abstraction.

Questions: 

Are the lines of this sculpture horizontal, vertical, or diagonal?

What mood do these lines convey?

Why do you think the artist named this sculpture Square Tilt?

What material was used to create this sculpture?

Activity: 

Using different shapes and sizes of cardboard or balsa wood, create a rectangular frame and attach geometric shapes to it. Experiment with locating it in different places and study the subjects you frame. How do the subjects change when they are framed versus unframed? How does tilting the frame at various angles change the way they look?

Vocabulary: 

Diagonal – positioned on a slant
Geometric abstraction – geometric shapes that are not realistic
Horizontal – positioned the same as the horizon and the opposite of vertical
Steel – a strong dark metal
Vertical – positioned upright, like a flagpole, and opposite of horizontal