The Gusserane Art Intervention: Week 11

This week at Gusserane we returned for our second last session with the pupils, in fact I had just been reviewing this blog the evening before and realised how quickly the time has gone by working with them.

If anything this term was particularily fast as we had to squash all of our time in to just over one month rather than spread out over three, however it has been an exciting and very educational experience, not only for the children but myself as well. We were also joined by Frank

Els was back in today and I had a brief talk with how Thursday had been in her absence. She came in with a surprise for the younger group to finish off their drawing course: Chinese ink and bamboo pens. Many looked rather apprehensive about it as they had never seen a bamboo pen before but once they got started with all their materials, the majority of the children enjoyed it very much. In fact it required a higher level of concentration and the pupils that usually cause distruptions surprised us with their involvement in the exercise. They had to do the usual copying of selected images from the print book, the ink and pens gave them a chance to do more minute detail than the chunky markers would have. We had to show them how to use the pens effectively as many were not dipping them in ink often enough or finding the rough tip difficult to draw with, it took more of a gliding motion and frequent use of the ink pot to create clear black lines. After about twenty minutes the whole group were wholly absorbed in the exercise and we got very positive feedback from the pupils about the medium.

A beneficial factor of the LAP workshops is that the pupils have opportunities to work with media they could never have the chance to be introduced to in the mainstream classroom, purely due to restriction of space and time in their day to day activities. With something like ink especially, it can create too much of a mess as we soon found out when tabletops and chairs were suddenly black and wet, yet seeing the reaction of the class to the exercise was incredible. Exploring media and materials is probably most applicable to those of a young age as they are at a point in their learning development where their curiosity and willingness to experiment are at their peak.We encouraged them to fill up the page as usual

with their compositions except this time it took them longer to complete the exercise as they were taking their time. Many only managed to complete one page whereas normally the whole class would at least be on their second by the end of the session. We saw some great results; alot more concentration going into their images and beautiful use of the ink. Els suggested I also include them in the slides as they will add to the marker drawings. We finished up the session with just enough time to try and stop anymore ink spillages from happening, the pupils all had black ink on their hands and were adamant about cleaning it off completely before returning to class however we had to assure them that it would take a day or two to go away thus they had to be more careful if ever using it again. One problem that we did have the younger group over the duration of the LAP was that they were terrible for tidying up after themselves, even despite their young age they were quick to drop what they were doing without giving thought to the mess they were leaving behind regardless of the medium. They returned to class rather glum that next week would be our last, which showed what a positive routine it was for them and we plan to have a fun final session for them to create something to keep in the school.

In the afternoon with the older group, we continued again with the sculptures and Els had to do a little manouvering in getting them to focus on keeping their pieces abstract. We brought in a projector in order to cast a strong light on the scultpures so the pupils could see what the shadows looked like, unfortunately we had no computer to connect and it emitted only a small logo on it's own without any input. I think this is what made it difficult for the pupils to remain abstract in their building as the shadow idea was a bit lost due to lack of proper lights to try and experiment with.

We carried on as usual, allowing the pupils to continue creating and giving them suggestions. One group was having teamwork issues as there seemed to be more interest in just throwing stuff together by means of using the tools rather than trying to make something visually interesting. One pupil in this group was noticably arrogant about using the hammer and nails and asking for the stapler and once or twice we had to stop him from overdoing it as the other pupils were losing out on giving their input to the piece. Another group which was made up by a pair of girls found it too difficult to work absractedly with their wire and clay and so Els decided to get involved to help them think about it differently. By taking the long plank they working with and instead of having it on the floor she suggested to them that we would hang it on the wall for the exhibition. We could see that this threw off the girl's process as their blank expressions reflected a sudden confusion at what we were showing them so we left them to deliberate it on their own. Some had gotten far enough that Els instructed them to start painting, which also made us remind the rest of the group that next week we will not be constructing anymore but only painting the sculptures so that they had to finish whatever it was they wanted to do on them with the wire and clay. One group in particular was excelling at their sculpture and created an intircate story about the sea by using the wire and clay and the three rocks they were given at the start. Els cut out a couple of small drawings she quickly did of fish and asked them to try and incorporate them into the sculpture. The girls were excited by the prospect and created a whole collage of materials throughout the rest of the session. The remaining groups were more so being encouraged to structure their pieces so that they have no loose ends i.e. parts falling off, not standing up straight etc and to think about how much clay they had in their piece to paint next week and if they needed to add more or take some away.

Towards the end of the session we could see what was necessarily going to be the exhibition. We planned to bring in the projector and laptop next week so the pupils can see the shadows their pieces create and then add the finishing touches of paint and fixtures to them. A couple of the groups seemed happy to finish however I was concerned about the few individuals whom weren't good group workers and what kind of input they would be giving next week but we will just have to wait and see. It is strange to think that we will only be seeing them once or twice again after our last session, they constantly ask if we will be coming back next year which we have to tell them straight that it is up to the school to make that decision. It is unfortunate that it is only a one year project yet with every year that goes by on the LAP I hear that things are growing and improving. Like an artist's practice it takes doing to see what is needed, I think it is definitely something that needs more support not only from the arts council but more interest from schools to incorporate a genuine art curriculum that might change the course of how art is taught and thus approached in the future from the generations we teach now.