Tangram / Barry McGee
What is a Tangram?
Tangrams were invented in China over 200 years ago. The traditional Chinese puzzle is a square divided into seven pieces called Tans. The seven pieces include: one parallelogram, one small square and five triangles (2 large right triangles, 1 medium right triangle and 2 small right triangles).
You solve the puzzle by arranging the pieces to match certain designs. Simply, you could arrange them into a large square, rectangle or triangle, or you can tackle more complex shapes like animals, plants or a house.
Rubric for Part 1 of Barry McGee inspired assignment
See examples made by Barry McGee to get inspiration.
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Should have at least 2 different designs
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Each design must have at least 3 shapes
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Each design must have at least 2 colors
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Clean edges-don't cut too many papers at one time
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When finished your tangrams will be combined to create one 15" X 15" image with the faces you draw in part 2 of this project (see the examples below).
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Note: the overall finished art will not consist of only 2 sheets of attached tangrams. It is best if the tangrams are cut into a variety of sizes before they are combined into one final design. (see the example in the middle and on the left). The example on the far right could work because the tangrams differ in size on both the top and the bottom patterns.
Directions:
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Come up with your design
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Decide which colors you want to use
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Fold construction paper into a fan
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Glue shapes onto construction paper
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Cut shapes
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Glue shapes onto the final paper
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Repeat until the paper is covered in your chosen tangram pattern
Examples of tangrams made by Barry McGee are shown below.
Examples of tangrams made by MHS students
