Discovering Malawi.
This has turned out to be the title for my project with the Primary School Children. We made models of a school in Malawi which was ambitious and a challenge for many of them.
The rewards for perseveranceare are paying off. The bricks are being drawn on, the interiors are developing with stuff on the walls, people are being modeled and the roofs have tiles or corrugated sheeting on. These model schools are just fab. I watch the kids looking in through the windows into their creations and the stories are coming out and, the animals and the people are doing thing things.
Working like this is a flexible thing and its a bit like riding the rapids. One week its all gone off track, and the things you planned are swept asside. The following week its found a momentum and dosent need steering much! The results are inspiring.
Our next step is to construct not a model, but a small replica school out of plywood. Kind of like a garden shed size?
I have decided to change the title of this blog, because I am struggling with ways to present the content for it. Shifting it around a little untill I find a way that I’m happy with.
In the mean time I may as well show you my mosaic which is now crated up ready for installation. There is no sign of any subase preparation from the commissioner, but how could there be with the weather the way it has been.
Did you watch Kevin McClouds ‘Slumming it’ ……..totally fab. Utopia amongst squaller, recycling, to put our token attempts to shame and bizzarely a real lesson on comminuity living. All nescessities within minutes of your living spaces.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevin-mccloud-slumming-it/4od#3022220
Mumbi city architects plans mimic western thoughts and aim raise these slums to the ground and rebuild high rise living spaces in a photoshop Gugenhiem, Gerkin, Gateshead Sage brochure world of phased developments, rebuilding most of the city. As Kevin points out we tried high rise flats 40 years ago, with poor results.
Are there no disciples of Hundertwasser out there who could put in sanitation and modify what already works so well, without smashing and alienating yet another set of people? Well done Kevin McCloud I was getting bored with the formulaic Grand Designs (though I really enjoyed it at first) but this moves onto much more impactfull social and architectural issues.
The one where I heard alarm bells ringing!
We had our visit to Kew Gardens with the Transition Group…great looking round and that, but one incident towers above the rest.
As I have explained discipline is not this groups strong point and a 20 second game of football with an empty apple juice bottle was the catalyst. My ADHD friend was banned from going on the tree top walk as was another. As it turns out 2 others were also unable, due to vertigo type fears. This amounts to about a quarter of the group and this in some ways was the main focus of the whole trip. Now if the teacher is going to ban this kid from taking part on the best bits because he’s BAD. Is he going to get resentfull and pile on the bad behaviour even more as a way of getting back? and make this project more difficult?
Comments like I wish you were our teacher make me sence the start of a division. Perhaps I’m over sensative.
We have a review next week, I might mention it? Other than that a grand day out.
The one where: I realised I was part of a community where I did’nt actually know anyone.
I have just updated my CV with a new line says: AN ‘Artists Talking’ blogger of the year 2009. A Walk with Cosmo.
This makes me sound like I was the only one, so appologies to Rosalind and Emily who work so hard on their blogs. I just make it up as I go along, start swearing and being silly. Those close to me have teased me saying oh dad got a ‘also wrote a blog prize’.
But I am very pleased indeed and look forward to looking at rachels book. These nominations are unexpected and have served to strengthen this online community which if you feel like me has become part of an artists practice.
The one where: The teacher told me to do less art.
I still get surprised by the gulf between students abilities to carry out the same task!
We made cardboard models of school in Malawi today. Not as random as it sounds because this school is twinned with a school in Malawi and our project I think may be called ‘Discovering Malawi’. The working title currently is ‘a project with maths and architecture’?
I was also a little surprised when the teacher said could we do a little less art and keep it more like a normal lesson………….. Its sounds a little odd put like that, but that was the request.
So next week then, literary research, followed by engaging and responding to texts, we might develop and refine ideas in writing using planning and problem solving stratergies. And then do some art.
This poor school has such little space I have brought the childrens work home with me, as there is no room to store A1 size sheets of card.
