Developing Art that enhances play and out-of-doors learning.
- Jo Blatch
- Sep 3, 2017
- 3 min read
I was asked to work with students at my school to create a sculpture for a fledgling Sculpture Festival in our small town. The due date crept up on us right after the town's eisteddfod; a competition mainly supported by the schools in town.
Ah... the pressure of another extra-curricula activity when there are very few teachers to share the load.
But, in the spirit of community, and to try to make every opportunity count, I went into class, no guns blazing.
I thought I would ask the kids to come up with a plan we could execute in one day; that used old farm scraps I had in my shed; that met the brief of "Sound and Movement"; that would somehow become a large sculpture; that could potentially win $100.
A big ask, I know. But if you don't ask...
We googled sculptures made from poly pipe and off-cuts of ply wood. They dreamed big... things could hang down from a huge structure, things could spin, things could be tuned to play music like a xylophone. Things like this could require the assistance of an engineer and a person who knew how to use power tools and had lots of money to spend.
We got realistic and came up with a design that worked. It was good enough. In fact... it blew us all away!
The resulting sculpture, pictured below, was a collaboration of all the students in years 1- 6 and their teacher, me. They all contributed to its design, its decoration (house paint and coloured packing tape) but more interestingly, its new purpose.
What I learned when I waded into the impossible swamp that is community art projects was that they come to life when you let them just become.
During the chaos of hacksawing poly pipe, supervising painting and unsticking small fingers from tangles of packing tape, the pipes began to take on a life of their own.
Suddenly I could hear music...rhythms and sounds as the students banged, blew on and whacked the pipes.
Children became little old grannies with walking sticks.
Pirates viewed the playground ocean through telescopes. Students became yoked oxen pulling wagons.
Whilst I attempted to drill holes with a hole cutting saw on an electric drill that was embarrassingly set to reverse, (no wonder it took ten times longer than I expected), the pipes were claimed as tools for the imagination.
Did the sculpture meet the brief? You bet it did!
Did the students create a sculpture together? Yes, and way more than that.
Did we win the $100? Judging ends this afternoon. I'll let you know.
Here it sits in the grounds of the old town Hospital, between all of the other beautiful sculptures, with its Artist Statement explaining that, really, it's not about the competition.
The sculpture, now called "The Sound of Childhood", is about to become the star of a new playground initiative at our little school. It will be used by the children as a catalyst for imaginative and creative play, devised solely by them.
Soon other things will join it - milk crates, old tyres, piles of bark chips, wonders and treasures.
If we don't win the sculpture competition, nobody really cares.
We have won something far more valuable.
The return of fun and creativity.
Who knew that saying yes, when every fibre in your teacher's soul cries ,"Not another project!!!!!", could end up being so enriching?
Update- we didn’t win the prize. It was a people’s choice award. So when your school has 39 kids and the winning school has 600 well... but honestly, the kids haven’t even asked who won! The sculpture is now being used everyday in the playground. It’s become huge batons in a baton twirling parade, a giant interconnected whisper snake, a massive lasso to catch baddies. Who knows what next term will bring?
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