Studying Sol LeWitt in The Middles (4th/5th)

On a beautiful late winter day, the Middles set out on a visit to MASS MoCA. The drive from the Center School was long and windy, passing favorite landmarks along the way… the ice cream spot, Berkshire East, and the iconic view of North Adams from the hairpin turn. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by our guides and began our tour. 

Our study of Sol LeWitt started before we visited the galleries. 

Sol LeWitt was a New Englander, born in nearby Hartford, Connecticut. He was part of the Conceptual and Minimalist art movements. His work included sculptures, paintings, and large-scale wall drawings. LeWitt stated that the idea was more important that the idea for an artwork is more important than its form. LeWitt compared his wall drawings to musical scores, which are interpreted uniquely each time they are performed. Similarly, the implementation of LeWitt's instructions can result in slightly different forms of each wall drawing. We learned that he only used 4 colors, 1. Black, 2. yellow, 3. red, and 4. blue. He mixed them to create his own “Sol LeWitt” mud color.  Here is an example of how instructions would have been given. Each of the Wall drawings we viewed included their set of directions. 

What do you think this drawing would look like? Would you interpret it the same as someone else? 

Before our visit, the Middles participated in a similar exercise where they were given radial graph paper and given a set of directions left to their interpretation. It was an interesting exercise in that no two drawings looked the same. 

Here are some of our versions:

If you’re curious to see the wall drawing installation at MASS MoCA here is a video of the process. 

It’s such a gift to be able to view these works of art in person at MASS MoCA. I was struck by the student's observations. One visitor even quietly ventured over to tell us how impressed she was by the student's comments and insights-- a proud teacher moment.