Water Wall of Color
Danielle S.
Artist Statement
I chose to design and create a water wall for a variety of reasons. Water walls can be very educational and appealing to the human eye. There are a variety of different types of water walls and water walls can serve a variety of purposes. For instance, some people use a basic water wall for decoration where as others recreate them to serve as an educational and music piece. I personally chose to create one using a variety of materials available to me that we as humans use every day.
During the course of brainstorming my ideas and making the water wall, I had to go through numerous trials and errors. My initial idea was to create a water wall using different sized plastic soda/water bottles and have the bottles drip from one to the other. At first, I wanted to use a pegboard to attach the bottles too, but I didn't have any laying around anywhere to use. Originally I was going to use food coloring to represent the primary colors and how when they are mixed it changes into the secondary colors. Overall, I thought this was a great idea to use the bottles and food color, because I wanted to use just the same object, but in different sizes. However, once I explored and tested my ideas more, I found that when water hit the same material (plastic in this case), the music that water made sounded the same as it hit each bottle. This did represent rhythm, but I wasn't satisfied just yet. Therefore, I switched things up a bit.
For my final idea, I decided to wrap paper around a piece of plywood to start. I then used two water bottles (One for the starting point and the other for the ending point), two different sized and styled tubes (One with crinkles and the other smooth), a tin can, an aluminum foil bridge, a red solo cup, and a funnel, instead of solely using different size soda/water bottles like I had originally planned. The different objects that I carefully chose to use, showcase a different sound when water hits it, which was one of my ultimate goals for my display. I also wanted to do something more fun and visually appealing to watch, so I chose to use a glow stick based liquid instead of water and food coloring. The glow stick liquid actually was more appealing and made a bigger impact than the food coloring did.
That being said, in creating my masterpiece I strongly focused on the cohesiveness and the multiple intelligences that can be represented using my water wall. The four areas that I chose to create my display represent movement, sound/rhythm, color, and light. For movement, I chose to focus on the flow of water and how it moves through various objects at different levels. I chose specific objects, such as plastic, foil, and tubes that I knew would help to change the sounds and rhythms that water can make at the different points on the wall. As for the usage of color, I chose to not only use different colored objects and background paper, but I also incorporated the idea of the different colors in the rainbow. In doing so, I carefully used food coloring (Yellow, Blue, and Red) at different phases in the wall to show the change of color when colors are mixed with other colors. I chose this to indirectly show when primary colors are mixed, it will make secondary colors. Lastly, I used a liquid with glow sticks to represent light to help assist my display. The glow sticks essentially lit the way of my water wall path.
Additionally, my project closely connects with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences for a variety of reasons. First off, it is musical because I used different objects to allow the water to make different sounds and rhythms as it passes through each object. I specifically chose a tin can, foil, tubes, and different forms of plastic to replicate different sounds with water. It is also considered bodily-kinesthetic because I sketched my initial ideas, sketched my final draft, gathered necessary materials, water can be touched, and I constructed the water wall display. It incorporates interpersonal skills, because I incorporated written based text near the display board that said, "What is your favorite color?", that allowed me to understand opinions of others. Also, I had the students in the classroom connect with their other peers to see what their favorite color is. It involved verbal-linguistic skills, because I carefully chose what words I wanted to say and how/when I actually wanted to say them in the multimedia videos to help the audience understand how I created my display and how it works. I also chose an engaging title for my project and displayed it on the water wall board. I incorporated logic into my project, because one would have to know that the different sounds/rhythms of water changes in different parts of the display simply because of the different materials and objects that I used. I also incorporated logical and mathematical skills when I had to estimate parts of the water and glow stick recipe. Overall, water is a large component of what nature entails and a major necessity for human survival. Therefore, because my project was designed around water, it represents a variety of naturalistic concepts. I incorporated different colors of the rainbow by using the different colored glow sticks. In doing so, I could elaborate and say that my favorite glow stick color was green, because it was vibrant and bright (intrapersonal)! Overall, my entire project also represents visual-spatial, not only because I used pictures and videos to showcase my project through a multimedia video, but also because it can be seen with the human eye.
My Water Wall of Color is important to me because of a wide variety of things. First, I was able to design it numerous times, from my initial idea to my final idea. I was able to test it and retest it to make it as good as my ability allowed. Lastly, my ultimate goal was to perfect it to meet the needs and requirements for this project, while focusing on a necessity for survival – water.
How I Designed and Created It
Parts Of The Wall
Starting Point
- I used scissors to cut a rectangular piece out of the bottle to allow me to dump the glow stick liquid into the water wall.
- I hot glued the blue crinkle tube to the base of the water bottle.
Tin Soup Can
- I used a drill gun to drill a hole into the base of the tin can to allow water to flow through.
- I then took the blue tube and hot glued it to the base of the tin can.
Aluminum Foil Bridge
- I created the bridge using aluminum foil.
- Then I took popsicle sticks and stabilized the bottom of the bridge, so that way it could hold water as it flowed to the next part of the wall.
- I also stabilized the bridge by hot gluing popsicle sticks to the tin can to make it more sturdy.
Solo Cup Ramp
- I used scissors to cut the cup in half.
- Next, I took and cut a rectangular piece out to allow the water to flow freely into the funnel.
- The folded down piece acts like a ramp in order for the water to flow smoothly.
- Lastly, I hot glued the cup to the display board.
Funnel
- I took a plastic funnel and glued it to the display board.
Spiral Tube - Ending Point
- I attached the spiral tube to the base of the funnel by carefully hot gluing it without it sealing off the flow of water.
- Lastly, I started to spiral the tube and as I did so, I hot glued it to the board.
- The last piece that connects to the tube is a water bottle, similar to the one that the wall started with.
How It Works
The Process
Where did I search for additional information?
For additional information, I searched on Google and Pinterest. In fact, Pinterest had a wide variety of ways of doing a water wall, however, I used some of the ideas to create my own original display. I also used a Wiki website that had a recipe that focused on how to make water glow in the dark with a glow stick or highlighter.
Where did I get the materials I used?
I searched for the various objects/pieces I wanted to use in various locations.
- Integrating Arts Classroom - Popsicle sticks.
- Grandparents' House - Tin can, funnel, thumb tacks, plywood, and a water bottle.
- My House - Hot glue, hot glue gun, construction paper, scissors, scrap booking stickers, wrapping paper, aluminum foil, food coloring, water bottle, a red solo cup, a camera/video camera, and a drill gun.
- Family Business - Clear tube and blue tube.
- Walmart - LED balloons and glowsticks.
How did my ideas change?
- I wanted to use only water bottles to start, but ended up using different objects.
- I wanted to use only clear water at first, but then decided to add food coloring to it.
- I wanted to use a pegboard to display my create, but ended up using a piece of plywood instead.
- I wanted to use marbles to help emphasize the different sounds that are made when it hits different materials, but I decided it wasn't necessary.
- I wanted to screw the materials to piece of plywood at first, but decided to hot glue them instead (Prevent leaks).
- I wanted to keep the piece of plywood plain, but decided it would be more appealing to attach paper, so I added wrapping paper to the background.
Things I Learned or Hadn't Considered Previously
- Water makes different sounds when it hits different solid materials.
- Hot glue melts plastic, even if it's thicker plastic.
- It is hard to see clear flowing water on a video camera.
- Water is easier to see when you add food coloring or glow sticks to it.
- Watered down food coloring stains carpet - Oops!
- Water moves rather quickly, especially when it is at a downhill slope.
- It can be rather challenging to pour water and record a video at the same time, especially without a tripod.
- Trial and errors of this project was a blessing in disguise (I had to restart the entire display), because the water got stuck in the tube in the tin can (Hot glue sealed it off).
- There was a rhythm that was created as the water passed through the different materials. A type of rhythm that doesn't change, even through multiple trials.
- Water can be used to teach a variety of things.
- There are different types of water walls, especially when you Google "water wall."
- There are TONS of water related STEM projects out there to recreate!
- Water is educational and natural!
Glow Stick Liquid
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1-2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide
- 1 glow stick
- 1 teaspoon of dish soap
- 1 plastic container
- 1 mixer
- Sharp scissors or knife
- Latex gloves
Directions:
- First, put latex gloves on to prevent getting the liquids on your hands
- Secondly, fill a plastic container (cup, bottle, etc.) with water
- Next, take hydrogen peroxide and pour it into the plastic container with water
- Now, take the dish soap and place into the mixture in the plastic container
- Cut the tip of the glow stick off and carefully pour it into the water, peroxide, and soap mixture
- Lastly, take a mixer (I used a wooden skewer, because that's what I had) and mix up the glow stick liquid
Sounds of water Flow
Narration of Original Ideas - Multiple Intelligences
- I used different objects to allow the water to make different sounds and rhythms as it passes through each object. I specifically chose a tin can, foil, tubes, and different forms of plastic to replicate different sounds with water.
Bodily-Kinesthetic - Body Smart
- I sketched my initial ideas, sketched my final draft, gathered necessary materials, and constructed the water wall display.
Interpersonal - People Smart
- I incorporated written based text near the display board that said, "What is your favorite color?", that allowed me to understand opinions of others. Also, I had the students in the classroom connect with their other peers to see what their favorite color is.
Verbal-Linguistic - Word Smart
- I carefully chose what words I wanted to say and how/when I actually wanted to say them in the multimedia videos to help the audience understand how I created my display and how it works. I also chose an engaging title for my project and displayed it on the water wall board.
Logical Mathematical - Logic Smart
- I incorporated logic into my project, because one would have to know that the different sounds/rhythms of water changes in different parts of the display simply because of the different materials and objects that I used. I also incorporated logical and mathematical skills when I had to estimate parts of the water and glow stick recipe.
Naturalistic - Nature Smart
- Water is a large component of what nature entails. Therefore, because my project was designed around water, it is naturalistic.
Intrapersonal - Self-Smart
- I incorporated different colors of the rainbow by using the different glow sticks. In doing so, I could elaborate and say that my favorite glow stick color was green, because it was vibrant and bright!
Visual-Spatial - Picture Smart
- I used pictures and videos to showcase my project through a multimedia video.