Puppets

 

A puppet is a movable model of a person or animal that is used in entertainment and is typically moved either by strings controlled from above or by a hand inside it.

*Inspired by Catherine Karp

Puppets can be very simple or very detailed

Let's look at various puppets that you can make

with the materials in the art room.

Popsicle Stick 

Spoon Puppets

Glue on eyes, nose.  Draw a mouth.  Add fabric for clothing and garments.

Paper Bag Puppets

Paper Bag Puppets Continued 

Sock Puppets

These materials are found in the Fibers Studio.

Fortune Teller/Origami 

Folded Puppets

Use a square of paper and details

Moveable (Kinetic) Puppets 

Use a hole puncher and brass fastener to create joints like knees and shoulders.

Shadow Puppets

shadow puppets are part of an ancient form of storytelling that presents flat cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are lit from behind and create shadows onto a screen. Marionettes

Finger Puppets

*source Catherine Karp

Powerful presentation

Most of the time when we see art, it is displayed like this


or like this

Neither one of these art presentations or experiences is wrong but what if the artist allowed us to experience their art in a different way. Would it make the art more powerful?

Think back to our Tiny Art Show.  The experience of seeing tiny art and possibly laying on the floor to look at art created a non-traditional art viewing experience.




Let's look at some artists that make Powerful works of art by creating an unforgettable experience for their audience. 

Ernesto Neto is a Brazilian artist whose installations offer a chance for the viewer to touch, see, smell, and feel his artworks for a truly sensory experience. “For me, mind and body are one thing, always together,” the artist has said.

I

Imagine walking into this exhibit.  Where would you go first?

A view from inside the art

Louise Joséphine Bourgeois was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker.



Spider is a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois It was executed in 1996 as an edition of a series

This sculpture is presented in a way that the viewer may experience the art in many different ways.

Let's look at a few more experiential art pieces where the artist has thoughtfully considered the experience you will have when you look at the art.

Rain Room allows visitors to the installation to walk through a downpour without getting wet.Motion sensors detect visitors' movements as they navigate through the darkened space, becoming "performers in this intersection of art, technology and nature".

Olafur Eliasson uses lights, mirrors, materials and you to create his interactive art.  “It is not just about decorating the world...” Eliasson uses natural elements (like light, water, fog) and makeshift technical devices to transform museum galleries and public areas into immersive environments






Pipilotti Rist is a visual artist. She is best known for creating experimental video art and installation art 
 

Lastly, let's listen to Janet Echelman.  You may recognize her Fiber art from previous lessons.

What specific space does Janet Echelman want us to notice?
What inspired her to become an artist?
What inspires her work?
Does she work alone?



Artist create a powerful experience for us by the way their art is presented to us.

As you think about your own art:

Will you create an experience for your viewers?

Will your art require the senses of the viewer?  Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch, Taste


What a powerful idea, that you as an artist can create an experience for the viewer or affect the viewer's senses; smell, sight, touch, sound, taste