How can we exchange ideas and connect through mail?
How has life stayed the same even though lots of things have changed lately?
In late April and May, primary students explored their senses through material-based art experiments virtually with Amanda. Students will transcend digital modes of learning by creating and exchanging physical work in the form of mail art and responding to prompts that are given in exchange. Resulting work will be collected, curated and shared with the school community in a hallway installation in conversation with sense-based installations created by Alanna Ho and the intermediate students.
The intention is to shift our thinking about what can be art and to experience art creation in ways that are not necessarily vision-centred nor based on traditional methods of creating. Students will explore collaboration through exchanges of instructions, materials, ideas and images, mimicking ways that we exchange information digitally in a physical and tangible way. Digital glitches, frozen screens, and other technical considerations will become part of the materials that we work with.
The Covid-19 pandemic challenges us to give extra care and attention to our health and that of others:
Can we create a collective shared experience by just listening with our bodies?
How can youth continue to explore their senses and express their feelings in a safe and open-ended way? What are our limits on patience?
The goal of this year’s residency was to connect students with ways of noticing, particularly through mindful listening. From movement games to collaborative activities, the classes had a collage of experiences which challenged their senses and kept them on their feet. The grade fours travelled to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, train stations in Hamburg, and bustling street markets in Cambodia. They walked in the middle of highways, swam with communicating whales, and listened to high-heels militantly clack back and forth invigilating an exam. We then went outside to listen deeply and draw sound maps while the kindergarten class was playing on a nearby playground.
Students have been so affected in their social lives especially before school started in Fall, 2020, so it was fascinating to see how they connected their emotions with sound.
We also used simple circuits to create quick prototypes for sound-making machines. Using LittleBits Technology, scrap found objects, metal, wood, cardboard and objects brought from home, the students worked in groups to realize a whimsical sculpture––some whirring loudly, some subtly buzzing and some kling-klanging, breaking apart as they performed a sound.