Saturday, November 4 promises to be a great day for families at the Walker. November’s Free First Saturday, Light’s Out! will feature an artmaking project designed around creating glow-in-the-dark wearable art, a kids’ disco party, cool films, and a performance by Circus Minimus. Families should also make sure to take a trip into the galleries where tour guides will be stationed by artworks that incorporate “mysterious shapes and spaces.”
One such work is Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale-Attesa (Spatial Concept- Expectation) from 1964-65. The work is a painted canvas with a dramatic slash down the center. As the artist said, “Space is behind and around the painting.” He changed the flat smooth surface of the canvas, helping us to look through the painting and wonder about the space behind and around it.
As you look at this artwork, think about how this work is like both a painting and a sculpture. How do you think making this artwork was like making a performance? Do you think Fontana made his slash slowly or quickly?
Have your child make an artwork and then have him or her cut or tear a slash into an area of the artwork. How does this change the space of the artwork? How did they decide where to make the slash, how long and what shape it should be? What would they want to put behind their opening?
Don’t foget to come to the Walker on Saturday, November 4 to learn more about how artists use shape and space in unusual ways, or to see more works by Lucio Fontana.
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