Younger Children

Jennifer Steinkamp

American, born 1958

EON

2020

Subject: Moving image
Activity: Create an image with two layers.
Materials: transparency paper, permanent marker
Vocabulary: layers, animation, forms, balance

Introduction:

Artist Jennifer Steinkamp uses a computer to make many small layers of images. Notice how the small shapes (or forms) come together to make a bigger picture. Each form has its own shape, size, color, and way of moving. Like a cartoon movie, the images are repeated, one after another, in a way that makes them look like they are moving. This process is called animation.

Questions:

What do these forms look like to you? Do they remind you of anything? Watch the animation for several moments. Which part is your favorite? What do the shapes look like in your favorite part? Are there many objects or only a few? Are they balanced equally within the picture or spread out all over? How do you think the artist came up with these forms?

Activity:

Using the permanent marker, draw any shape you'd like onto one of the pieces of paper. Then, think of a similar shape, and draw it on the other piece of transparency paper. Put the shapes on top of each other and move the pieces back and forth. Do the layers come together to make an image? Can you layer the images so all of the objects are balanced?

BTW:

Many of the artist's other works of art feature trees and plant life. Try drawing leaves or plants on your transparency paper, instead of shapes. When you layer them, what do they look like? How are they different from the shapes that you drew?

Look Again:

You can rotate the images to change how your creation looks. Try moving them farther apart or closer together!

Vocabulary:

Animation - Many images that are repeated in a pattern to look like moving objects Balance - An arrangement of shapes and colors where no part is more important than another Layer - A section of material laying on or underneath another Form - A shape or outline of a shape

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