Mud Art

Artists using mud as a traditional medium

Mud has been used for the creation of art for centuries

http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices/mudcloth/index_flash.html

Learn about the African tradition of Malian Mud Cloth. Go to the link above, read the information about mud cloths answer the questions

below. Then make your own Malian Mud Cloth online and print it out.

• What is another name for Malian mud cloth?• List 2 bits of information you learned about traditional Mud Cloth.• How are the artists and designers using this art form in a modern way?

Building with mud

Mud has been used as a building material from ancient times to modern architecture.

http://webecoist.com/2009/02/02/earthen-architecture-natural-dirt-mud-brick-buildings/

Click on the link above to learn about some mud based buildings. Then answer the question below.

• Of the 15 examples of earthen material architecture which appeals to you most and why? Write a 1 to 2 paragraph response to this question.

Artists using mud as a contemporary medium

• Andy Goldsworthy is an artist that works with natural materials. The photo in the previous slide is of a wall covered in mud that has dried into a formation with a curve line across the plane.

• How do you think he achieved this affect on the wall? Brainstorm ways that you think this work could have been created.

Mud Graffiti

Click on the link above. Write a one paragraph response to this article. Address the following questions. • Compare this art to spray paint graffiti. What art the similarities and differences? • Is mud a good medium to portray this artists message? Why.

Use link below to design your own mud graffiti stencil.

http://mudstencils.com/

http://blog.groundswellcollective.com/2008/05/14/groundswell-talks-jesse-graves/

Mud as a fabric dye

Mud Dyehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-MSG31gioQWatch the video clip by clicking on the link above.

Make your own fabric dye cloth

PrepUse the recipe on the below to make a natural binder. Binder to help your fabricaccept the dye better.

•1 cup soy beans•2 cups warm water•Mix in blender till smooth. It should have a milky consistency.•Submerge prewashed cotton into the soy milk. •Mix till cotton is saturated. •Hang to dry.Note: do not us commercial soy milk it contains sugars that prevent it from being a good binder

Manipulate fabric• Twist and fold fabric wrap the folds with twine or rubber bands

Make the dye• Mix dirt into warm water in a large bucket. • Darker dirt's are better. Red clay dirt or compost materials will give you different

shades.

Dye the fabric

• Put the fabric into the dye and leave at least 12 hours. • Remove it from the dye bath untie the fabric rinse mud off and hang to dry.• Heat set mud with warm iron or hot dryer.

Mud Dyed Fabric