‘Stepping Out Into The Open’, Jim Grant
‘Stepping Out Into The Open’ explored how Shacklewell School’s inner city children responded to ideas of the ‘English Countryside’ both as a place to visit and as an idea represented in art.
The project was led by the school’s then Head of Art, Jim Grant. The Year 6 children involved in the project all came from very different ethnic and cultural backgrounds; yet all shared a great curiosity to understand how photography can be a vehicle to explore personal experience in relation to public knowledge and understanding of how artists have formed particular ideas of what the countryside around cities should look like and for whom. These ‘Landscapes’ formed the starting points from which the children learned about and responded to the different ways photography has been used by various artists.
Andy Goldsworthy, whose arrangements of found natural materials encouraged the children to develop ideas on how photography can represent nature as holding ‘powers’ of self healing and continuation. Through the photography of Leslie Thompson, the children explored how the countryside could be represented as an escape from modern urban life, and through the work of Ori Gersht they explored how the use of photography creates a sense of memory of a particular place in the landscape.
The children were encouraged to think about how they may re-tell their own stories to create their own personal ‘landscapes’. Most of the project was spent outside including wandering over Hampstead Heath and hiking in the woods of the Chilterns. It was inspiring to see the children attempting to understand the relationship between the real and the pictured and to be excited by things they could touch, smell, see and most importantly climb.
‘Stepping Out Into The Open’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).
The Project ran from April to September 2008.
‘Changing Forms’, Judy Price
Pupils from Shacklewell School worked with lead artist Judy Price to create images that explored ideas around transformation and alchemy. The starting point for ‘Changing Forms’ was an investigation into talismans, amulets and ideas around protection. A visit to the British Museum provoked and stimulated the pupils prior to making their own talismans from clay.
Following an introduction to a wide range of images by contemporary artists exploring transformation, the pupils went on to create their own images and narratives, exploring transformation and things they would like to protect. The children were asked to think about their hopes and desires for themselves, their families and the world at large and how an amulet or talisman might affect their dreams, desires and fantasies.
An important aspect of the project was opening up a space for the children’s imagination, fantasies, hopes and desires. The ideas ranged from a super hero or prophet-like figure bringing rain and food to deprived areas of the world, to children singing and breathing over one of their peers transforming her into a butterfly. One child explored animal-becoming while another found rest and respite in a shell from his family’s homeland in Montserrat. A Dream Catcher catches good dreams and wards off bad dreams for one child becoming her talisman and pink roses are given magical powers to bring back life to a sleeping girl in a project devised by two pupils.
‘Changing Forms’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).
The project ran from January to June 2007.
‘Footprint’, An Employee Engagement Project
‘Footprint’ was an employee engagement project with the Photography Department of Central St Martins. ‘Footprint’ explored the similarities and differences of film and digital photography, investigating the two mediums and different techniques through a series of lectures and three short projects. The lectures examined, amongst others, travel photography, composition and technique, fashion photography and Victorian photographic processes and pinhole cameras.
The first project explored the effect we have on the environment and how our actions affect others. The second project investigated marks, textures and movement through photography as a fine art medium, whereas the third project described a journey and looked at how, we and others, react in the same environment. This was also examined through looking for the mundane, which upon closer examination is found to be intriguing.
The overall aims of the projects were to provide an opportunity for inter-departmental interaction outside of the normal work environment while enhancing the participants’ general creative skills and technical competence. ‘Footprint’ provided the participants with guidance in taking photographs and generally encouraged their creativity and enthusiasm to continue to enjoy taking more and better images.
‘Footprint’ was commissioned by HS Projects and funded by Insight Investment.