Activity 10: Lisa Congdon & Arranged Collections
MEET THE ARTIST:
Lisa Congdon is a fine artist and illustrator from Portland, Oregon, who created drawings, photographs, and paintings of the one collection a day for an entire year. This lesson is inspired by Congdon's collections and artwork.
Observe Congdon's collections and artwork.
ARTIST QUOTE:
I think that ordinary objects become something different when they're arranged with other like things.... Seeing things with other like things helps us to see them in new ways. -Lisa Congdon
Congdon talking about her collections.
PROCESS:
I thought it would be interesting to create compositions of objects we collect. Maybe you collect rocks, seashells, toy cars, coins, Happy Meal toys...?
Find the objects you collect. Once you have your collection, arrange the items in a rectangular or square format similar to the collections of Congdon pictured above: rocks, shells, and feathers.
After arranging your items, take a picture of them with a cell phone, digital camera, or other electronic device. Once your collection is photographed, you can use it illustrate your collection. Or, you may draw your collection by looking at the objects directly.
You may work on white paper, and choose your drawing media to complete your illustration (colored markers, pencil, crayons, colored pencils, water color paints, etc.).
If you don't have a collection, you can look for objects around your home to draw: art supplies, toys, cups, house plants, flowers, fruits, vegetables...
MATERIALS:
- Images of Congdon's collections
- Collection of objects
- Camera, cell phone, or tablet (optional)
- Drawing paper
- Pencils, colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc. (student choice)
THINK ABOUT:
- Why do people collect things?
- How did you start your collection?
- What about your collection is special and interesting to you?
- If you could ask Lisa Congdon a question, what would it be?
Resources:
- "Collections Calendar" by Lisa Congdon
- "A Collection a Day: An Obsessive Homage to Order” by Maria Popova – via Brainpickings.org
- "A Collection a Day: Lisa Congdon", Atlantic Magazine
Lisa Congdon's book, A Collection a Day
Can you find the United States on the World Map?
