Grades 5-8: Putting it in Perspective
Lesson Two
Artist Spotlight: David DiMichele
Provide your students with full-page images of the artist’s work.
Click here for printable images.
Artist David DiMichele also creates dioramas, built according to scale models of exhibition spaces. He incorporates original drawing, painting and sculpture placed, which are in the spaces and then photographed to create the final works.
At first glance it appears that these photographs were taken in actual gallery spaces, or in the midst of majestic glaciers. However, they are really carefully constructed dioramas made up of mountains of salt, seas of broken glass, towers of ice, and walls of charcoal.*
Student Connections: Bird's Eye View
In photography, both scale and perspective are equally important for creating a realistic diorama image. Perspective is your point of view-how you see something from where you stand. In the above photograph, artist David DiMichele placed bug-size model people next to piles of salt and asphalt, creating the affect of towering mountains.
Step 1: Write a short story or draw sketches describing what the world would look like if you were a bug. Vacuum cleaners might seem like cyclones and cookie crumbs like large boulders. Next imagine that you are a bird soaring in the sky. What does the world look like from this perspective? Farm fields resemble patchwork quilts and roads like tangled yarn. For additional inspiration, view wonderful satellite images from around the world in the book, Earth From Above by: Yahn Arthus-Bertrand & Robert Burleigh, or on-line at Google Earth.
Step 2: You can also gain valuable perspective by sharing ideas and thoughts with the people around you, who might see things from a different point of view. For example, parents and teachers can sometimes offer helpful advice because they are older and have more life experience. Referees makes the final call on the sports field because they have an overall outside and, hopefully, non-biased perspective of the game. Get to know your family, school, or town better by interviewing various people on a specific topic, issue, or set of questions. Ask permission to take photographs or video recordings as part of this process. After you have compiled this information, write an essay from the perspective of the person(s) you interviewed. If possible, invite the individual(s) to be part of your class presentation.
*Artist information derived from: Paul Kopeikin Gallery and LA Weekly
*Lesson Idea derived from: Kodak Lesson Plans
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