Art History - Eva Hesse

In my 2025-2026 school year plan, I decided that our February artist would be Eva Hesse. (Here's the complete list of all the artists we've learned about so far.) Here are some resources and my planning notes:

Eva Hesse
1936 - 1970

Eva Hesse: Sculpture

see also Eva Hesse

also

Eva Hesse documentary (2016)
for teacher background
FREE with a Kino Film Collection one week trial

if you're interested in Sol LeWitt's entire letter to Eva Hesse, it is here, performed by Benedict Cumberbatch (this is NOT for children)

Eva Hesse on How to Be an Artist

Classroom Resource Sheet: Laocoön, 1965-66 (PDF)
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College

Study for Sculpture, 1967
National Museum of Women in the Arts

Expanded Expansion, 1969

The Afterlife of Eva Hesse’s “Expanded Expansion”
Guggenheim Museum

These Sculptures Changed What Art Could Be, Then Changed Themselves
The New York Times - Jul 19, 2024

The Encyclopedia of Artists

volume 3

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week of Feb 2:

Wed

quick overview of Eva Hesse's life (I didn't show any of her art)

open-ended unconventional materials & texture exploration

we called this game "Factory Trash Pile"

I set out the following for them to explore:

clear contact paper
onion skins
balls of yarn
pile of yarn & wool scraps
metal shower curtain rings
Cheerios
bubble wrap
dot matrix printer paper edging
construction paper
origami cranes
pens / pencils / markers
kitchen countertop samples
plastic Easter eggs
colored cardstock with words (old Montessori grammar work)

they were allowed to do whatever they wanted with these materials; one child immediately opened up all the pens to take the springs out!

Thu

read from Eva Hesse on How to Be an Artist

Lesson #1: If you’re stuck, try new materials and methods

Lesson #2: Embrace the absurd

Lesson #3: Explore your materials with spontaneity

Lesson #4: Practice fearlessness

week of Feb 9:

Mon

see what the children recall about Eva Hesse's life

listen to excerpt of Sol LeWitt's letter (NOT the whole letter)
from 2:04 to 3:30

make bad art!
old file folders that are headed for the recycling bin
and cheap art supplies (Crayola crayons & markers)

Tue

activity inspired by Laocoön (1965-66)
watch an excerpt from The French Taunt from Monty Python
(3:40 to 6:18)

explain the Trojan War and read the story of Laocoön from
"A Fairy-Tale War," chapter 11 of A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer

ask children to imagine Eva Hesse's Laocoön sculpture,
then show them and read from the Visual Analysis (PDF)

opposites:
geometric vs. organic
uprightness vs. parasitic dragging downward

explore these opposites by creating an upright sculpture
using a vintage building supply
then compare the effect of evoking snakes with finger knitted lengths of yarn versus dot matrix printer paper edging

Thu

activity inspired by Hang Up (1966)
look at the following from Eva Hesse, pp.166-175:

Tomorrow's Apples (5 in White) (1965)

2 in 1 (1965)

C-Clamp Blues (1965)

Up the Down Road (1965)

Eighter from Decatur (1965)

Top Spot (1965)

Untitled (1965)

Hang Up (1966)


how can you define "absurd" in one word?

read from Eva Hesse, p.59

use old coat hangers and try to create absurd work that breaks out of the frame, extending into the surrounding space



we thought it would be really fun to use a coat hanger as the frame because then you could "Hang Up" your sculpture!

week of Feb 16:

Mon

activity inspired by Study for Sculpture (1967)

Thu

activity inspired by Repetition Nineteen III (1968)

watch video about The Afterlife of Eva Hesse’s “Expanded Expansion”

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