Favela Project

For the last two art classes, 8th graders have begun work on their individual house that will become a part of a larger installation of all of the 8th grade houses to build one large favela.  The favela's are made out of all found materials, just like a lot of the actual favela's in Brazil are made out of.

To make the project even more dynamic, we are working closely with artist, Eric Cremers, who lives all the way across the world on the small dutch island of Bonaire.  His current work is based on creating large favela works out of found materials.  More about his work can be found at www.ericcremers.exto.org.  We have created a dialogue by sending Mr. Cremers weekly emails with questions that the students have about a process, their process, his artwork, etc.  Each week we have been reading his email response and replying with new questions for him.  It has been an amazing experience to say the least to have an internationally known artist acting as a mentor to all of our 8th grade students.

The enthusiasm in the classroom has been palpable the past few weeks as the students have been building their houses.  The creativity and engineering that the students are doing is remarkable.

Here are some pictures and videos of the work the students have been doing.  We have a lot more work to do.  Enjoy!

Response from Mr. Cremers

Response from Mr. Cremers

Response from Mr. Cremers

6th-8th Grade Sketchbook Due Next Week

6th-8th grade sketchbooks are due next week in art class on the day that they are regularly scheduled for art class. 

Items for 8th Grade Favela Project

8th graders will be making 3-dimensional favelas (Brazilian slums) using found materials.  We will be studying the artwork of Eric Cremers and will be corresponding and skyping with Mr. Cremers as the students work on their artworks!!!!  The favelas will be a collaborative project with each student making 2-3 individual houses that will be stacked with their classmates houses to create a large favela.

Work by Eric Cremers:

More information and amazing artworks by Eric Cremers can be found at this link:  http://www.ericcremers.nl/kunstwerken/16517861_Habitats.html#.WGyBfDKZNAY

I will now be collecting these below mentioned items in the art room.  If you happen to have or find any of these materials or similar around the house, please hold on to them for our 8th grade art classes. Thank you ahead of time.
We are looking for any materials that could be used to create these individual houses:

-Old computer/phone mother board
-Miscellaneous cardboard
-Cereal boxes
-Wood scraps
-Burlap scraps
-Twine/Ribbons
-Wires
-Interesting packaging materials
-Sandpaper
-Saw dust
-Found natural materials (leaves, grasses, palm fronds, rocks, etc...)
-Miscellaneous metal components (washers, nuts/bolts, etc..)
-Spaghetti noodles
-Metal sheeting
-Plexiglass
-Shoe boxes

-Any other random found materials that you think would make an interesting structural form