Making Art With Other People.

Sometimes its not about art at all!

After 8-9 weeks into the school garden project and the goal posts are still moving. The location for the garden has been moved 4 times and now there is a 5th unexpected movement of the target.

There is another garden project running within the school and we (the school) would like you to join the two together…………………………………

How has this not been joined together before, cos I cant suggest it, if I dont know there is another garden project going on. (sounds like Emily Speeds latest blog entry)

……………………………………………..

How long can you keep a construction project open ended like this and not actually construct anything.

Answer: not much fkuicng longer.

We have agreed the project logo which feels like a major achievement at the moment.

Timetabling of specialist and fully qualified staff on this delicate project has been proving difficult. And I have saved the best bit till last. One of the members of staff especially allocated to this project went off crying because one of the pupils (MR. Unmediated ADHD) swore at her! She did not return plus another specialist teacher was off sick.

I am an artist but this has not got much to do with art. It feels more like a reality tv show. I had Wife Swap in mind when I wrote that.

Little Johny’s Spud Head.

I had forgotton all about little Johny’s Spud Head untill it came up the other day.

This is a little storey from the mid 90’s explaning exactly what Johny’s Spud Head represents. It happened to my then business partner, and has happenened, or probably will happen to anyone working to a commission brief involving the community.

‘encourage a sense of ownership in the local community,

the commission will involve close participation with users of the centre and the children,

that involves and engages students, staff and local communities, produces work of outstanding quality and provides an ongoing educational resource’.

All well worn phrases and hoops that artists have jumped through many many times. This included my former partner who had jumped with great agility and grace and had made a design which he was really pleased with and proudly presented it to the steering committe. Who were actually very impressed, and thought it would look very nice in their town square. Apart from the Head Teacher, the Centre Manager, or the Community Liason officer (I forget who it was now) who didn’t like it at all because little Johny who had worked extremely hard during that workshop has not had his efforts included and could we re-design it to be more inclusive of the community it represented please.

We drove home from somewhere in the midlands after that presentation and my partner was unable to speak for much of drive home. Little Johny had not really tried very hard and had drawn the first and only thing that had come into his head!

I have included some examples from his portfolio here.

Totaly Gutted.

I wont be making art together with my friend Charlie. We had an interview last week that went very well we thought, but rejection today! I’ve been walking around this afternoon in a numbed state saying ‘how did we not get that?’

As a reaction to it, I have signed up for two days training which claims to focus on the basic phychology of communication, aimed at a healthy practioner-pupil relationship. I have also got an interview for further training exploring neuro-chemistry, trauma and challenging behaviour, I think this translates to mental health problems. I need to fill the gap with something positive, which is an investment for later, as I can’t afford to miss out on another opportunity like that again, someone had some kind of edge which got them the job.

Anyway I did’nt really come on here to moan about it, I wanted to say that the ‘Transition group’ were keen to start work on their project again and visuals went very well in the first session. This time when their attention started to wane in that run in to lunch we (my fellow practitioner Pete is back now) took them off for a game of table football and pool in the hall. Got my own back and found myself really playing table football as competitively as I could against boys in their early teens and beating them (you sad old man). I just spent £256 on spades, forks, rakes gloves and stuff, as the actuall physical work starts after half term. The planning stages last too long for them and digging is what they are itching to do.

I wonder how long that will last?

We will putting up a display of our models and design work in the school for the wider school to see. Hopefully a gardening club will be formed as we know there are teachers willing to commit to it. The plan is to show the school this is real and use the display as a platform to recruit potential gardeners.

Incidentally the transition group are very keen to show the school what they have done, but their behaviour still descends into chaos even though they are commited to it? Fliers, logos and sheets for garden club members to write their names on are being produced by these pupils.

Meltdown.

I am switching to my garden project now. We (The Transition Group) spent half a morning making models of our garden which we will display to the wider school community.

While we worked I heard comments like ‘this is the best lesson I have ever had’.

‘I cant believe I am using a KNIFE in school’.

‘Can we do this tommorrow as well’.

Half an hour after this the teachers are timetabled for other classes and I am left with only teaching assistants till lunch time.

Have you ever seen the riot scene in Porridge with Ronnie Barker? Well this was the same on a smaller scale. Total anarchy and clay, plastercine and balsa wood flying around. The head teacher was called to stop the riot. This arrested the riot, but disgruntalled and abusive behaviour continued for some while. Detentions at lunch and after school resulted.

One boy (unmedicated ADHD) has never reached the afternoon sessions. He is withdrawn from the project every week at lunch time. Every time after school he comes up to me and appologises for disrupting my lessons and holds his head down in shame. Its like listening to an alchoholic saying ‘I’m off the sauce’.

Discovering Malawi.

We had 10 sheets 8×4 plywood delivered to the school!

Some 2×2 and corrugated sheeting and the artist brought some power tools.

We are making a replica school about the size of a garden shed.

In groups of four we cut our boards to size. We had to work outside because we have no room inside.

We measured and cut using a circular saw and a jig saw.

And then we used cordless drills and power screw drivers to fix the boards together.

In lessons we have been writing our own stories based on stories from Malawi.

I was surprised when my friend who hates literacy made a book at home of a story from Malawi.

The artist says that if we all write a story and a make a book for it he will make a book shelf inside the replica school for all the books.

He also says that the drums and the musical instruments we are going to make can have a rack hanging from the ceiling like the ones in kitchens and we can hang our instruments from them as well.

He says he will buy some blackboard paint and make a blackboard inside.

We are going to paint bricks on the outside and stories and landscapes on the inside.

We are making some batik on material to make some curtains.

My teacher says 3 people in my class who can’t write very well have written Malawi stories well above the standards they usually reach.

Next week we will make the other side of the replica school and prime the boards ready for painting with 3 in 1 primer. We may even start making the roof as well.

The artist says that the paints we have are rubbish. He says that blue and yellow make green. But our paints make brown. He says don’t worry about that he will buy some proper paint for us.

We have people in our class with ADHD who keep interrupting and getting up and going off to do stupid stuff.

And I left my gloves out there.