Using Sol LeWitt ’ s Art to Teach Math
D uring the 1960s , the art world was full of turmoil . Artists like Marcel Duchamp , Robert Rauschenberg , and Willem de Kooning were questioning the nature of art in an effort to determine its essential quality . These artists believed the concept or idea behind the artwork should take precedence over the actual creation of the work . One of the leaders of this movement , called Conceptual Art , was a Connecticut artist by the name of Sol LeWitt .
Sol Lewitt was famous for a series of abstract , large-scale wall drawings based on this theory of conceptual art . Like the composer of a musical score , LeWitt wrote instructions for his paintings and let others , often trained draftsmen , actually create the paintings . These abstract wall paintings often include geometric shapes , patterns , and mathematical combinations and permutations that can be used as a springboard for teaching math .
Using Sol LeWitt ’ s Art to Teach Math
I have used Sol LeWitt ’ s methodology to teach various math concepts to students as young as third grade all the way through high school . I usually begin a project by introducing students to Sol LeWitt ’ s theory of Conceptual Art and together we read a number of his instructions while viewing the related wall drawing .
A square divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts , each with a different direction of alternating parallel bands of lines
On black walls , all two-part combinations of white arcs from corners and sides , and white straight , not-straight , and broken lines .
STEAMed Magazine
11
January 2016 Edition