Document
Sarah Oppenheimer For Younger Children
C-010106
2022
Sarah Oppenheimer
American, born 1972
Subject: Reflections
Activity: Drawing with Foil
Materials: Aluminum foil, white colored pencils or chalk, dark colored cardboard or poster board (at least 6 x 6 inches), glue, scissors, access to outdoors and/or an artificial light source
Vocabulary: Diagonal, glass, mirror, reflection
Introduction
Sarah Oppenheimer is an artist who makes works of art out of building materials. C-010106 is made from glass sheets that pass through a bridge.
Some of the glass stands straight up and down, while other pieces are diagonal. Because of the way that Oppenheimer made her art, the things you see change as you move around the art. People walking below the bridge can see people walking on top, and people on top of the bridge can see the people below.
Questions
What do you see reflected in the glass?
Where do you think the reflections are coming from?
How does your view change when you are on top of the bridge or when you are on the bottom? Do you like one view more than the other? Why?
Activity
Draw a picture of what you see outside. Use white or light-colored pencils or chalk on dark- colored paper. You can draw trees, flowers, buildings, or anything you see!
Cut aluminum foil in different shapes with scissors, with the help of an adult.
Shiny side facing up, glue the foil on the cardboard, overlapping your drawing where you choose.
Take your art outside to see reflections in the foil. The foil will also make its own light that will reflect on other objects.
BTW
The glass used in this art was made in Germany and shipped to the United States. Because the glass is fragile, it had to be moved with suction cups to make sure it wouldn’t break.
Aluminum foils are excellent reflectors because they are smooth and shiny, almost like a mirror.
Look again
Looking at the different of sheets of mirrored glass in the art, you will see images that are reflected. For each image you see, can you find where it’s located in real life? With a friend, can you try to find each other in the reflection?
Vocabulary
Diagonal ‒ A type of straight line that is at an angle. A diagonal line does not go straight up, down, or across. It is a line that connects two corners of a shape.
Glass ‒ Glass is a material that lets light shine through, but keeps rain and air out. Glass is easily breakable, but it can be made very strong. It can also be cut into many different shapes.
Mirror ‒ A smooth surface that reflects an image of whatever is in front of it. Mirrors are usually made of glass over a thin coat of silver, nickel, or tin.
Reflection ‒ The image you see when you look in a mirror.