KidSpirit

Finding Your Spirit in Art Group Guide

Volume III, Number I

Artwork by Gracie Gralike

What is art? Why does it move us? These eternal questions are at the core of this issue of KidSpirit, challenging us to consider our assumptions anew.

1. Is music without sound art? Is mathematics a form of art? Is Manga art? “Yes!” our passionate writers argue. Art can take many forms; it can be visual, aural, even intellectual. What is it that makes art, “Art”? Sun Tzu wrote about the art of war. Is there art in war? What about in games—video games, board games, or games with strategy? Are there things that you do to express yourself that aren't traditionally consider “Art”?

2. Andy Goldsworthy is an artist whose sculptures are rooted to the precise time and place in which he creates them. He gathers flowers, rocks, and ice, and other objects that are indicative of a particular place, and makes those pieces interact with nature’s elements—rivers, fields, snow. Go into your backyard, into your woods, even to the sidewalks of your neighborhood and collect a few of the elements that give your home its own character. Find a way to put them together so that they show something unique about that particular place. Observe what happens to your creation over time. Take photos of your work to share with others.

3. In the review of From the Stage to the Prayer Mat, we learn about the inner journey of a dancer who experiences a religious awakening that affects her art. Do you feel a connection between art and spirituality? Describe that connection in your life.

4. PerSpectives writer Eric Greitens talks about his experience taking photographs in countries torn apart by conflict. Greitens explains that by taking pictures, he became intimately acquainted with his subjects. Can taking pictures connect you to others in a meaningful way? Can you communicate a powerful message purely through an image? Do you feel the same connection taking photographs with devices like phones as you do with another kind of camera?

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn