Carl Andre: Mass and Matter
Rosa Barba: Subject to Constant Change
Turner's Perspective: Selected by Rosa Barba
1 February - 6 May 2013
Free admission
JMW Turner, Spheres at Different Distances from the Eye, Lecture Diagram 11 , circa 1810. Pen and ink and watercolour on
paper, 485 x 602 mm © Tate, London 2012
A free resource for teachers and group leaders to
use alongside the exhibitions
Introduction to the Exhibitions:
These exhibitions provide a unique opportunity to view the work of two international
contemporary artists alongside a selection of rarely exhibited works by JMW Turner
and to explore diverse approaches to materials, space and sculpture.
Carl Andre: Mass and Matter brings together a selection of sculptures and word
poems by one of the most influential sculptors of the twentieth century. A leading
figure in the emergence of Minimalism in the United States in the mid-1960’s, Carl
Andre (b. 1935) redefined the possibilities of sculpture, by reducing it down to its
essential elements and using ordinary industrial materials. He positions standard
units of wood and metal in simple linear or grid formats directly onto the floor, to
reveal the beauty of these raw materials.
Rosa Barba (b. 1972) explores unconventional and inventive uses of film, its
cinematic effects, material elements and physical characteristics. Rosa Barba:
Subject to Constant Change, a collaboration between Turner Contemporary and
Cornerhouse, Manchester, includes recent film sculptures and a newly
commissioned film installation. Her practice engages with the components of film –
celluloid, projector, light and sound – to form cinematic narratives or physical
sculptures. Consequently, film serves as both object and subject in her work. Like
Andre, Barba aims to draw the viewer’s attention to the materials of her chosen
medium.
To accompany her exhibition, Barba has made a selection of drawings by JMW
Turner (1775 – 1851) from the Tate Collection, to form Turner’s Perspective:
Selected by Rosa Barba. These drawings were made as visual aids, to accompany
lectures given by Turner during his tenure as Professor of Perspective at the Royal
Academy (1807 – 1837). Appearing modern, stark, yet complex in style, Barba was
intrigued by the drawings’ investigations of points of view, colour, and reflection, all
key interests in her recent work. This exhibition provides us with an insight into her
current practice and the structures underlying Turner’s accomplished landscape
paintings.
We suggest that you use open questions in the exhibition to begin to discuss these
themes, there are examples of generic questions below and more detailed activities
towards the end of the resource.
-
What does this artwork remind you of?
What is your first reaction to this artwork?
How does it make you feel?
Is it hot or cold?
Is it happy or sad?
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What was the artist thinking about when making it?
How does the shape of the work make you feel?
How else could you look at this artwork?
Your visit:
‘The staff who ran the workshops and conducted the gallery session were expert and
incredibly professional. The range and pace of activities was totally appropriate for
the age and needs of the learners who greatly enjoyed and benefitted from the day.’
Stephen Dove, Deputy Head, The North School, Ashford.
We Are Curious is Turner Contemporary’s Learning programme. We aim to embrace
students’ curiosity about contemporary art, and encourage it to grow into confident
and critical discussion of artists and their work. We offer a range of activities for
schools and community groups to book, from ‘hands-on philosophy’ tours with our
trained team, discussion sessions using our handling collections, to practical
sessions which explore the practice of exhibiting artists. You are also welcome to
lead your own visit, using our free resources for support. We ask all groups to make
a booking with us if they are intending to visit. To do so, please email
[email protected] and we’ll aim to get back to you within three days.
Turner Contemporary is open Tuesday – Sunday 10.00 – 18.00 and is closed on
Mondays except Bank Holidays.
Artists and Key Works:
Carl Andre: Mass and Matter
"My ambition as an artist is to be the Turner of Matter."
Carl Andre is considered one of the most significant sculptors of his generation and
a key figure in the development of Minimalist art. He does not carve, model or
transform his materials, but assembles elements in linear arrangements on the
floor. This horizontal orientation enables his sculpture to function as 'a place'; a
move more radical than other Minimalist artists of the 1960's. As a viewer we are
occasionally allowed to walk on the sculpture, creating a more physical connection
between us and the artwork.
Minimal art emerged in America in the early 1960’s at a time when the prominence of
Abstract Expressionism was waning. Minimalists aspired to a pure abstract art, with
all traces of the artist’s hand removed through, in Andre's case, the use of industrial
materials and repetitive elements. Most accounts of Minimalism begin with Frank
Stella's uniform black stripe paintings in 1959. Andre was greatly inspired by Stella,
who had also attended Phillips Academy, Andover and created his first sculpture in
Stella's studio. Yet with varied viewpoints and no manifesto, the artists associated
with Minimalism, such as Sol LeWitt, Dan Flavin and Donald Judd, dismissed claims
that theirs was a coherent movement. It was not until 1967 that the term
'Minimalism' was in use.
Andre's material interests were influenced by his surroundings growing up in Quincy,
Massachussetts, with its shipyards and granite quarries. He refers to this imagery in
'The Quincy Book': a personal collection of commissioned black and white
photographs of various sites that hold special meaning to him. His grandfather was
a bricklayer and his father was an engineer for ships. Andre observed ships in all
states of production, out in all weathers. Industry would again inspire him in the
early 1960's when he began working on the Pennsylvania Railroad as a freight
brakeman to support himself and his first wife:
"That was a further education. You run into bridges and all these kinds of
things which are steel structures, the rails and the gondolas, the cars full of
scrap metal."1
Working with modules, shunting engines and putting trains together provided Andre
1
Interview with Carl Andre, Sarah Martin, New York, December 2012
with what he described as, "my advanced degree in sculpture."2
Although Andre prefers to source his materials from the surplus of industrial
production, nature also left a marked impression on his work. Andre first travelled to
England in 1954, the landscape having a great impact on his artistic ambitions: "The
English landscape has been worked over for so many thousands of years; it has a
smoothness and almost erotic terrain."3 His uncle Raymond Baxter took him to
several historic sites, including Stonehenge; an experience which affirmed Andre's
desire to be a sculptor. English landscape painting also impressed the young artist,
he cites Turner as an early source of inspiration. Andre's reduction of matter in
sculpture can be viewed as alike to Turner's reduction of colour in painting. He
claims: "Turner severed colour from depiction, I attempt to sever matter from
depiction."4
Materials are unique for Andre. The process of reducing down his materials to raw
elements enables him to expose matter for its own sake. Exploring a range of new
materials and finding new uses for old materials throughout his career, Andre
claims, "the periodic table for me is what the colour spectrum is for a painter."5 He
does not need a studio because the materials he works with, such as bricks,
timbers, metal plates and stone, are readily available materials in standard sizes or
units, which he assembles on site in direct relation to the space. The cost of the
material is another factor in Andre's selection, which has frequently included the
'economic metals' aluminium, copper, steel, magnesium, lead and zinc.
Andre's work is not coded with underlying meaning, nor is he in any way a
conceptual artist. Instead he creates an ordered place for the viewer to experience,
laying out his materials to interrupt the space. The number and arrangement of units
is significant:
"Everything has a number...numbers to me have characteristic shapes. If it
were 101 plates that I were somehow forced to do it would have to be a
straight line because 101 is a prime number, it’s divisible only by itself and 1.
So the cardinal number of the number of plates in the work will determine the
geometric shape.
So there are no mathematical mysteries behind my work at all. And my works
don’t have any meaning – there is nothing mystical about them. They are
2
Calvin Tomkins, The Materialist: Carl Andre’s eminent obscurity, The New Yorker Digital Edition: 5 December,
2011, p69
3
Interview with Carl Andre, Sarah Martin, New York, December 2012
4
Ibid
5
Tomkins, p72
concrete expressions of concrete materials and concrete situations."6
Poetry:
Andre experienced poetry from an early age. His mother wrote poetry and his father
read poetry aloud in the evenings. Even before he could read, Andre preferred the
shapes and visual effect of poems in his father’s books over that of prose, which,
"just went on and on...grey block after grey block."7 Andre went on to attain a
scholarship to study poetry at college, but left during his first semester.
His poetry deals with similar concerns to his sculpture, reducing and arranging
words and phrases on the page to explore their visual appearance. Although some of
his earliest poems were handwritten, most of Andre’s text works from the late
1960’s were produced on a manual typewriter. This machine set down uniform
letters in grids, rows and columns, mimicking Andre's formation of threedimensional shapes from the materials of industry.
6
7
Interview with Carl Andre, Sarah Martin, New York, December 2012
Ibid
Key works:
Carl Andre, Phalanx, 1981 © Carl Andre. DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2012
An image of this work can be viewed at:
http://www.turnercontemporary.org/exhibitions/carl-andre
Andre places 14 timbers of western red cedar in 2 diverging rows of 7 verticals,
creating a diagonal semi-enclosed space. Although industrial metals retain a
prominence in Andre’s sculptural work from 1967, the natural material of wood is
revisited on occasion throughout his career. Nature and the landscape had
significant visual impact on the young artist, particularly during his visits to England:
"...the English countryside was a great revelation to me, because I’d never
seen a landscape that was so worked by hand by human beings. There is a
soft, almost erotic quality to the landscape in England as opposed to the
landscape in New England which is a very rough, stony, grim landscape."8
However, an industrial look is still evoked in the use of this material through the
uniform sizing and cutting of the wood into timbers.
Andre’s sculptural works aim to function as a place, which he defined as: “an area
within an environment which has been altered in such a way as to make the general
environment more conspicuous.”9
-
8
9
In what way does this work interrupt your experience of the gallery space?
How would this effect change if the layout of these timbers was altered?
Op Cit
http://www.getty.edu/museum/symposia/pdfs_stark/stark_online_rider_archival_lo-res.pdf accessed 18.01.13
4 x 25 Altstadt Rectangle, 1967 Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels
You can search for an image of this work on the internet – but copyright restrictions
prevent us from publishing it here or providing a reliable link.
A 100-unit rectangle of hot-rolled steel, 4 rows of 25 each, forming a rectangle.
On his decision to display 100 plates in a 4 x 25 grid structure:
"I don’t conceive my works, I desire them. I desire to have a work 4 by 25 and
my works tend to be in series but as I say, the numbers have shapes. The
number of units in a work will determine its geometric shape. Everything has a
number; everything has a cardinal number. Let’s say we’re talking about
plates: 1 plate would be just one plate; 2 plates would be 2 plates side by
side; 3 plates would be 3 plates side by side; 4 plates would be a square 2 by
2; 5 would be a straight line because it’s a prime number – 1 by 5; 6 would be
2 by 3; 7 would be 1 by 7."10
On his choice of material:
"Hot-rolled steel is...a reasonably priced material, much cheaper than let’s
say cold-rolled steel which is the bright, shiny silvery steel. I don’t like shiny
things. I think it’s because I hated shining my father’s shoes when I was a
boy!"11
-
10
11
Take a look at the artworks placed flat onto the floor. Is it a pathway? Where
could it lead? Is it hotter/colder, harder/softer that the floor around it?
Does it look like people have walked over this artwork? If all visitors who
walked over these works left an impression, what effect would this have on
the artwork?
Interview with Carl Andre, Sarah Martin, New York, December 2012
Ibid
Weathering Piece, 1970 © stichting kröller-müller museum
An image of this work can be viewed at:
http://www.turnercontemporary.org/exhibitions/carl-andre
Andre uses 6 fundamental industrial metals: aluminium, copper, steel, magnesium
lead and zinc, 6 plates of each, assembled in a square with an alternating diagonal
pattern. These plates were placed outside to weather, impacting and changing these
different metals in varying ways. Andre seems to combine industry with nature here,
organically altering his standard metal squares through natural processes.
He is clear on his preferred source of materials however: “I find nature very rich but
also very confusing. Rather than going into nature to find my materials I would more
likely go to a dump or a scrap yard.”12
-
-
12
Op Cit
Compare this artwork with others also made up of metal squares. What effect
has the weathering process had on the way this work looks? Consider the
varying colours and textures of these metals. Which effect do you prefer: raw
industrial metal or weathered metal? Why?
Andre has arranged 36 sheets into a square with a strong diagonal pattern.
What does it remind you of? How else could you arrange these pieces? What
effect would this have?
Rosa Barba: Subject to Constant Change
Rosa Barba’s work explores the medium of film in various ways. She experiments
with the materials of film – projectors, lights, celluloid film and audio equipment –
to create not only projected cinematic narratives, but also physical installations
whereby film becomes sculpture.
Barba first experimented with imagery through photography, when she inherited a
camera at an early age. The developed image in the darkroom became like a still of
film; she states that this first formed her relationship with how to look at images.
Barba’s use of old-fashioned projectors and 16mm film emphasizes her engagement
with history. The projector is not only presented as a functional machine to project
her imagery, but is also an integral physical part of the work itself, therefore altering
our view of what is subject and object. Barba views pre-existing forms or objects –
here the projector – as "like a side effect of society...I analyse the result of this as a
sculpture."13 In some works the projection does not present a narrative image, but
simply light itself. By experimenting with materials and using the components of
film in unexpected ways, Barba exposes the physicality of her medium, even the
technical glitches of the machinery and textures of film. This becomes part of her
language and informs the way in which she works with film. Of her chosen medium
she says:
"Film is not the most open medium but I like the limitation it provides...I don't
know how to work experimentally without something that has limits. Video
doesn't have these limitations so I don't know how to break with that."14
Language is a key element in Barba’s work. She undertakes much social, cultural
and historic research to inform her writings: "I try to put a view onto a different way
into history that opens up possibilities, which are maybe open to the future."15 Her
writing can become a form of work itself, or act as a vehicle to create works in
combination with other cinematic elements. For example, her series of sculptural
stencil cut felt drapes cast shadows onto the wall, illuminated with text, whilst in
film works, words or phrases appear as a stream of consciousness flowing from a
typewriter.
In her films, Barba's characters and landscapes often appear on the verge of
collapse or disappearance, referencing futuristic technologies alongside decay and
memories of the physical past. Her latest film installation, Subconscious Society,
considers the end of the industrial age in favour of an age of technology. Inspired by
13
http://rosabarba.com/articles.php?piece=A1 accessed 18.01.13
Ibid
15
Ibid
14
the histories of Manchester and Kent, Barba explores the industrial metropolis of
Manchester alongside the leisure culture of the Kent coast. She depicts a
community trapped in a deteriorating interior, left to explore what happens when
objects lose function and meaning.
"In my work I don’t observe reality; I am reinterpreting it in a certain direction
by making very personal decisions. I don’t pose critical questions; I am trying
to invent a utopia by showing political and social mechanisms set against
technical mechanisms which are themselves fragile. The paradox which
results from such a tension is used to posit a utopian solution to the problem,
a kind of magic which stops time and offers a slowed-down view of otherwise
hidden aspects of reality. It offers an alternative reading of the past and also
the future."16
-
16
How do you react to Rosa Barba’s statement that she, “likes…limitations”?
How can ‘being limited’ in your practice be a positive thing?
http://www.turnercontemporary.org/exhibitions/rosa-barba accessed 18.01.13
Key works:
Rosa Barba, Subconscious Society, 2013 film still 35mm
© Rosa Barba
Barba often explores unusual places or improbable situations in her films. Informed
by historical and social research, this film evokes the tumultuous past of the areas it
depicts; North Kent and Manchester. In this version edited for Turner Contemporary,
we are presented with a series of coastal views. Sweeping stretches of sand,
dilapidated structures, a half-buried shipwreck and crumbling pier suggest evidence
of industrial, military and cultural histories. The sounds of the sea are overlaid with
echoing, unnatural noises. We are offered a glimpse of an isolated community
trapped in a deteriorating interior. These individuals are unable to escape to the
derelict landscape outside and are left struggling to connect with objects and
surroundings which have lost meaning and function.
-
-
The film and soundtrack of this work are two separate components, played
alongside each other. Can these elements exist independently without each
other, or should audio and visual always be experienced together? Does the
soundtrack change your view of the locations and views depicted in the film?
How?
The film and soundtrack are played on a continuous loop. Does repetition have
an impact on your experience of the work? Do you respond the same way to
this work the first/second/third time you watch/hear it?
The Personal Experience Behind Its Description , 2009 and The Indifferent Back of a View Rather Than
Its Face, 2009
Cutout text on felt, 450 x 180 cm. Installation view: Centre d’art de Vassivière, 2010
© Rosa Barba
Part of a felt-drape series, Barba cuts typeset words into felt, which is then
suspended from the ceiling. These word-shaped holes appear illuminated and
legible on the wall behind as a spotlight is shone on and through the fabric, which
casts a page of shadow onto the wall.
-
Can you read the text cut into the felt or lit in the shadows? Is it important to
be able to read the words clearly? What effect does the use of material, colour
and scale have in this work?
Turner's Perspective: Selected by Rosa Barba
JMW Turner was appointed Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy in 1807
and began his first annual series of lectures in 1811. By this time Turner was highly
skilled in perspective techniques, in part as a result of his early training in
architectural drawing under Thomas Malton Junior, whose father had written one of
the most comprehensive texts on perspective ever published. Having been a full
member of the Royal Academy since 1802, Turner applied for the position as he
wished to further contribute to the work of the institution and development of
British art: "I would endeavour to be useful to an institution to which I owe
everything.”17 Whilst the topic of perspective was to many an unappealing subject,
the position held much prestige and only a Royal Academician could fill it. As a
professor, an artist had the opportunity to share artistic principles with wide
audiences. Although lectures were primarily for students of Academy schools,
anyone could request an admission ticket, leading to many lectures being open to
review by the press.
The subject of perspective was increasingly challenging for artists. Turner's role as
professor was to bridge the gap between practicing artists and the highly theoretical
mathematical treatises on perspective, published in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Landscape painters in particular felt this system of perspective was
irrelevant and removed from the real experience of viewing the world. Several
established theories on perspective derived from as early as the fifteenth century;
Durer for example described 'standard perspective' representation as, "exactly
equivalent to a tracing of a view on the glass of a window,"18 (looking with only one
eye from a fixed point). Yet if this representation was viewed from a point other than
the correct one, it may appear distorted. Turner understood the benefits and
shortcomings of such treatises on perspective and explored their variants in relation
to the practicalities of paintings throughout his lecture series.
Turner took over two years to prepare his material. He filled sketchbooks with notes
and diagrams and organised them into a six part lecture series, attempting to make
a complex subject easier for his audience. He consulted many sources and
perspective treatises and was particularly adept at extracting information from
diagrams. Yet his notes reveal that he did not read thoroughly or systematically,
often copying only from footnotes, ignoring the main body of text, or jumping
backward and forwards through material. Sometimes he made errors or
misunderstood his source, therefore making his notes meaningless.
More useful however, are the many illustrations that Turner produced to accompany
his lectures, each lecture including ten to twenty illustrations. These visual aids
17
Maurice Davies, Turner as Professor: The Artist and Linear Perspective, Tate Gallery Publications, London, 1992,
p15
18
Ibid, p17
could be essential to understanding the lectures and were often admired as
artworks by the audience. John Ruskin, an author on perspective himself, enjoyed
these, "wonderful...exquisitely tinted...series of diagrams."19 Turner used diagrams
to explain common terms such as vanishing point, horizontal plane, centre point,
point of sight and base line. He intended his diagrams to reveal the simplicity of
these ideas. Yet he seemed strangely drawn to the more problematic aspects of his
subject, often launching into lengthy discussions without sufficiently analysing the
topic.
Turner became notorious for unorganised lectures, which were difficult to follow and
repetitious. As many critics described, he did not best use his illustrations, nor could
they distract from his unsatisfactory presentation skills or jumbled discussion. His
clear discomfort with the task of public speaking led him to stammer through his
lectures at great speed and even mislay diagrams or entire lectures on occasion. In
an attempt to improve his delivery, Turner annotated his texts with large red
commas, asterisks and crosses, to indicate where to pause or jump to another
section. But these notes became so littered with symbols and rearrangements that
it must have become almost impossible for his lecture to flow correctly when
confronted with his audience. Therefore his original manuscripts are difficult to
study, along with their appalling handwriting and nonsensical punctuation.
Presentation aside however, Turner’s lectures ultimately contained intelligent
discussion of perspective and art, dismantling old theories to develop new ones,
whilst exploring and outlining basic perspective techniques to his students. He
strongly believed that an understanding of perspective was vital to any artistic
practice. Turner lectured regularly until around 1828, when he stopped his lectures
completely as students continually dropped from the course. He finally resigned in
1837 after an inquiry highlighted the poor state of the Academy's lecture series.
19
Op cit, p23
Key works:
JMW Turner, from II. Various Perspective Diagrams, Lecture Diagram: Reflections in a Single Polished
Metal Globe and in a Pair of Polished Metal Globes , circa 1810, Oil and graphite on paper
© Tate, London 2011
Turner admitted that perspective has its limitations when coping with curved
objects, addressing the nature of reflection and refraction in his fifth lecture. For
this he provided a series of delicate watercolours of globes, some transparent and
half-filled with water, some made from polished metal. In these works Turner relied
upon his own observations to demonstrate how light cast from a window reflects on
round shapes. In the reflection on these globes we can glimpse the artist’s studio,
with its three large sash-windows and a fireplace.20
20
Andrea Fredericksen, Vanishing Point: The Perspective Drawings of JMW Turner, Tate Publishing, London, 2004,
p24
JMW Turner, from II. Various Perspective Diagrams, Lecture Diagram: Colour Circle No.1 , circa 18248, Graphite and watercolour on paper, 556 x 762 mm
© Tate, London 2011
In the mid-1820’s Turner added two diagrams into his lectures to complement
additional passages on colour theory. These were based on the colour wheels by
Morris Harris, who had illustrated his theory by depicting overlapping triangles of
primary colours surrounded by a circle of their mixtures. Turner reconfigured the
colour circle to explore the role of light and pigment mixtures in what he called
‘aerial’ and ‘material’ colours. Even in later stages of his teaching career, he refers
to established elements of perspective theory, yet with an artistic license to enable
him to test their use and potential in artistic practice.21
21
Op Cit, p30
JMW Turner, Spheres at Different Distances from the Eye, Lecture Diagram 11, circa 1810. Pen and
ink and watercolour on paper, 485 x 602 mm
© Tate, London 2012
This diagram is based on an illustration from a book on perspective theory by the
elder Thomas Malton (father of Turner’s architectural tutor). It demonstrates the
theory of vision as a cone of rays travelling from several globes towards the eye and
explores Turner’s observations on the difference between perspective and natural
vision. His drawing technique for such diagrams was quite free, often without
straight edges, in bold red and black watercolour over pencil.
Suggested discussion questions and activities:
Carl Andre: Mass and Matter, suggested discussion questions:
-
-
Andre arranges materials to create his sculptures. Do you consider him to be
an artist, given that he does not ‘make’ these objects?
How important are materials in an artwork? If the artwork was made from a
different material, what effect would this have? Do you prefer the artworks
made from natural materials (wood), or industrial materials (metals)? Why?
Why are these works square or rectangular? How could these materials be
arranged in a different shape?
How does the scale of the sculpture make you feel?
Suggested activities:
Word Poems
Andre creates poetry that explores the graphic effect of words on a page, as if they
were drawings. Make a note of single words or short phrases in response to looking
at Andre’s sculptures. Experiment with the layout of this text by handwriting and
typing these words. Consider size, font, colour and repetition. Does this affect the
meaning of the words? Why?
Mosaic Maths
Take a look at an artwork made of metal squares placed flat onto the floor. Count
how many squares make up this artwork. How else could you arrange this number of
squares? Try rearranging the same number of post-it notes or squares of paper to
test your configurations. What shapes can you make?
Rosa Barba: Subject to Constant Change, suggested discussion questions:
-
-
Barba uses the medium of film to create both cinematic narratives and
physical sculptures. Which do you prefer: the projected films of sculptural
installations? Why?
Do you consider the projector as an object or subject in Barba’s work?
Take a look at the Color Clock artworks. What do these sculptural pieces
remind you of? Do they have a function? What could it be?
Barba chooses to use film and projection equipment from the twentieth
century in her work, rather than current video or digital formats. What effect
does this have on her film work? Consider colour, texture, scale and sound.
Suggested activities:
Film Soundtracks
The vibrations and noises of the projectors at work form a kind of mechanical
soundtrack to some of Barba’s film works. Imagine you are composing a new
soundtrack for one of Barba’s films. What would it sound like? How would you create
these sounds?
Turner's Perspective: Selected by Rosa Barba, suggested discussion questions:
-
Is a good artist always a good teacher?
What makes a good teacher?
Do these diagrams aid your understanding of perspective?
Is it important to understand and use perspective when creating artworks?
Why?
Take a look at Turner’s watercolour paintings of globes. What can you see in
the reflections on the globes? Do the globes appear hollow or solid?
Suggested activities:
Curved Reflections
Find a curved reflective surface, e.g. the back of a spoon, a drinking glass. What can
you see in the reflections on the surface? Try drawing these shapes. How is the
image distorted? Is it still recognisable?
Colour Experiments
Turner created two colour wheel diagrams to demonstrate ‘aerial’ colours, as in the
spectrum, and ‘material’ colours, as in pigments. Try creating your own colour wheel
to experiment with mixing colours. Try using watercolour paints of coloured
transparent cellophane. Using the primary colours (red, yellow, blue), can you create
secondary colours (orange, green, purple), and tertiary colours (red-orange, yelloworange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple and red-purple)?
Also available:
Self-directed activities in the Clore Learning Studio
During these exhibitions our Clore Learning Studio will house self-directed activities
for your group to explore. If the studio is free, go in and have a go at composing your
own ‘Carl Andre style’ wall poem on the magnetic wall, or experiment with
perspective using a window drawing exercise created by Make Do and Draw.
Try our Object Dialogue Box
The Object Dialogue Box is an artist-made handling collection tailor-made for Turner
Contemporary by artist collective Hedsor. It has been crafted to reflect our history,
site, the influence of JMW Turner and common themes within our exhibitions.
Originally a navigation buoy, the Object Dialogue Box contains a number of unusually
customised objects that group members can handle, play with and explore together.
These are guaranteed to intrigue inquisitive minds!
Whilst handling the objects, the children will use and improve their literacy skills
and will also gain a better personal understanding of current exhibitions and the
history surrounding Turner Contemporary. Our trained Navigators will lead open and
imaginative discussions about artworks using the objects in the box.
It’s the perfect start to a creative writing exercise – the box can help to create
characters, set scenes, write poems and imagine narratives.
60 minutes, £2.50 per head (minimum charge of 6 people), suitable for KS2 and
above, all abilities, particularly suited to SEN groups.
To book the Object Dialogue Box email [email protected] or call 01843
233000.
Bibliography
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Interview with Carl Andre, Sarah Martin, New York, December 2012
Lynne Cooke, Rosa Barba: White is an Image, Hatje Cantz, Germany, 2011
Maurice Davies, Turner as Professor: The Artist and Linear Perspective, Tate
Gallery Publications, London, 1992
Andrea Fredericksen, Vanishing Point: The Perspective Drawings of JMW
Turner, Tate Publishing, London, 2004
James Meyer, Minimalism, Phaidon Press Ltd, London, 2010
Calvin Tomkins, The Materialist: Carl Andre’s eminent obscurity, The New
Yorker Digital Edition: 5 December, 2011
www.getty.edu accessed 25/01/2013
www.rosabarba.com accessed 25/01/2013
www.tate.org.uk accessed 25/01/2013
www.turnercontemporary.org accessed 25/01/2013
Dates for your diary:
Page Turner 2013 schools competition
Our annual schools competition Page Turner is now open! Students and teachers
have the amazing opportunity to have artwork exhibited at Turner Contemporary.
Our summer 2013 exhibition is Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing (25 May 15 September) and we're looking for original artwork from pupils, students and
teachers in Kent to exhibit alongside the show, inspired by the theme 'curiosity'.
There are also many other great prizes to be won, including digital cameras and MP3
players.
You can enter Page Turner if you are in year 3 – 6 of Primary School, any year at
Secondary School, or in Further or Higher Education in Kent. Teachers and other
staff can also enter.
To submit your entry and for more competition information please go
to pageturner.org.uk
Winners will be announced at a special prize giving evening.
The closing date for entries is Friday 15 March 2013.
Inspiring Learning Education Evening, 6 February, 4.30 – 6pm
At this free taster evening for educators and community leaders you can see our
spring exhibitions Carl Andre: Mass & Matter, Rosa Barba: Subject to Constant
Change and Turner's Perspective, meet the learning team, try our practical taster
sessions, discover resources and network with other educators.
Students from Ursuline and Bromstone schools will give a special performance of
their dance inspired by the work of Carl Andre at 5.30pm. Plus there's the chance to
win a free session for your school by taking part in our quick schools poster survey.
Spring Sixth Form Master Class, 1 March 2013, 10am – 4pm, £10 per head, one
member of staff goes free. All materials included.
Use our spring exhibitions Carl Andre: Mass & Matter, Rosa Barba: Subject to
Constant Change and Turner's Perspective to give your students a unique art
experience. Students and teachers will work with practising artists, try new
practical skills linked to the exhibition, explore the work of Carl Andre, Rosa Barba
and JMW Turner and learn together in a world class building: try out drawing directly
onto film, practical skills for making ambitious works and playing with perspective.
Your students will also have an in depth, guided tour of the exhibitions.
Please note there is no maximum number limit and places are open to anyone of any
age studying for A levels or equivalent at school, sixth form, college or any other
educational establishment.
To book, or for more information on any of the above: please call 01843 233000 or
email [email protected]
John Downton Schools Exhibition 26 March – 14 April, Clore Learning Studio
(closed 30 March)
See work by the winners of the 2012 John Downton Awards, all students from Kent
schools and colleges.
Upcoming exhibitions:
Juan Muñoz
Conversation Piece III, 2001, 26 March – November 2013
Juan Muñoz’s unsettling sculptural group of bronze figures play with our sense of
scale and perspective, transforming the Sunley Gallery. Supported by Aspen Re.
Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing, 25 May – 15 September 2013
This exhibition playfully crosses the boundaries between art, science, literature,
philosophy and popular culture. A Turner Contemporary and Hayward Touring
exhibition associated with Cabinet magazine, curated by Brian Dillon.
The Learning Team at Turner Contemporary is:
Karen Eslea, Head of Learning
Keiko Higashi, Learning Officer
Beatrice Prosser-Snelling, Schools Officer
Navigators:
Zoe Bates, Dom Channing, Fred Duffield, Joan Hobson, Greg Lawrence, Nova
Marshall, Shauna Aine O’Brien, Lucy Pettet, Mandy Quy-Verlander, Sue Rumsey, Jan
Wheatley