Objectives: Brandon Kuehn is a paranormal artist who specializes in capturing “the uncanny”, the feeling of mystery and the unknown.  He refers back to the famous Chauvet Cave in France, which has some of the best-preserved cave paintings in the world, to talk about how images themselves can tell stories without written language.  Paranormal art is an effort for him to create sacred space and transcendent movement through images.  In this activity, you will create your own art based on stories and attempt to capture the overall meaning or theme of that story in your art piece without the use of words.

Tools/Resources:
MN Original video clip, examples of the Chauvet Caves (YouTube video is ideal).

Activity

1) Watch the segment and discuss:

a. Why does Brandon Kuehn create paranormal art? What is he trying to achieve?

b. Why are the Chauvet Caves important?

2) Brainstorm:

a. Think of a story you know very well, or your favorite story.

b. Jot down the key points – main themes, characters, settings, events, and actions. If necessary, find a copy of the story to refer to.

c. If you were to take a visual snapshot of the story that would describe the main points/characters/themes/events, what would it look like?

3) Create:

a. Once you have a sketch you are happy with, use any kind of medium (markers, pencils, pen, paint, collage) to create a visual representation of your favorite book – in other words, to tell the story’s story visually.

b. Revise as needed.

c. When completed, create an artist’s statement to describe and explain your visual artwork.

For information on the academic standards fulfilled by this activity download the full guide.