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Lesson Plan Image

Installation Art

Installation art has the potential to surprise and engage viewers and make a social justice or advocay statement. Students will learn about this art form and create a model of what might be a large art installation.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Craft Materials
  • Paper
  • Raffia
  • Recycled Materials
  • Sticks
  • String
  • Yarn

Steps

  • Step 1

    Installation art generally describes artwork that is installed in a specific space. Ask students to consider how the word "install," which means to put something inside of something else, in an insight about this type of art.

  • Step 2

    Installation art is a three-dimensional sculpture that transforms the audience's perception of space and adds a powerful statement to the surroundings. This type of art is usually site-specific and based upon an advocacy message or artivism goal. Have students learn more about this type of art and look at images of some examples, such as "The Dinner Party" by Judy Chicago, "Sixteen Miles of String" by Marcel Duchamp, or "Padre's Bride" by Martha Posner.

  • Step 3

    Have students brainstorm some ideas for a theme or advocacy message and identify a location where they would install a piece of art. Have them form teams and explore answers to the planning questions: What message do they want to convey? What materials will they use to best depict it? Where and how would it be installed and why did they select that location?

  • Step 4

    Challenge the student groups to create a sketch and then build a model of the original and thought-provoking art installation piece. When it is complete have them present it and ask other teams what they think the piece represents, what feelings it suggests, and where they think it would be displayed. Then have the presenting team give their ownDescription of what it represents and why they created it.

Standards

ARTS: Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

ARTS: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.

SS: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Examine various institutions that affect one’s life and influence people’s thinking and how they advocate for ideas they believe in.

Adaptations

Installation artists are often inspired by social issues and current events. Have students investigate examples of this, such as Susanne Brennan Firstenberg's "In America. How Could This Happen...," in which a field of white flags - one for every American life lost to Covid - takes over the National Mall, or Mary Mattingly's "Swale," a barge-turned-floating edible landscape that invites communities to pick their own produce as a way to address food deserts.

Have students work in small teams to design a piece of art that conceptualizes a local or world concern.