‘Make a Mess. Make Art.’

Museum Trainee, Harith Wirasinha looks at how artists use different ways of making art–and is inspired to make his own.

Make a mess cover

The title of this artwork is ‘GPS Drawing: Kudirimale to Wilpattu National Park Gate, 53km, 1.40 pm to 5.40 pm, Jeep, 7 October 2017’. It was made in 2017 by the artist Muhanned Cader (b. 1966).

This work is made with a pen placed on a paper from the artist’s sketchbook. See the full caption

 

Download this worksheet

 

(1) “For his artwork, Muhanned Cader used the notebook and pen that he had with him. This was easy to find and that’s what made it special.”

(2) “He took the pen and kept it on the book. Because he was in a moving vehicle the pen started to make scribbles automatically. It looks like he made a big mess on the page. (But we know that he didn’t because he is an artist.)

161020_Worksheets_1345x675px_EM15

(3) “I love making messes so I have included a picture of a mess I made. There are lots of colours so it looks interesting (at least I think so). Each time I look at it I think of how much fun I had.

How creative do you think I have been with my ‘mess’?”

From this worksheet I will find out:
–I can create an artwork using ordinary material
–I don’t need to get art supplies to get creative
–I can evaluate my artwork and make changes to it

Step 1
Find something that could work as a “canvas”. Art doesn’t have to be made on a canvas or a blank piece of paper. Find something in your house that you can make art on. A newspaper, a book, a plate are all good ideas, but you can also use an entire room or bookshelf to make your art (ask your parent or teacher for permission first).

Step 2
Find some objects or materials that you can easily get at and make a big mess. Paint, colour pencils, tomato sauce, dirt from the garden, pieces of rope, sticks, stones- Anything can be used for this as long as your parents, or an adult looking after you, are okay with this. Ask them to join you. Don’t worry about making it look ‘good’. Just have fun.

Step 3
Now it’s time to turn your mess into an artwork! The first step is to take a good look at it and find things you like about it. Change things around. Add more details, or edit things out.

Step back and look at your artwork again, describe to yourself what you’ve created. Sharing your work is part of making art. So take a photograph of the mess you make and clean it up before you share the photograph with your family and friends.

Onsite

Exhibition Tour

in Tamil

Learn More

Curator’s Tour

with Thinal Sajeewa

Learn More

Artist Tour

Learn More

Exhibition Tour in Tamil

Learn More

Online

Reading Group

Reading Group: ‘On Minnette De Silva and Architectural Method’ with Tariq Jazeel

Learn More

Sri Lankan Contemporary
Video Works and Panel Discussion

Learn More

Workshop

‘Comic Making and Storytelling’ with Shenuka Corea (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Zinemaking and Art Journaling’ with Zainab Hudha (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

My Safe Haven’ with Aadhi Jayaseelan (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Literary Translation’ with Saambavi Sivaji (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Zinemaking and Art Journaling’ with Zainab Hudha (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘My Safe Haven’ with Aadhi Jayaseelan (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Sewing and Embroidery’ with Hema Shironi, Sabeen Omar, and Shahdia Jamaldeen (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Hello Again’ with Seema Omar and Shivani Jobanputra (for children aged 12–16 and their parents)

Learn More

Workshop

‘The Story of the Osariya’ with Tikiri and Co (for ages 8–13)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Upcycling T-shirts’ with Lonali Rodrigo (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Gallery Talk

‘Artists in Exile’ with Sandev Handy

Learn More

Workshop

‘Art with Family’ with Collective of Contemporary Artists (CoCA) (all ages)

Learn More

Workshop

Visual Journaling with Safiya Sideek (for ages 18 and above)

Learn More

For Kids

Special Children’s Day Curator’s Tour with Sharmini Pereira

Learn More

Kids’ Activity Session

‘My Happy Place’ (for ages 9–12)

Learn More

Kids’ Activity Session

‘Tin Foil Figures’ (for ages 6–8)

Learn More

Kids’ Activity Session

‘Mind Maps’ (for ages 9–12)

Learn More

For Educators

Workshop

‘Comic Making and Storytelling’ with Shenuka Corea (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Zinemaking and Art Journaling’ with Zainab Hudha (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

My Safe Haven’ with Aadhi Jayaseelan (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Workshop

‘Literary Translation’ with Saambavi Sivaji (for ages 16 and above)

Learn More

Upcoming Programmes

April 06

Workshop

‘Writing Home’ with Kanya D’Almeida (for ages 18 and above)

Learn More

March 30

Exhibition Tour

in Tamil

Learn More

March 17

Curator’s Tour

with Thinal Sajeewa

Learn More

Support Us

Join us to create Sri Lanka’s first publicly accessible museum of modern and contemporary art.

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka invites you to get involved through becoming a member or making a donation to our activities.

Join Us