Handling Objects and Discussion activity

This activity explores the artwork Thirty Pieces of Silver by Cornelia Parker. It can be adapted to suit the interests and experience of your group. Your group may include individuals who are passionate collectors, or who have kept old objects of sentimental value for many years. It may also be of interest to groups who are planning a display of their own artwork or collections, as it introduces different ideas about installation and display. The artwork explores ideas about objects and memories, and about changing the value or meaning of objects.

For this activity, you will need to bring some objects with you to the gallery. Depending on the size of your group, you should gather a selection of small, everyday metal objects such as: old keys, paper clips, spanners, bolts and other DIY items, teaspoons and other cutlery, tea strainers, metal egg cups and so on. Do not include anything too sharp or jagged to touch. Put two or three objects into small bags which are not transparent (small carrier bags are fine) – have a bag ready for each pair or group of 3 people.

Activity

Ask the group to work in pairs or groups of 3.

Before going into the room, give each group a ‘lucky dip’ bag of metal objects. Ask them to feel the objects in the bag as they look at the artwork – they should try not to look inside the bag!

Give the group 5 minutes to explore the artwork. Assign each pair or 3 a question to think about:
What material are the objects in the artwork made of?
What has happened to the objects?
Where do you think the objects came from – all the same place?
What different types of objects are there?
(The same question can go to different groups, and you don’t have to cover all the questions)

After 5 minutes, gather in the room next to the Cornelia Parker piece, where there is more space to talk. If you can, arrange gallery stools in a circle for a discussion.

What answers or ideas did the groups come up with from the questions they were given? What other things did they notice about the work? Make sure everyone has a chance to speak.

What about the ‘mystery’ objects in the bags – has anyone guessed what they are? Go round the group and get their guesses, before revealing the contents – not everyone might recognise all the objects, so you can help each other with explanations. If you have enough space and are sitting in a circle, you can arrange the objects in a circle in the middle of the floor – like in the artwork. This can lead on to a discussion about the way the work has been installed and put together – what did the group notice about the room as a whole, its atmosphere, the way the objects are arranged? What differences are there between the Cornelia Parker room (an installation), and the room you’re sitting in now (a more traditional gallery display)?

The group will have talked about how the objects in the artwork have been transformed – they are flattened and squashed (the artist ran them over with a steamroller!). Many Surrealist artists, and more recent artists in ‘Poetry and Dream’ (like Cornelia Parker), have made work by transforming ordinary objects, either physically or by presenting them in an unusual way. Looking at the metal objects from the bags, how could your group transform them by using them differently? It may help to think the way children do – if the teaspoon was a hundred times bigger, maybe it could be used as a water slide! Or you could use paper clips as jewellery, and so on. Give the pairs or groups 5 minutes to discuss together and come up with suggestions about whichever objects they choose, then report back to the group.

Ask the group to suggest titles for the Cornelia Parker piece. The artist called the work ‘Thirty Pieces of Silver’ – does anybody recognise that reference, from the story of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus? Why do you think the artist chose that title? Has someone been betrayed? (You may want to talk about the objects’ original owners, and what the objects meant to them – did they give them away, or lose them? Has the artist betrayed the objects’ owners?). Do you think the objects’ ‘value’ has been increased by what’s happened to them – are they more special now, because they are on show in an art gallery, or have they been spoilt?

Other artworks to look at in relation to this activity

Many artists have used ordinary objects and changed their meanings or value through transformation, or by showing them in an unexpected way. In Poetry and Dream you could look at paintings by Rene Magritte, Joseph Cornell’s ‘magic box’ sculptures, or the Surrealist objects in the display cases. You could also look at work on Level 5 by Pop artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol and Richard Artschwager, and the display cases of humble materials and objects by Joseph Beuys.

Follow up work

Your group may have noticed how the suspended objects in Thirty Pieces of Silver cast shadows on the floor, as well as gleaming in the gallery’s lighting. Back at your centre, you could try using torches, lamps or projectors to cast shadows from different objects (perhaps the ones you brought on your visit, or choose some different ones). Try making ‘shadow mobiles’ of objects using fine thread or fishing line, with a strong light source to cast a shadow on the wall. You could also try drawing the shadows cast by objects instead of the objects themselves – perhaps explore the idea of negatives and shadows by using chalk on black paper, or using an eraser on a graphite–covered piece of paper.