Human Gesture Sculptures With Clear Packing Tape

What is a human gesture? ges·ture ˈjesCHər/ noun noun: gesture; plural noun: gestures 1. a movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning.

Artists do gesture drawings to warm up and practice the human form WITHOUT getting too bogged down by detail and super accurate proportions. Artists have a model keep changing their pose every 30 seconds to 1 minute. This means their drawings are always kept SIMPLE and EXPRESSIVE.

Gestures in 3-dimensions…

Alberto Giacometti Early 1900’s Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker Was involved in the Surrealist Art Movement, but his work is not always so easy to categorize

Alberto Giacometti, Falling Man, 1950 Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man I, 1950

Emil Alzamora Late 1900’s – present Sculptor who works with casting bronze, porcelain, ceramic, and gypsum to create metaphorical, fantastical and literal interpretations of the human form

The way that our bodies are positioned can express a lot about mood, emotion and mental state.

You will be creating an expressive human form in 3-dimensions using clean packing tape. You must work in groups of 3-4 (no more or less due to supply issues…)

Your sculpture will be designed to be installed in a specific place in the school. (which may have to be pre- approved by Admin/Fire Department…unfortunately, they don’t like things hanging from the ceiling.

Examples from ms.art.teacher.lady’s instagram

Ok…how do we do it?

Tape each body part separately. Wrap each section with TWO layers of tape stick side up, and TWO layers of tape sticky side down. Students who take the time to cut each piece of tape individually will have a smoother, more proportional sculpture at the end. When you are done wrapping, carefully cut straight down the side, take it off and then tape it back together.

Yes, even the head Please be careful, leave an air hole and don’t cut any hair!

Keep track of all of your body parts as you go along!

Tape all of the body pieces together Remember to make all of the joints (wrists, armpits, etc) or your sculpture will look disproportional.

Fill Sculpture with fun objects! This is optional, but you could fill it with packing peanuts, tissue paper, twinkly lights, ping pong balls, etc.

Begin by getting into your group and filling out a planning worksheet. Woot woot! I love Sculpture Class!!