ENCOUNTERS WITH THE (IM)MATERIAL

This exhibition explores the ways that physical artworks connect to beliefs, feelings and ideas. Artworks from Wits Art Museum holdings that explore art making processes, beliefs, creativity, and music are included in order to understand the relationship between the seen and the invisible. Spending time looking and thinking with art in the museum is a special kind of encounter that connects the artwork, artist, audiences, ideas, time and space in the art museum.

Use this education resource to guide your meaning making of the artworks on exhibition. Through engaging with the artworks and activities in this booklet, you will practice interpreting and expressing your thoughts about art.

What is materiality?

Materiality refers to the physical properties of any object. In art, the physical properties include what materials the artist used, and how the artist worked with the materials to create the work. Art theorists focus on the medium, and elements like texture, colour, shapes, pattern, light and dark when discussing the materiality.

Let’s look and write

Look carefully at the artworks above, and consider the materiality of these works. Describe the materiality of each work in the spaces below:

Hodgins’ (1992) Man Learning to Whistle includes…

Cecily Sash’s (1967) Pulse Yellow is…