Minute Art v456

Minute Art v456

Minute art

Introduction

The subject of this lesson is 'Minute art'.

Do you know the expression 'through the eye of a needle'?
Well, you’re going to read about an artist whose work is so small and so tiny, that it all fits in the eye of a needle.
It’s minute – that means really small.
Read on!

 

This lesson contains 4 steps and an evaluation.
Work them through step by step.

 

Step

Activity

 

 

Introduction

Find out what you already know.

Step 1

Watching

Recognize famous pictures.

Step 2

Reading

Pictures, questions and text of an artist creating very small pieces of art.

Step 3

Listening

Questions and a video of an interview with this artist. Fill in missing words in the transcript.

Step 4

Task

You like to have a piece of small artwork composed by Willard. Write him a letter and explain your intentions.

 

Evaluation

Reflecting on what you have learned.

 

Difficult words? Search these on Cambridge Dictionaries

 

Step 1 - Watching

Watching
Look at the pictures. What and where are they? 
 

What do they all have in common? What are they called together?
They called together: The seven old wonders of the ancient world.
The only one remaining is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The eight wonder?

Following in the tradition of this classical 'seven old wonders list', modern people and organizations have made their own lists of wonderful things ancient and modern.

Below an example of a list of Minute art artists.
Can the work of one of them be described as the eight wonder of the world?

1. Tatsuya Tanaka

Tatsuya Tanaka 1 Tatsuya Tanaka 2

2. Thomas Doyle
Thomas-Doyle

3. Willard Wigan

Willard Wigan 1 Willard Wigan 2

4. Lim Pui Wan
Lim Pui Wan

5. Rosa De Jong
Rosa de Jong

Bron: www.designmantic.com (25-artists-creating-miniuature-art)

Step 2 - Reading

Reading
You are going to read about an artist whose work has been described as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’.
Here is are some impressions of his work.
Do you agree: can this work be describes as 'the eight wonder of the world'?
Why do you think they are so incredible?

Now read the article.

Interview: Willard Wigan
Thursday 2nd April 2015
To Wolverhampton artist, Willard Wigan, size really does matter.

His mother always told him the smaller his work got, the bigger his name would be. And now Willard Wigan’s work is widely recognised as an eighth wonder of the world. In pictures they appear to defy physics, but viewing them up close can leave you speechless.
And you have to look really close – under a microscope in fact – to appreciate Willard’s intricately detailed micro sculptures. But where did it all begin for this world-famous artist? “I remember I had an argument with my mum when I was five, so I went out to the shed in my garden to get away,” he said. “Then my dog Max came along and starting digging a hole. I saw all these ants emerge and I thought, they need a home now. So I decided to build them one. “I used my dad’s razor blade to cut tiny pieces of wood and I made houses and furniture for the ants,” the 57-year-old recalled.

This event sparked Willard’s love affair for making objects of all shapes and small sizes. Willard’s mother was a key figure in encouraging his artwork early on. Willard said: “My mother always told me, the smaller my work got, the bigger my name would be. Every time I created a piece of work, she would always say that’s too big, which encouraged me to keep making things even smaller.” His smallest piece of artwork has been recognised as a Guinness World Record. It is just one-and-a-half microns across, ‘about the size of a blood cell’, which is of a motorbike, made from gold fragments, inside a human hair. So for Willard, good things come in small packages. But just how does the self-taught artist make his work so small?

“I make my work between heartbeats. I have to use micro tools to create my sculptures, such as tiny shards of diamonds. “I even have to break down the paint molecules that I use. I’ll paint with a fly’s hair or an eyelash. When I work I stay away from caffeine and anything else that will affect my heart rate. I prefer to work at night when there is minimal noise and vibration disruption from the outside traffic,” he said. Willard enters a meditative state under the microscope, which he has perfected over many years. He slows his heartbeat down and works between every pulse, enabling him to control his body movements and hand gestures. On average, each micro sculpture will take him eight weeks to create. But Willard admits he never enjoys the making process, only seeing people’s reactions to his work afterwards. A lot of his micro-sculptures commonly sit in the eye of a needle or a pin head. Many famous world figures have the Wolverhampton artist’s micro sculptures in their collections. In 2012, Willard was privately commissioned to create a piece for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. Willard sculpted a crown that sat on top of a pin’s head. “When the Queen is impressed with your work, you know you’re doing something right,” he adds. “She was so overwhelmed and excited with the piece, she even sent me three letters” he added. The Queen had previously recognised Willard’s work five years earlier, by presenting him with an MBE in 2007 for his services to art. Despite his rise to fame Willard, says he was misunderstood by his teachers due to his mild autism. He said part of the inspiration for creating such tiny sculptures was that if people were unable to view his work, then they wouldn’t be able to criticise it. However, now a thriving, world-renowned artist, Willard hopes he can be an inspiration for other people.

“I like to think I could be a testament to people that you can make it, no matter who you are or where you are from. You can achieve anything you want to if you put your mind to it. If you believe in yourself, and you are original and creative, you will succeed. Never be satisfied with what you have done and always try to improve,” he said.
Source: http://nativemonster.com/


Do the exercise.

Step 3 - Listening

willard wigan

Listening
Now you are going to watch an interview with Willard Wigan.

Do the exercise.

Step 4 - Grammar

Grammar
Let's look at the past perfect.

Do the exercise.
Write a sentence with the past perfect. Use the notes to help you.

You can check out the theory of the past perfect tense in the Grammar Desk.

KB: Past perfect

Step 5 - Task

Task
You are going to order a piece of artwork by Willard Wigan.

  1. Think of the occasion that you want to celebrate.
  2. Who is the artwork for?
  3. Decide if you want the work to be on a pinhead or in the eye of a needle.
  4. What ideas for the art work do you have?
  5. Ask information: what will be the total costs and the delivery time. 

Write your email/letter to Willard Wigan. Mention point 1-5 in your email/letter.
Begin like this:

Dear Mr Wigan,

I would like to order a sculpture.
My name is ... and I would like to give the sculpture to ...

 

Here are some tips to write a correct formal letter: Tips: How to write a formal email

Evaluation

Fill in the schedule and answer the questions below.

Activity easy difficult known​ new
Step 1 - Watching        
Step 2 - Reading        
Step 3 - Listening        
Step 4 - Task        

 

What have you learnt in this period?
Answer the following questions:

  • What was the easiest part of this lesson?
  • What did you already know?
  • What was the most interesting part?
  • What do you have to ask your teacher?
  • Het arrangement Minute Art v456 is gemaakt met Wikiwijs van Kennisnet. Wikiwijs is hét onderwijsplatform waar je leermiddelen zoekt, maakt en deelt.

    Auteur
    VO-content
    Laatst gewijzigd
    2021-03-18 17:02:22
    Licentie

    Dit lesmateriaal is gepubliceerd onder de Creative Commons Naamsvermelding-GelijkDelen 4.0 Internationale licentie. Dit houdt in dat je onder de voorwaarde van naamsvermelding en publicatie onder dezelfde licentie vrij bent om:

    • het werk te delen - te kopiëren, te verspreiden en door te geven via elk medium of bestandsformaat
    • het werk te bewerken - te remixen, te veranderen en afgeleide werken te maken
    • voor alle doeleinden, inclusief commerciële doeleinden.

    Meer informatie over de CC Naamsvermelding-GelijkDelen 4.0 Internationale licentie.

    Aanvullende informatie over dit lesmateriaal

    Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:

    Toelichting
    Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor vwo, leerjaar 4, 5 en 6. Dit is thema 'Art'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Minute Art. Deze les gaat over (hele) kleine kunstwerken. Willard Wigan wordt als voorbeeld van kunstenaars genoemd die kleine kunstwerken maakt. Daarnaast gaat de schrijfopdracht over het bestellen van een kunstwerk.
    Leerniveau
    VWO 6; VWO 4; VWO 5;
    Leerinhoud en doelen
    Engels;
    Eindgebruiker
    leerling/student
    Moeilijkheidsgraad
    gemiddeld
    Studiebelasting
    3 uur en 0 minuten
    Trefwoorden
    arrangeerbaar, engels, kleine kunstwerken, kunstenaars, kunstwerk bestellen, minute art, stercollectie, v456

    Gebruikte Wikiwijs Arrangementen

    VO-content Engels. (2021).

    Minute Art h45

    https://maken.wikiwijs.nl/98850/Minute_Art_h45

    VO-content Engels. (2017).

    Minute Art v456

    https://maken.wikiwijs.nl/98881/Minute_Art_v456

  • Downloaden

    Het volledige arrangement is in de onderstaande formaten te downloaden.

    Metadata

    LTI

    Leeromgevingen die gebruik maken van LTI kunnen Wikiwijs arrangementen en toetsen afspelen en resultaten terugkoppelen. Hiervoor moet de leeromgeving wel bij Wikiwijs aangemeld zijn. Wil je gebruik maken van de LTI koppeling? Meld je aan via info@wikiwijs.nl met het verzoek om een LTI koppeling aan te gaan.

    Maak je al gebruik van LTI? Gebruik dan de onderstaande Launch URL’s.

    Arrangement

    Oefeningen en toetsen

    Pictures of old statues, temples, etc.

    Interview artist Willard Wigan

    Rules

    Which/what is first?

    Sentence with past perfect

    IMSCC package

    Wil je de Launch URL’s niet los kopiëren, maar in één keer downloaden? Download dan de IMSCC package.

    QTI

    Oefeningen en toetsen van dit arrangement kun je ook downloaden als QTI. Dit bestaat uit een ZIP bestand dat alle informatie bevat over de specifieke oefening of toets; volgorde van de vragen, afbeeldingen, te behalen punten, etc. Omgevingen met een QTI player kunnen QTI afspelen.

    Meer informatie voor ontwikkelaars

    Wikiwijs lesmateriaal kan worden gebruikt in een externe leeromgeving. Er kunnen koppelingen worden gemaakt en het lesmateriaal kan op verschillende manieren worden geëxporteerd. Meer informatie hierover kun je vinden op onze Developers Wiki.