Activity 5 - Art Gallery
See a video description of the tip here.
This activity is an interesting variation of Show and Tell, the classic activity where students bring in an object or a picture and tell the class about it.
Show and Tell is one of our 2-minute video challenges, you can read a description of how it can be set-up in our description here. Art Gallery is a little more creative as it is based on an improvisation game.
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Choose an object that is close to hand, ideally something that would not normally be thought of as nice or artistic, a cuddly toy, or a pot of yoghurt with a spoon sticking out of it.
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Then imagine that you are the guide in an art gallery. Your job is to explain to visitors why this object is actually great art and worth their attention.
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Students can choose their own objects, or they can send challenges, pictures of objects, that others have to explain.
The fun is in the obviously made-up explanations. For example, if your object is a coat hanger you could say something like …….. This is The Hanger by modern German artist Hans Koat. The main body of the hanger represents the pyramid of society and the hook represents mankind‘s need to reach out and hook onto something greater than itself. The contrast between the cold metal of the hook and the warm wooden body of the hanger just emphasises the tension of this desire.
I just made that up on the spot while writing, and this activity works well as an improvisation game for more advanced students.
Lower levels can enjoy it too, but they will need time to prepare their answers, maybe in groups. Also, there are technical difficulties involved with how to hold an object so that people can see it well on screen, so you may prefer to do this as a homework short video. You lose the spontaneity of the improvisation, but part of the benefit of activities where students are presenting on screen is for them to become familiar with the technicality of presenting in front of a camera.
See a video of the activity here.
Download this description as a word file