Jim Dine For Older Children

Silhouette of sculpture

History of Black Bronze I

1983

Jim Dine

American, born 1935

Subject: Appropriating objects

Activity: Creating a collage of your life

Materials: Magazines, small objects, glue, paper

Vocabulary: appropriation, bronze, depict

Introduction

Jim Dine grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his family owned a hardware store. Dine often depicts tools in his art. In this piece, Dine shows tools alongside several reproductions of famous works of art. When artists use existing objects in their work (as opposed to creating them originally), they are using a method called appropriation.

Questions

Do you see familiar objects?

Which objects did the artist make? Which were appropriated?

Why do you think the artist placed his tools alongside the other objects?

Activity

Create a collage that tells a story about your life. Use pictures from magazines or small objects and glue them to a new sheet of paper. Add your own drawings to the paper. Which parts are original, and which are appropriated?

Vocabulary

Appropriation - using something not made by you

Bronze - a gold-brown metal that is a mixture of copper and tin

Depict - to represent by a picture