Wind-Up Toys & Dialogue

Every group of students has their own special charm.  About six years ago in Shanghai there was a Year Twelve (IB Year One) Art class that were very quiet.  When it came time for the first critique, where students were asked to talk about their own work and the work of others in the class, it was painful.  No one wanted to jump in and talk about their month-long art process. No one was ready to speak about the work of classmates either. This was really unusual.  Sometimes groups are a little quiet during the start of the first critique but soon they get their footing and are ready to speak.  But not this group.  The students were producing some great work and really investing in the art-making process and they seemed to really like one another  and the vibe in the art room but they just didn't want to speak about art. The second critique was as painful as the first. 

What to do? The teacher (me) was becoming frustrated & feeling like a failure. 

She started questioning herself. 

Hadn't she fostered a safe environment? 

Hadn't the class successfully built a community together? 

What was the teacher doing wrong? 

Why couldn't she help make the dialogue happen?

Talking about one's own work is essential for students in the IB Visual Art class.  After all, the final assessment takes the shape of an interview where students speak about the work they have created for about forty minutes.  How would these students ever feel comfortable talking about their own work?  

How would they find their own voices?  

After the third month and third painful critique, it was time to take a new approach.  By the eve of the fourth critique, the teacher felt helpless, she had nothing...no great brain waves to focus this new approach. Then, while out shopping in a little toy store in the Shanghai neighbourhood (in Gubei) she stumbled across a wonderous object.  It was an old fashioned wind-up monkey made of tin.

The attendant in the store took the monkey out of a glass case and wound it up. And to the teacher's joy, when the monkey was wound up, he rode his bicycles around in circles.  Perfection.  The monkey was purchased and the next day at the start of class, a big space was cleared in the classroom and students were asked  to stand in a circle.  They were reluctant but somewhat curious.  When the circle was successfully created, the monkey appeared in the  centre.

Before the monkey was wound up the question was asked if anyone wanted to speak about their work . There was no reply and so: "If the  monkey stops at your feet, you are up first."  The students started to laugh and the monkey circled and circled until he ran out of power and landed at a student's feet.  Mr Monkey lightened the tension in the room.  Students were relieved to be chosen randomly by the monkey  rather than volunteering or being asked to speak by the teacher.  Mr Monkey became the class mascot and each month, he was brought  out and wound up to start the critique action.  The monkey was wound up, over and over, circling madly  until the last student was chosen.

It would be exaggerating to say that the wind-up monkey magically transformed a quiet class into an outgoing group but somehow for this particular class the sound of the wind-up key and the sight of the tin monkey helped to curb anxiety.  The monkey isn't required to get the discussion going  in most classes these days, but he can be used to break up the routine.  

Thanks to some thoughtful students and colleagues who have gifted wind-up toys over the years, the monkey now has tin friends that circle, spin, roll and pace forward and back.  The menagerie of wind up toys sit waiting, at the ready to help bring voice to another really quiet class.

The Metal Object Art Project

Several years ago, while navigating the roads of Shanghai in a taxi, we came across a road called Beijing Dong Lu. We were looking for some simple building materials as the graduation class were hanging the IB Visual Arts show.  Travelling with one of the senior students, Francesca, (now a fashion designer in Italy) we stumbled upon this street with our taxi driver.   There were blocks and blocks of shops selling building materials.  Specifically, there were several blocks of shops that sold nothing but obscure (to me) metal hardware pieces.  Knowing very little about the function of many of these little metal objects, I was enamoured by the "objects de arte" and their beauty.

Quickly, I started buying up these wonderful little objects.  As I didn't have any idea what these objects were for, I based my purchases completely on form. The shop keeper was very amused by my purchases and my ignorance of the function of any of the items purchased. Back to the gallery we went, carrying the objects and excited to show them to the student-artists.  We admired the shapes and textures of the objects for a short while, then got back to work, hanging the show.  Over the next months, I surrounded myself with over a dozen of these pieces, knowing that somehow, someday, these works would inspire art-making.  I didn't know how and didn't know when.  It took about a year before I decided that I would need to share these objects with my IB art students.

And so, in 2007, the Metal Object Project was born.  Rather than placing the objects on a table and asking the students to "choose one, " I decided that I would wrap the objects separately in wrapping paper and have every student in the class choose a wrapped gift.  The introduction of the project has become quite ritualistic. Recently when introducing the project at school, I placed yoga matts in a circle and had every student come into the room and chose a gift. As the metal objects are of various sizes, shapes and weights, I ask the students not to shake or  feel the wrapped packages  but to choose their package from a distance, based on the information they could read from brightly coloured packages.

One by one, we went around the circle and students were asked to open their object in front of the class.  It is interesting to watch the reaction, sometimes students are instantly excited about their metal piece, others are more reserved while others try to hide their disappointment, comparing their metal piece with their neighbour's.  Introducing the project in Shanghai was easier to coordinate thanks to the amazing little street that inspired me: Beijing Dong Lu.  In Hong Kong, shops are not centralised to the same degree and there is no mega hardware stores here like B&Q or Home Depot.  As a result, the metal object offerings were more eclectic.  I found some objects at a recycle depot by the shipyards.  There were some interesting rusty, oiled-up pieces there.  While other pieces were purchased at the local hardware stores.

         

                       

  

 The project brief was simple. Create a work of art in any medium that is inspired by this piece of metal. The metal object may or may not be included in the final work of art. Students were required to come up with three proposals in their workbooks.  The merits of each would be discussed in class before a decision was made by the student, allowing for class and teacher feedback.  Each student was also required to create a "technical challenge" for themselves in the media chosen and at the end they would be able to talk about their technical growth as well as the conceptual elements of the project.

This project has been one of the most exciting ones introduced over the years.  An object can be a great starting point for a project if all the elements are right and it is introduced at the right stage for the students.  From time-based performance pieces to installations to detailed drawings, these metal pieces have inspired some innovative art works.  Students are given a  list of contemporary artists to research for inspiration.  Artists who work with non-traditional materials are included on this list.  Students may draw inspiration from Arthur Ganson's kinetic sculpture.

Cloud by Arthur Ganson http://www.arthurganson.com/  

or Janine Antoni's performative work http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/features/janine-antoni/   or Cai Guo Qiang's explosive works http://www.caiguoqiang.com/ to name a few.

http://dailyserving.com/2010/08/cai-guo-qiang/02-cai-guo-qiang-head-on-vortex/

The direction students take with this unit is often fascinating.  A metal piece with a hinge that opens and closes can resemble a heart beat for one student, leading her on a path of research and exploration. While the complexity of another metal piece can remind another student of the inner workings of the human brain.  Often very personal connections are made instantly with this project.   It is amazing how a cold, metal object can inspire the personal memories and bring out students' humanity.

So, later this month is the inaugural show of our school art gallery at CDNIS.  The first show that is schedules is: The Metal Object Show.  A number of Grade Eleven students will be installing their metal pieces.  For many students this was the most successful and exciting piece they have created thus far in the course so the show should be an interesting one.

Stay tuned for more photos and a review of the show.

Environmental Wearable Art

An art project can starts with a common medium that the class explores together (such as drawing, painting, photoshop or print-making). An art project can also be inspired by a prompt, like Time or Place.  The Environmental Wearable Art Project is one that I introduced to senior art students for the first time many years ago, back in Canada.  The project started with a challenge to the students: Create a piece of art from recycled materials that can be worn.

Dress by Agnes Fung (2010) Canadian International School of Hong Kong. Lemon Tea Tetra Pak

One of the ideas behind this project was to get students to think about the environment while looking at form and function. An artwork does not always have to start with a brand new sheet of paper or a new canvas or a ball of un-recycled clay.  There is a limit to the earth's resources so a major component of this project was to start thinking about creating artworks from pre-used materials.  Years ago, while working with emerging artists at the Experimental Art School in Havana, Cuba, I witnessed talented, young painters creating incredible works of art on recycled cardboard.  New canvases were not an option for these artists and so they painted beautiful layered paintings on recycled cardboard.  Closer to home, a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation, was a painting by my great uncle on the back of an oatmeal box.  Recycling is not a new thing, sometimes artists have had to recycle because of necessity.

Raising awareness within the school community is an important part of the project. Below is a call-out to the school for recycled items donations.  The student below was collecting red envelopes from Chinese New year. (We could have filled a warehouse with the donations.)

The only limit imposed on students for the wearable art project was that the recycled material could be anything but cloth as the project was not about sewing or tailoring skills.  Somehow, the outside-the-box materials always yielded more avante garde and interesting projects.   Over the years, students have created garments from materials as unusual as coffee filters, corks, aluminium windowblinds.  The following link is a photograph of a group of students in their Recycled Wearable Art outfits in Shanghai.  This photo and a short article was included in IB World Magazine on a feature called A-Z Sustainable Schools:

A-Z Sustainable Schools- IB World Magazing-September 2010

Garments from Yew Chung International School of Shanghai, left to right: Chester Huang designer, (Corks) Lilian Shen, (UHU Glue bottles) Jisun Hur, (Coffee Filters) Tal Benshimol, (Plastic Bottles) Laohavisit (Tetra Paks)

Every year and every new locale (from Coquitlam to Shanghai to Hong Kong) brings unique materials for students to recycle and create with.  The process can be challenging, as students endeavour to sew, bind and adhere materials together creatively  to make garments.  The project always culminates in a final fashion show.  Students and their friends who model the garments are often transformed on the cat-walk.  From Brilliance Shopping Mall in Shanghai to the Coquitlam Recycling depot to the impressive Canadian International School stage at the LLAC Theatre, students are transformed as they slink down the catwalk, immitating fashion models they have seen on TV.

RE-ECo-Vate November 2012 CDNIS Hong Kong

Two garments made this fall by students at CDNIS. 

Left: Eileen Ying- Red Envelopes (Chinese New Year) & Right: Rachel Lee- Carboard Boxes                                                       

               

                                                                 

The following images are from CDNIS Wearable Art Project, 2010.

 Charmaine da Costa created the garment above from reclaimed wire and string.

 Anita Wu started a campaign to reclaim used paper water cups & created the garment above.

 Yoona Lim produced this piece from used umbrellas and newspapers.

The garment above was created by Tiffany Ting from recycled newspapers.

The success of this project always comes down to the students and their creativity & ingenuity.
The most provocative dress was created in the inaugural year of this project in 1996 (Centennial Secondary, Coquitlam School District) when Grade 12 student, Paula McMurray produced a dress made of expired condoms. This dress was exhibited in a show of professional art work at the XI International Conference on Aids in Vancouver (July, 1996).  Paula titled her work: The Safe Sex Dress. This piece had great impact and was viewed far beyond the school audience.

The wearable art shows have incorporated student leadership and in recent years, students have incorporated an element of fundraising as well as awareness building.  Most recently, Re Eco Vate (November 2012-Canadian International School of Hong Kong) raised $6700 HK for the Dongjiang River Reforestation Project in China.  Re Eco Vate leaders presenting funds raised through the wearable art show.