Extraordinary student work with aluminum cans!
April 20, 2007 by Cyndi Lavin
Filed under Home & Living
Michelle is an art teacher with a 9th grade class of artistic geniuses! They have been working on sculpture projects, using aluminun cans, and when they saw the post here about aluminum can art, some of them wanted to share the work that they’ve been doing. And I’m so glad that they did! It can be really scary to put your work out their for others to see and comment on: I admire these young adults greatly for their willingness to share.
Alissa
I am one of those people who love everything about the beach. I
made this palm tree out of about 15 soda cans and used hot glue to
connect the pieces together. To make it stable I used a bag of sand
at the base.
Frankie
My piece was done with the idea of something that moves a lot, so I
decided to do a fly. It’s a basic idea except I used spray paint to
get texture.
Jacqueline
This is my first 3D sculpture out of soda cans. I had a difficult
time getting the “branches” of my sculpture to stay on, so instead of
just sliding them into the slots I glued most of them to make it more
stable. We had to imply motion and I see an energetic, rough motion
going through my sculpture. It was a difficult project for me but I
think I was able to imply motion.
Kleber
My inspiration for this artwork was the Pixar Lamp. It was
originally an experiment with the cans and how to use them. I
decided to work on it and created an artistic impression of the Pixar
logo.
Monica
This sculpture is almost symbolic of life from death. The grey
metal bends to form the image of life at it’s most beautiful. Death
imitating life, life coming from death.
Nadine
This sculpture utilizes all parts of a can, both a whole can and
pieces of it. It is an abstract representation of a bat. The color
scheme of red and black are meant to give the feeling of a dark cave.
Sam
Stephanie
Wow, those are great, cyndi! What an inspiration!
bobbi c.
Aren’t they just amazing?
I love all these!!! Absolutely, wonderful work and ideas
Keep up the great work
Another perfect example of why art & music programs to stay in public schools!!
CC
Thank you for all the comments. My students really liked seeing their work online. One of the girls commented that her piece looked so good online. I continue to be amazed at their creativity every day!
Michelle, I’m so happy that they’re pleased with the presentation! Tell them to please send me MORE!!
I recently became interested again in aluminum can art and came across your site. Very cool art! I’m sure you’ve been at many sites, but thought I share this one with you anyway…
http://ueba.net/hosted_pages/Art-With-Cans?2
Nice work..
I was thinking about doing something like this. How did you go about making averything come together? Glue? Solder? Let me know!
I don’t know what all the students used, Rico, but one used hot glue. Soldering, riveting, or wiring would be more secure in the long run, I think.
I think that I can make this for my exhibition. What do you think? But I’m not going to copy from them. I’m just going to make something else. What do you suggest?
Hi Nicole! I’d suggest that you be inspired by these works, and find something cool and unexpected to make! Look in your own journal and think about the things that are currently on your mind, things you’re dealing with right now. Then find a way to visualize that in your tin can art! Good luck on your exhibition
Inspired! I love these pieces, they are so detailed and expressive.
Hi
love all the sculptures..they are inspirationalto say the least!.I now want to have a go!. How do you stick it all together? My prject will be an outdoor functional piece and needs to be stong and waterproof..How do I make it hardy. I want to make a rain chain???
many thanks
carol
Hi I love your sculptures !! How do I make a rain chain that is waretproof and hardy. How do you stick it together . I am a complete novice
Many thanx
carol
I’d suggest wiring or bolting the pieces together. If you must use glue, don’t use any type of household glue: purchase two-part epoxy resin instead.
Love the Palm Tree, how creative the students are. We are looking for a creative artist to make us an American Flag on “The CAN House” this July 4th. We are in the Pensacola, FL area. Anyone interested?
I just love projects like this with cans… wish to share mine… they are not scultural, they are more for decoration in the kitchen, hair, etc.
Very interesting what Cindy does.
ooop, forgot to post the site. http://recycledcancrafts.blogspot.com
thanks!
awsume!! I am currently doing an artist in Residence at Basha high school in chandler Az. and with Garcia School in Phx Az. where we are using recycled materials to do art and some students made some awsome small sculptures out the the trash materials.
Jose, I would love to post pictures of the work of your students like in this post!