Wire Sculptures
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Two figures
The advantages of mesh and wire are that they are simple to use, only fingers and basic tools being necessary for its manipulation, and it is possible to make quite big pieces that are free-standing. The disadvantage of the material is its "transparency" which was accentuated by a purchasing error (the teacher responsable bought a wider mesh than ordered). This didn't bother some of the participants but a solution had to be found for those it did. A papier mâché solution was quickly abandoned because of the time factor. The children found a way themselves, wrapping or stuffing the forms with different materials (cloth, foam, aluminium foil etc.). As a result they made a surprising collection of mixed media objects.
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Figure
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A mouse
This was made by a group of three girls. Their leader had, it seems worked out what the technique was and what she wanted to do. It started life as a hedgehog, but, the leader realised time was getting short and the hedghog found itself shorn of its spines. The work was finished "on time". It was an extraordinary exhibition of a young lady managing a team and (her) project.
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Plant Forms
A project with primary school children using chicken wire to experiment with three dimensional form.
This project was part of “Art Week” in the Ange Guepin primary school in Nantes. This school is organized along the lines proposed by French educationalist Célestin Freinet. For Freinet school is a microcosm of society and the child is there not just to learn skills but to begin his life as a citizen. School life is structured around periods when the children are encouraged to express themselves and their opinions. The school rules are discussed in a democratically and peer mentoring and self-evaluation make up a part of the process. As the responsible exercise of choice is seen as fundamental, often a class will have several activities going on.
Art week was constructed along these lines. It was made up of different workshops and outside visits, led by teachers, parents and professionals and lasted 4 days (which gave us 8 sessions). The children chose from a list of activities and participated in either a morning or afternoon session (about 2 hours).
The objective was to give the children the opportunity to experiment with 3 dimensional form, using a technique other than one usually available, such as clay. No constraints were placed on them as to what they made. In all, about 80 children (from a population of 120) participated and most were happy with the result of their work.
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