THREE-DIMENSIONAL ART IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

February 10, 2020

Seventh and eighth graders create "plastic and packing tape" characters inspired by pop culture.

Last week, seventh and eighth graders in Lauren Zajdel's middle school art unit put the finishing touches on life-sized human figures made from everyday materials, primarily plastic and tape.

"Our students worked in small groups and had to create a life-sized body of a recognizable character or theme," Zajdel said. "They used plastic wrap and packing tape to create molds for their 3D art based on one of their group members."

The middle schoolers used a process that included layering the plastic wrap first followed by packing tape in small sections of their model. They then pieced their molds together and packed with a light filler material to maintain the form.  

Zajdel said the kids were encouraged to add subtle colors or accents to their body to help the viewer more easily recognize their characters or other inspirations.

"This is considered installation art because students had to also consider the space and environment in which their piece would be displayed and how to best utilize that area to help emphasize their chosen genre or figure," she added. "We also kept it fairly wide open in terms of inspiration as they could choose from pop culture, a sport or activity, or even a specific genre of a person, for example, a ninja."

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three school are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.