Art and design
- Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
- Know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms
- Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- Become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
Art and design
- Look at and talk about the work of artists, designers and craftsworkers from their own and other cultures; appreciate methods used in the resource materials and use their appreciation to stimulate personal ideas and engage with informed art making
- Develop their understanding of the visual elements of colour, tone, line, shape, form, space, texture and pattern to communicate their ideas
- Evaluate their own and others’ work and how it was made, explain and share their ideas, discuss difficulties and review and modify work to find solutions
Art and design
- I can create and present work that shows developing skill in using the visual elements and concepts (EXA 2-03a)
- Through observing and recording from my experiences across the curriculum, I can create images and objects which show my awareness and recognition of detail (EXA 2-04a)
- Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through activities within art and design (EXA 2-05a)
- I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others' work (EXA 2-07a)
Art and design
- Describe and make comparisons between their own work and that of others
- Experiment with and examine the methods used by other artists from different periods, places and cultures
- Evaluate the methods and results of their own work and that of their fellow pupils
- Pupils should be stimulated and inspired by: other artists; methods and processes; media; styles; ideas
- Explore, experiment with and apply the elements of the visual, tactile and sensory language of art, craft and design which include: line, tone, colour, pattern, texture, shape and form
Expressive Arts
Exploring the expressive arts is essential to developing artistic skills and knowledge and it enables learners to become curious and creative individuals.
Progression step 3:
- I can explore the effects that a range of creative techniques, materials, processes, resources, tools and technologies have on my own and others' creative work.
- I can explore how creative work can represent, document, share and celebrate personal, social and cultural identities.
- I can explore and describe how artists and creative work communicate mood, feelings and ideas and the impact they have on an audience.
Responding and reflecting, both as artist and audience, is a fundamental part of learning in the expressive arts.
Progression step 3:
- I can give and consider constructive feedback about my own creative work and that of others, reflecting on it and making improvements where necessary.
- I can apply knowledge and understanding of context, and make connections between my own creative work and creative work by other people and from other places and times.
- I can reflect upon how artists have achieved effects or communicated moods, emotions and ideas in their work.
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump 1768
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
The National Gallery, LondonThis is one of the lesson resources in The Superpower of Looking on scenes of everyday life. It focuses on Joseph Wright of Derby's 1768 painting An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump.
These lesson resources are also in the everyday theme:
To teach this lesson, download the teachers' notes on a separate device, screen or print them off. Have this webpage open on your screen or whiteboard and use the prompts in the teachers' notes to guide your students through the lesson.
Scenes of everyday life are known by art historians as 'genre' paintings. They usually focus on ordinary and unidentifiable people doing normal everday things. This is the opposite of what art historians call 'history' paintings where the artist shows a specific scene from history or myth. However, the image in this lesson isn't an everyday scene – in fact it's quite extraordinary!
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768)
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: H 183 x W 244 cm
The 'Derby' in Joseph Wright of Derby was probably a sign of the artist's pride in his hometown. Derby was famous for scientific advancement in the service of industry – a bit like Silicon Valley is now for technology.
The eighteenth century was an age of discovery in Britain – entrepreneurs emerged and like-minded people formed societies. One of these was The Lunar Society of Birmingham, a group of inspirational men (and it was just men) who debated science, philosophy, the arts and commerce before travelling back home by moonlit carriages. This artwork is Wright's way of sharing scientific ideas with everyone, not just a select few, and showing the reactions of ordinary people.
Wright of Derby specialised in candlelit pictures, and this is the largest that he painted. The bird is placed in a glass container and the air is then pumped out. Drama is created by the suspense of not knowing whether the bird will die or whether the experimenter will let the air back in and allow the bird to live.
Open a full-screen version of the zoomable image in a new window.
Ask your students to describe the artwork, encouraging them to simply say what they can see.
You can start by showing the whole image, and then use the zoom feature to explore details of the painting. Or you might like to start by using the zoom feature to show a detail from the image, and then zoom out to see more.
Encourage your students to look carefully – this is their superpower! It's best to not give too much background information about the artwork at this stage, so students can develop their own ideas and opinions.
An audio description of the painting is available to listen to. It is accompanied by a full written transcript which can also be used to describe the painting.
Now when looking at the painting, ask more specific ('nudge') questions:
In this video, taxi driver and tour guide Rachel Martin-Peer uses her own 'Superpower of Looking' to explore An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump.
Ask your students these questions before watching the video to support close looking and listening:
Now we can start to explore the 'elements' of the painting.
For this artwork, you will focus on:
Ask your students to evidence their points:
You can introduce knowledge from the contextual background for teachers while asking these bespoke questions with helpful responses which can be found in the teachers' notes.
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump 1768
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
The National Gallery, LondonYou can find out more about The Superpower of Looking® SEND/ASD/ALN approach on the Superpower homepage.
Now it's time to explore the artwork in different ways. This list of sensory activities encourages students to apply their learning and can suit a variety of learning needs.
Make
Listen
Touch
Move
Communicate
Ask your students to:
Congratulations!
You have now completed this lesson resource on The Superpower of Looking.
There are more resources in this theme to try – have a look at the 'next lessons' section below.
