Instructional Objectives
After exploring the website, www.josephcornellbox.com, viewing a PowerPoint about Joseph Cornell’s life and work, and discussing and analyzing a few of his boxes, students will:
Product— Students will use found/collected items to symbolize ideas. Students will juxtapose unlikely elements within a found box. They will look for and emphasize visual similarities among the disparate elements and work to compose the box-sculpture, creating a Joseph Cornell box/assemblage.
Key Concept—Students will demonstrate their understanding of the term ‘juxtapose’ and the idea of creating personal symbols by using those concepts to construct a visually interesting and symbolic assemblage.
New York State Learning Standards for the Arts
Standard Three—Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art
Students will analyze and discuss several of Joseph Cornell’s boxes. Discussion will address the use of juxtaposition, symbolism, and visual elements. Students will see and hear how Joseph Cornell developed his media and what the pieces meant to him.
Indicators
Initially, this will be evident from class discussion, when students articulate the visual elements that unify Joseph Cornell’s assemblage/boxes and the disparities of the items that populate each box. Students will speculate as to the symbolism of various elements and learn what the artist intended to convey.
Standard Four—Understanding the Cultural Contribution of the Arts
Students will learn that Joseph Cornell lived and worked in a modest house on Utopia Parkway in Flushing, New York for most of his life. During the Depression, he lost his job as a wholesale textile salesman. Until the late 1940’s, he struggled financially. Students will learn some local history, a personal story of life during the Great Depression, and how Joseph Cornell has influenced subsequent and contemporary artists. They will learn how a reclusive artist from Queens, New York overcame obstacles to interact with, contribute to, and influence the art world.
Indicators
Contributions to class discussion will demonstrate students’ understanding of Joseph Cornell’s influence on subsequent artists and his place in the history of art.
Standard One—Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts
Students will construct a box/assemblage using a found box and materials collected from various sources for use as symbols or design elements.
Indicators
This will be evident when students create a unified composition that holds a viewer’s interest and when students can explain the meaning of symbolic elements in their assemblage pieces.
Motivation
The “hook” to draw students into this assignment will be the website www.josephcornellbox.com. Ideally, I will project it and show students some of the Joseph Cornell boxes that can be viewed there. I will ask whether students like them and why or why not. I will ask what students think the assemblages mean and what the individual elements mean, alone and in the context of the sculpture.
Materials
Cardboard, glue, metal straight edges, paper cutters, scissors to cut materials other than paper, and a selection of found materials. The lesson also requires a projector to show a PowerPoint presentation. Internet access with the ability to project would enhance students’ experience.
Strategies
Lecture/presentations, giving students examples, use of media, identifying key words for students, class discussion, using higher level thinking skills, hands-on activity, and displaying and critiquing student work
Developmental Procedures
Activities
Students will watch a PowerPoint presentation about the artist Joseph Cornell. They will learn about his life and see examples of the box-sculptures for which he is best known.
Students will analyze several of the box-sculptures.
Key Questions
Do you think this box tells a story or conveys a message? If yes, what do you think the artist intended to communicate?
What do you think the various elements symbolize?
Do you know what ‘juxtapose’ means?
Where, in this sculpture, do you see juxtaposition?
What visual elements unify the items in the box?
Activity
After they analyze several of the Joseph Cornell boxes, students will look at the boxes and collected items they brought to class. They will use cardboard and the paper cutters to experiment with dividing the boxes into sections.
Key Questions
Why did you choose the box that you chose? Will it convey meaning to the viewer?
Does the color or texture of the box relate to any of the items that you will put inside?
Joseph Cornell used cut-up etchings to line his boxes or create “backgrounds” for the items he put inside; will you use imagery to create a setting for the items you brought?
Activity
Students will take out the items that they have collected for the project. As students begin to select and place items into their boxes, I will walk around and ask:
What do the items symbolize? Will the entire box tell a story? Will it express a fantasy or convey a dream? What visual elements do you notice that might act to visually unify the sculpture?
Activity
As the boxes progress, students will walk around the room and see the work of their peers. We will discuss successful aspects of the projects.
When the projects have been completed, we will critique each one. At that time, students will explain the symbolism of some of the items in their boxes and the meaning conveyed by juxtaposing disparate items. They will describe how they used one or more visual elements to unify the piece.
Assessment
After exploring the website, www.josephcornellbox.com, viewing a PowerPoint about Joseph Cornell’s life and work, and discussing and analyzing a few of his boxes, students will:
- understand the meaning of the word ‘juxtapose’;
- see how visual similarities might unify disparate items;
- discuss the meaning and use of symbols in Joseph Cornell’s boxes;
- discuss the historical context in which Joseph Cornell worked;
- collect a found box and disparate items to make an assemblage of their own;
- and use a found box and collected materials to create a Joseph Cornell-type box/assemblage.
Product— Students will use found/collected items to symbolize ideas. Students will juxtapose unlikely elements within a found box. They will look for and emphasize visual similarities among the disparate elements and work to compose the box-sculpture, creating a Joseph Cornell box/assemblage.
Key Concept—Students will demonstrate their understanding of the term ‘juxtapose’ and the idea of creating personal symbols by using those concepts to construct a visually interesting and symbolic assemblage.
New York State Learning Standards for the Arts
Standard Three—Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art
Students will analyze and discuss several of Joseph Cornell’s boxes. Discussion will address the use of juxtaposition, symbolism, and visual elements. Students will see and hear how Joseph Cornell developed his media and what the pieces meant to him.
Indicators
Initially, this will be evident from class discussion, when students articulate the visual elements that unify Joseph Cornell’s assemblage/boxes and the disparities of the items that populate each box. Students will speculate as to the symbolism of various elements and learn what the artist intended to convey.
Standard Four—Understanding the Cultural Contribution of the Arts
Students will learn that Joseph Cornell lived and worked in a modest house on Utopia Parkway in Flushing, New York for most of his life. During the Depression, he lost his job as a wholesale textile salesman. Until the late 1940’s, he struggled financially. Students will learn some local history, a personal story of life during the Great Depression, and how Joseph Cornell has influenced subsequent and contemporary artists. They will learn how a reclusive artist from Queens, New York overcame obstacles to interact with, contribute to, and influence the art world.
Indicators
Contributions to class discussion will demonstrate students’ understanding of Joseph Cornell’s influence on subsequent artists and his place in the history of art.
Standard One—Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts
Students will construct a box/assemblage using a found box and materials collected from various sources for use as symbols or design elements.
Indicators
This will be evident when students create a unified composition that holds a viewer’s interest and when students can explain the meaning of symbolic elements in their assemblage pieces.
Motivation
The “hook” to draw students into this assignment will be the website www.josephcornellbox.com. Ideally, I will project it and show students some of the Joseph Cornell boxes that can be viewed there. I will ask whether students like them and why or why not. I will ask what students think the assemblages mean and what the individual elements mean, alone and in the context of the sculpture.
Materials
Cardboard, glue, metal straight edges, paper cutters, scissors to cut materials other than paper, and a selection of found materials. The lesson also requires a projector to show a PowerPoint presentation. Internet access with the ability to project would enhance students’ experience.
Strategies
Lecture/presentations, giving students examples, use of media, identifying key words for students, class discussion, using higher level thinking skills, hands-on activity, and displaying and critiquing student work
Developmental Procedures
Activities
Students will watch a PowerPoint presentation about the artist Joseph Cornell. They will learn about his life and see examples of the box-sculptures for which he is best known.
Students will analyze several of the box-sculptures.
Key Questions
Do you think this box tells a story or conveys a message? If yes, what do you think the artist intended to communicate?
What do you think the various elements symbolize?
Do you know what ‘juxtapose’ means?
Where, in this sculpture, do you see juxtaposition?
What visual elements unify the items in the box?
Activity
After they analyze several of the Joseph Cornell boxes, students will look at the boxes and collected items they brought to class. They will use cardboard and the paper cutters to experiment with dividing the boxes into sections.
Key Questions
Why did you choose the box that you chose? Will it convey meaning to the viewer?
Does the color or texture of the box relate to any of the items that you will put inside?
Joseph Cornell used cut-up etchings to line his boxes or create “backgrounds” for the items he put inside; will you use imagery to create a setting for the items you brought?
Activity
Students will take out the items that they have collected for the project. As students begin to select and place items into their boxes, I will walk around and ask:
What do the items symbolize? Will the entire box tell a story? Will it express a fantasy or convey a dream? What visual elements do you notice that might act to visually unify the sculpture?
Activity
As the boxes progress, students will walk around the room and see the work of their peers. We will discuss successful aspects of the projects.
When the projects have been completed, we will critique each one. At that time, students will explain the symbolism of some of the items in their boxes and the meaning conveyed by juxtaposing disparate items. They will describe how they used one or more visual elements to unify the piece.
Assessment
- Students will collect a box.
- Students will collect small, disparate items to place inside and to symbolize ideas.
- Students will divide the box and create a setting or settings for the items they collected.
- Students will juxtapose disparate items to generate interest and curiosity about their sculptures.
- Students will use one or more visual elements to unify their sculptures.
- Students will write one paragraph to explain why they selected the box that they used, the symbolism of the items they placed inside their sculptures, the meaning conveyed by juxtaposing unrelated objects, and the visual elements they used to unify the piece.
Click below to see that Joseph Cornell continues to influence artists and contemporary culture.