Deconstructed books

I really like the idea of challenging my student's thinking when it comes to art.  Most students think of building and creating but the idea of deconstructing something to change the meaning or use of an object is usually a new idea.  This project started with old hardback book that has been deconstructed to be a sculptural piece reminiscent of Pop Art.

This is the book I started with.

As I folded the pages, I didn't have much of a plan.  I really wanted to play with the material and arrive at a sculptural shape that I was happy with.  As my sculpture took shape, it began to remind me of the comic book style word bubbles that Roy Lichtenstein used.

And here it is!  This is a cool project in itself.  However, I have been reading about creative thinking and one idea that really sticks out to me is the idea of elaboration.  With this project, that would mean finding a way to take it a step further.  Some students are better at this than others, but it would be really interesting to leave it open to them to take a step in thier own direction, especially allowing the sculptural form to drive the next step.  For me, that meant capitalizing on that comic book-pop art shape that I saw when I looked at my sculpture.  So, I added paint, the word "POW," and a little more deconstruction and I got this: