When I was on my first year placement I was faced with the challenge of choosing which curricular area I would like to teach for my first lesson. After a discussion with my class teacher we decided that I would deliver an art lesson as this is subject I have a personal interest in. However, I decided I would like to incorporate another curricular area to the lesson to cover interdisciplinary learning. This lead me to the work of Victor Vasarely and Op Art.

Op Art is an art form which is a mix between abstract art and optical illusions.

Vega – Victor Vasarely 1957 Acrylic on canvas 195x130cm http://www.op-art.co.uk/victor-vasar

Cassiopee II – Victor Vasarely 1958 Acrylic on canvas 195×130 http://www.op-art.co.uk/victor-vasarely/

Vega (1957) was the inspiration behind my lesson because it is striking and interesting in my opinion . I also felt it had the potential to allow me to include mathematics into my lesson due to the various shapes and sequential pattern. I took myself to Pinterest to research Vasarely further and discovered art lessons which were based upon recreating his work. I took some ideas from this and adapted this to meet the needs of my class. Whilst researching the lesson I came across a blog www.artfulartsyamy.com which was very helpful on explaining how to recreate the spheres and this set the foundation for my lesson.

I began the lesson with a Powerpoint about Vasarely and discussed the images with the class and asked them what they found interesting relating to shape, colour and composition. The art work was completed on squared paper to ensure all the background squares were of equal size. Various sized circles from the flat shapes in the classroom were made available and the children chose how many they would like to use and which sizes. The children were asked to place the circles on the paper, draw around them and then divide them into quarters. Next they were asked to draw the lines that would help transform them into sphere like shapes.

http://www.artfulartsyamy.com/2012/01/lesson-plan-op-art-spheres-easy-way.html

Once completed the children were asked to choose one or two colours and alternate these with each square and repeat this over the whole piece. These were the results…

Overall I feel that this lesson was very successful and the mathematical elements made it more accessible for the children who did not feel that art was their strongest subject. Not only do the finished pieces look great the children were very proud of them as it took patience and effort to ensure the finished product had the magnified effect!