Neon Straw Assemblage inspired by Marta Minujin
Las grandes obras las crean los genios locos
(great works are created by mad geniuses)
-Marta Minujín
Today my wonderful friend Catalina from Red Violet Studio is joining us with a vibrant open ended homage to pop art icon Marta Minujin! Before we get to Marta I would love to spend a little time showering my wonderful friend with some much deserved praise. Catalina is such a bright shiny light in the kids art community. If you want to see what is possible when you give your kids access to art materials and real tools of the trade and then step back and follow their lead you could not find a more powerful example. Not only will you get daily peeks into her toddler play groups and process art classes you will also get the behind the scene videos she shares of her home. A home where “being bored” leads to mad creative child genius. Every time I see a video of her sons drawing or building or experimenting my heart swells. Catalina is a warm and thoughtful educator and an incredibly inspiring mom of boys. Run don’t walk to give her a follow!
Marta Minujin is often called the Andy Warhol of Argentina. For the past 60 years she has influenced generations of contemporary artists to push the boundaries of art with her bold blend of theatrical performance art, video and sculpture. Marta likes to place the viewer inside her art as part of the experience or what she calls happenings versus producing art as object. She has long been quoted as saying “art is everything” and it seems like her avant garde experiments are truly that vast.
For her 70th birthday Marta decided to “marry Art”. The bride to be arrived at MALBA in a horse drawn carriage and proceeded to wed the love of her life in front of 300 friends.
Minujin’s creativity is boundless and her energy is electric. Her instagram feed proves that the art party doesn’t stop thumping at age 79. May we all be touched with a bit of that fearless mad genius..
Wooden Board in any size (we used 10 x 10 in)
Neon Straws - linking some fun paper options: brights, pastel neons, rainbow
String and hanging hook (optional)
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Start by painting your wooden board black. This will be the background and the color will pop out a little in between the straws.
Once your black background has dried it is time to add some glue!
Cut your straws in different sizes and set them in a bowl.
Start adding the straws to the board in different directions. Mix up the colors and straw size to make it fun and playful.
You might want to cut the straws that stick past the side of your canvas board. I personally like it the uneven edges so I decided to leave them.
Add a string to the back of your straw assemblage and hang it in a special place!
