ANGELOLOGY – Education Resource Pack for PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Introduction This resource offers practical information about arranging a visit to The Model as well as information on the exhibition, ideas for some initial discussion and some simple activities to try out in the classroom. It has been broken down into four sections: Before you visit The History of Kabokov’s work The exhibition Angelology Class-room/Group Activities Using the on-line resource, ideas can be developed for further work back in the classroom – either as a basis for more discussion, a conclusion to your visit, or as a starting point for other projects. Further projects and discussion could include research into the history of angels or the depiction of angels in classical and contemporary art, for example The Angel of The North by British Artist Anthony Gormley.

Before you visit It is important to prepare you class in advance so that your group can get the most out of their visit. We suggest you take time to explore their expectations of the exhibition Angelology before visiting The Model. To help you prepare for your visit, we have included information on the history of the Kabakovs and the exhibition itself. It can be interesting for the group to reflect back on their initial ideas after their visit and make comparisons. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers.

Some simple questions could include: Have you ever visited an art gallery before? If so, which one? What was it like? Who do you think an art gallery is for? Why do people visit art galleries and what do they do there? What are you expecting to see there? What do you know about the exhibition you are going to see? What do you know about the artists?

Introductory Activity Pre-Visit: Hidden Expectations Before your visit ask the class/your group to write down a selection of words which describe what they are expecting to see. These could be in answer to the previously suggested questions or just general descriptions of the artworks/exhibition they are going to see. Alternatively use drawing if working with a younger group. Encourage the group to work as individuals on this and encourage them not to put their name on their papers. Give each participant an envelope and ask them to seal their “ expectations” inside the envelope leaving it at school. After your visit, use the contents of the envelope as a basis for a discussion. Mix them up so they remain anonymous and split the class up into pairs or small groups to see how their expectations compared to their actual visit. This activity will help your group to develop interpretive language and communication skills.

Teachers Notes The History of Kabokov’s work Ilya Kabakov was born in the Russian Ukraine in 1933. Ilya’s father Joseph Kabakov was killed in World War II and the eight year old Ilya, together with his mother Bertha were forced to flee their home as German troops advanced on Russia. In 1943 they arrived in Samarkand where Ilya attended The School of The Leningrad Academy of Art. After graduating from art school, Kabakov registered in courses in graphic design and children’s book illustration. He lived a double life as it was hard to practice as an artist in Russia at that time. His children’s illustrations provided him with an income and also a haven for his subversive expression and humour in opposition to Soviet totalitarianism. Ilya Kabakov practised for many years as a painter and the subject and style of his work went through many changes. In the late fifties, he was deeply influenced by the work of Cezanne and between 1957 and 1962, he painted an entire series of paintings in the style of Cezanne’s work. After this period, he went on to paint comedians, ballerinas, old woman and clowns. These works had a metaphysical meaning, symbolising old age, self ridicule and eternal femininity. In the 1960s, he started a series of paintings of house flies, which, when you look at his work today, can be seen as a precursor to the angel installations of Angelology. Ilya Kabakove painted the image of a house fly as a symbol of the mundane and colourless life experienced by Russians living under totalitarianism. The wings of the fly are however, an optimistic motif, symbolising hope, imagination and freedom, even if it is only in the human mind. During the sixties, Kabakov also painted the Shek series. These paintings were dull blue, dirty brown and dirty green – representing the paint that was used in Russian buildings at that time. In 1966, Kabakov changed again and began painting a whole series of works in white. White is a colour that he used to

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symbolise nothingness but but also represents sprirituality and transcendence. Kabokov often combines the white paintings with everyday objects that stand in contrast with the metaphysical aspect to this work. The white paintings are a paradox - reflecting the banality of the artist’s everyday life as a Soviet citizen and the idea that mind has the power to transport you to an imaginary paradise, a place beyond the problems and concerns of everyday life. In 1960, Kabakov travelled to Germany (formerly known as the GDR), where he first experienced the cultural proximity of the West. It was a deeply moving experience which motivated him to learn German. 1n the 1960s amd 1970s, a sub-culture began to emerge in Moscow, after the end of the political thaw which started in this period. In 1968, Ilya Kabakov moved into his first studio, in the attic of a building in Moscow, where he became involved with other artists. He said: “ We didn’t talk about politics but only about art and about many different psychological aspects. We were concerned with the questions of how to asesss the contemporary situation in art and which experiments would best represent truth and reality as we experienced it.” Ilya Kabakov was permitted for the first time to travel to the West in 1987. In 1989, Ilya Kabakov began working with his niece Emilia, who later became his wife. They worked together on art installations, bringing together ideas, symbols and themes which were present in Ilya’s work for over thirty years. In 1992, Ilya and Emilia moved to New York, where they have lived ever since. Ilya Kabakov is one of the most significant artists of Russian descent of our time. He is a writer, artist and philosopher.. His collaborations with his wife Emilia comprise of not only large installations but also text, music, drawings, paintings.

ANGELOLOGY: THE EXHIBITION

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Angelology is an installation by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. As angels have a more prominent position in Russian religious art than in the iconography of the Western European tradition. Figures protrayed as saints in the West are often angelic equivalents in Russian painting, for example St. John the Baptist is frequently given enormous wings and referred to as the angel of the wilderness. It is not surprising that this project takes the theme of angels as it’s starting point to explore humanity’s imagination. It includes paintings, sculptures, drawings and mix-media installations. The Kabakovs choose simple materials to build their installations: paper, wood, glue, string, pins, wood and mdf. They have also used several dummies and a telescope. Here are some of the works you will see in Angelology:

How to Make Yourself Better

In a crowded room not much bigger than a closet, the dreamer takes flight mentally with the aid of strap-on artificial wings. With the aid of the wings, the mind has the space to escape the tiny austere room. The claustrophobic room is representative of the size of a soviet housing unit in 1960s Russia.

The tiny housing unit, together with the wings Has the paradoxical effect of launching it’s inhabitants on an inner voyoge of flight. The wings on the bed are never intended to be more than stage props to the flight of the mind.

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The Fallen Angel

The Fallen Angel raises more questions than it answers. Cordoned off behind a police line, the fallen angel, the subject of a police enquiry, remains an enigma on the gallery floor and the evidence of a broken angel on the gallery floor, screened off, is made an object of intense curiosity. Although the fallen angel is a casuality, he is also an imperishable being. Immortal, he represents an idealism that looks beyond the movement of time.

How to Meet an Angel:

An individual on his tippy-toes stretches forward trying to meet an angel. He will do anything to meet an angel, despite his rickety apparatus that he has built for this purpose. As necessity is the mother of invention, this work is representative of a trial and error accumulation of the best intentions – aspiring to be better.

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The Paintings Propped up on plinths the paintings are arranged to form an installation in the Niland gallery. The front of the paintings echoe the style of the paintings of Soviet socialist realism, which was approved by the Soviet communist state. The Kabakovs have covered the back of the paintings with tiny paper wings. The delicate wings represent the true idealism of the angelologist.

Observer

Across the road from The Model, in a room in a terraced house, two angels are invited to dinner. This magical work can be viewed through a telescope from The Model galleries. The images you see here are taken during the installation of this work.

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Classroom Activity: Flight – An Angel Mobile

Note to Teacher: Decide with the children what texture they would like the wings to before they begin the activity. The base colour of the wings will be important, as this will determine the feeling of the installation – soft, feathery, transparent, colourful etc. For example, the material could be tracing paper, pale blue card or coloured paper.

What you Need: *Paper or card *Scissors and glue *Glitter and Sequins *String in different colours * Different colours and textures of paper *Feathers * wire coat hangers Instructions: 1. Taking inspiration from your visit to the exhibition Angelology at The Model, remember the different kind of wings you came across – the large strong wings of the Fallen Angel in the centre of the gallery downstairs, the light papery wings of the angel under the stool in the works Angel over City and Text of Destiny and the large feathery wings on the bed in the work How to Change Oneself. It is also a good opportunity to look at different kins of wings in story books about fairies and angels. Also look

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to nature for inspiration – small birds, black crows and white swans. Colour and texture is very important to observe. To begin the activity, introduce the class to a variety of papers and card, for example card, tracing paper, crepe, tissue, sugar paper and hand made papers – all with different textures and translucency. The paper should evoke feelings we associate with angels or birds and flight in general. Once you’ve decided which paper to use as the base paper for the wings, invite the class to sketch out a pair of wings on a heavy paper or light card. This is to be used as a template to cut out the wings from the material you have chosen for the wings. When the wings have been cut out, decorate them. You can use scraps of coloured paper, glitter, sequins, feathers or other art materials you have in the classroom. When you have finished decorating your wings, gather the all together on the classroom floor. Then attach a length of string to each of the wings. Choose where you would like to hang the wings – from the class room window or from the ceiling. To make a mobile, use several coat hangers to hang the leaves from.

Activity Two: An angel poem What you Need: *Paper *pencil *envelope

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To decorate the envelope: Scissors and glue Glitter and Sequins Different colours and textures of paper crayons Instructions Look at the wings you have made with your classmates and especially the wings you have made yourself. What do you think about and hope for when you see them? Write a short imagainative poem about this experience. The poem should be written out twice. One copy of the poem is to go on the class rooom wall or along the corriders in the school, the school toilets or in the hall. The second copy is to be given to a person who is an angel to you – a parent, friend, grandparent etc.

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Classroom Activity: Making an Angel or Fairytale Stained Glass Banner

What you need: *Tracing paper *Coloured cellophane paper *Coloured Tissue paper *Glitter *Glue and scissors Instructions • The best way to start this is to think what stained glass looks like. It is transparent and colourful. We often see it in churches, telling us religious stories. • To make an angel stained glass banner you will have to think about this. First pick your favourite angel story or fairy tale – think of the children of Lir or an angel story from your tradition. The pick the most important events in the story. This will help you plan how you will make your banner. • Once you have decided on your story in pictures, sketch out your images onto a big sheet of tracing paper. If you are really adventurous or there are a few of making it, maybe stick three pieces of A1 size tracing paper together, remembering it will have to fit on a window. If there is not a window that will fit a banner this size, maybe make three separate banners, each one telling a different phase of your story.

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Once you have sketched out your story, you can start cutting out pieces of cellophane paper and sticking it on. Cellophane paper is completely see through and comes in lots of different colours, so it gives a very similar effect as stained glass. Cutting out sections and shapes of tissue paper will also give the effect of stained glass. By layering on your different papers, for example placing cellophane over tissue paper, you can make your stained glass look richer. When you have completed your story in picutres, stick it in a really large window. The you will see the light from outside flood through your banner, lighting up the story you have told.

Drawing Activity: Drawing of man on ladder wanting to meet with the angels:

Questions: Who is the person on the ladder and where did he come from? What wonderful adventure is he on? What has he built in order to meet with the angels? Is there a fairy tale that this picture reminds you of? Why does he want to meet with angels? To what far off place could they travel to together? Draw a different wish for the man seeking to meet an angel. Imagine he wants to travel to the centre of the earth to unlock a universal secret. Draw what he would need to construct to get to the earth’s centre and the secret he wishes to reveal.

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*The activities have been used with the permission of The Hugh Lane Gallery: Discover Art at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane by Jessica O’Donnell. For more activities for children and young people, the book can be ordered directly from The Huge Lane Dublin City Gallery, www.hughlane.ie

Glossary Collage: describes the process of gluing cut pieces of paper, card, plastic, photographs and other every day objects together on to paper or canvas creating a mix and match artwork. Contemporary Art: describes are made very recently or at the current time. Installation: describes an art work, usually three-dimensional, located in the gallery space. It can be made up of several objects and paintings, of different sizes and medium. Medium: is the word to describe the materials used by the artist. For example, oil paint, watercolour, paper, wood, glass and so on. A mixed media artwork uses a combination of different materials. Multi-media: describes artworks that include sound, film or other forms of technology. Primary colours: red, yellow and blue are the three primary colours. Secondary colours: The three secondary colours are purple, orange and green. They are made by mixing primary colours together. Subject: this is what is shown and what the work is about. Symbol: something which stands for a person, a characteristic, a place or an object without describing them exactly. The angel is used as a symbol in kabakov’s work to describe freedom and imagination. Universal: to be relevant/ important to all humankind.

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