Reflection: End of my Second Week at IS183

This past week's camp was "Site Specific Odyssey," and it was another 8-10 year old group. We talked about Land Art, made nature journals and projects based off of the "Spiral Jetty" (a massive land-art sculpture in Salt Lake City), and watched a movie about Andy Goldsworthy called "Rivers and Tides" (also all about land art that is never permanent). And we were lucky enough to dodge the rain all week! (Although it was really, really hot for a few days...)

At the end of this entry, I have attached photos of the final works, as well as a few "progress" photos of the kids working. The outdoor collaborative sculptures were my favorite part; it was so great to watch the kids work so well together, and with only the supplies they found in nature (plus a little string and wire)! It was also the coolest thing when the kids took the sculptures in entirely their own direction (which was most of the time!)

In addition, this week I was also lucky enough to work with a student ("C.") who has Autism. He had an aid, V., who came each day he attended our class this week. I talked with her at one point, at lunch, about lots of things associated with Autism; we talked a lot about just "seeing the world differently," and how it would be nice if there weren't "right and wrong" ways to see- just "different" ways... Because C. is so incredibly intelligent and absorbs so much from the world, but it's hard for him to relay it back to us because of the way he/his brain sees and makes connections. V. has worked with C. for about 3 years or more now, and she lives with his family so she knows C. really well. She is so humbled and amazed with how often he can surprise her with the profound connections he makes and voices (when he's comfortable to). C.'s comfort also seemed to be key; he worked really well, and really rapidly in class, when he appeared to be comfortable. And the rest of the class took well to including him in activities and helping him when he needed it (in addition to just giving him the space he needed)! It's so great to see how kids handle differences among each other, because often, until WE, as "adults," give them a reason to make distinctions between each other's differences, they usually don't feel like they are separate, superior to, or inferior to other kids.

A "nest/dome" sculpture made from sticks, birch bark, and string. Inside, one of the students also decided to sculpt with pine cones and other plants as an "interior decorator..."

Interior decorations of nest/dome

Progress on interior nest/dome decorations

 

Pine cones hanging above the area where the "Garden" will be

"Fairy/Garden Walkway" idea from the girls, next to the nest/dome: wildflowers

close-up of "Garden Heart"

Second stick sculpture, before it became a "Spider's Web"

"I know- we can use the string to make it like a giant spider's web! Then we can make wire spiders and bugs stuck in it!"

"Land Art" sign for our art show

nest/dome, finished on the day of the art show: hollow but completely contained space inside

indoor stick sculptures we made the day we watched "Rivers and Tides:" the day we thought was supposed to have rain...(but didn't!)

Check out our OWN "Spiral Jettys"! Made with brown craft paper, tissue paper, glue, and dirt/pebbles

Our nature journals we made on Monday and carried throughout the week (for observation sketches)

... Plus our "popcorn boxes" we made in ceramics class (boxes shaped like popcorn pieces, as a way to re-think something we've seen before- much, perhaps like re-contextualizing nature in Land Art?)