Tuesday, 18 June 2013

The rather unforgiving properties of structural integrity and gravitatianal stability in Art

Tuesday the day of teaching young children art, well I use the word teach loosely because if there is one thing I can’t do it is teach young children.  I arrived at the local junior schools after school club slightly early while they were still getting food and drink to keep them lively and bouncy. Luckily I had managed to turn a crocodile, a dragonfly and a dog which the children drew last week into large cardboard self standing cardboard things, although I did have to tweak just a few tiny things to deal with the rather unforgiving properties of structural integrity and stability. Yes even art can not entirely escape the forces of gravity and nature sadly, which as an artist I have to admit is rather annoying. However very young children are not entirely aware of the overall principles of structural integrity and generally see gravity as a mere trifle to wave away as unimportant, until they fall over and drop their trifle. 



They also eat artistic ideas like a huge man eating sea monster eats men on Brighton beach on a sunny bank holiday Monday when it is knee deep in holiday makers and sea monster watchers and ice cream is half price during happy hour. Of course happy hour under those circumstances is less happy that it could be as everyone (and that’s loads of folk) are being eaten by a sea monster or monsters.  I would say that teaching art to small children is much like being eaten by sea monsters, I am starting to think I may have to make some sea monsters in order to keep them focused on art, although I did do one sneaky thing with today’s lot I mentioned maths. This I thought would slow them up a bit but for reasons I find difficult to comprehend it appears they are all rather keen on a bit of maths and it did not slow the whiz of pencils and the snipping of scissors as I tried to explain that most legs are a bit fatter at the top of the leg where it joins the body and thin at the other end and at least one lad did realize this after all the legs fell off his spider drawing when he cut it out. In the end a bit of Algebra confused them and square roots seemed to confuse a couple of them a bit, but they are only about seven; interestingly algebra and square roots seem to confuse folk who are seventy also, but I guess 7 is not the best number for square roots.


I would mention the rest of the day but I need to rest. . . . . . 

12 comments:

  1. My mind is always blown away by the the golden ratio 1.618

    There are loads of things in nature that have this number as a ratio including us human beans.

    If i remember correctly, the distance from the floor to your belly button and from your belly button to the top of your head is a ratio of 1.618.

    it also does your fingers,hands,eyes and mouth nose..and... everything.

    It is a well cool number and one of the reasons i love math-er-my-matics.

    I also love the Fibonacci series. That sort of stuff melts my melon.

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  2. by the way, I love that picture with the cat looking at the cardboard dog.
    :O)

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    1. I am very impressed Mr H, that you have all these things to hand, I now have visions of laying out all those caravans to conform with the golden ratio. I can just see you telling the nasty chap who turned up the other that his proportions do not conform to the laws of nature and in mathematical terms he is quite frankly wrong.

      I rather rely on the old Isambard Kingdom Brunel principle that good design looks right aesthetically and is therefore mathematically correct also.

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  3. Did you colour in that cardboard cat?

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  4. Teaching math is one of my favorite but rarely performed things. I think it helps to use grid paper when eXplaining square roots.


    .I don't even begin to use my cardboard as creatively as you, nice animals!

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    1. As we both know, you are rather good with numbers and such things Mr ESB and Mr H is good with numbers, I have therefore worked out that proportionally I have a higher that average number of regular readers who have an interest in mathematics and science. This is very good although science and mathematics are not the most popular of subjects in mainstream blogging. Leading me to believe I do not have a mainstream blog . . . . . . AH DAMN.

      I am sure you could do cardboard things like this dead easy Mr ESB as I told the kids keep it big and keep it bold.

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    2. I am sorry that our math and science are dragging down your readership numbers, so I'll stop visiting your blog. ( hahahahaha - just teasing - hahahahaha )

      I have just been busy taking out an old heating system and putting in a new one. I thought my electrician was going to start this past Monday but my wife told me I was off by a week. It isn't too much of a delay as the weather has turned colder and slightly wet. Cooper and I are enjoying the morning outside with coffee in the vineyard watching the rain fall far to the east. He does a good job pulling weeds.

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    3. I am all in favour of maths and science as long as it is a little mad, much like the human race.

      It was Hot today, very hot. (well by UK standards 26C.)

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  5. Wow, I am most impressed Rob Z. Teaching kids of that age, is darned hard work. No wonder you need to rest. :)

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    1. Very hard darned hard work is right Miss Lily. Damn their enthusiasm, but bored in ten seconds and want to do something new, are we there yet dad attitude. I warned them they will get old bitter twisted and die in poverty and debt, but the teacher burst into tears and had to go and lie down.

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