Research and prep, plus DAY 2 - Quilling, origami, paper workshops

Research

-Paper

-Growth

-values

Stooping to encounter each work, the viewer is obliged to reimagine the nature of the receptacle: it’s changed from a passive to an active space. Each tree is painstakingly cut, its leaves and branches described with exceptional care, and each bag derives from a slightly different source (sometimes highend fashion boutiques, others Mc- Donald’s), which stages the tree’s connection to the natural world in divergent ways. At times, as in Golden Arch Parkway McDonald’s (Brown), the bag’s mellow ochre tones evoke autumnal shades; at others, such as LVMH Mark Jacobs, the black bag lends the tree a doomy and gothic aspect. Reversing the flow of industry from tree to paper, Teruya’s work has an environmental sensitivity that’s hard to miss. It’s also a poignant assertion of the role of the creative artist: as someone who finds meaning amid the morass of stuff we leave behind.

In relation to Russells Hall primary School's "values" theme and the use of paper to create flowers with intricate cutting skills, Yuken Teruya's work highlights the various ways paper can be manipulated and given new life, the painstaking approach to cutting and intricacy shows patience and perseverance, values covered within the theme. His work also considers a sense of respect and value for the earth through the recycling of old bags, and the depiction of trees all cut from paper. The varying stages of use and re-use etc. This is reflected by the childrens use of paper to create flowers.

Quilling workshop - Day 2

Starting with just two students, I gave an example of quilling.As this is quite a fiddly craft, we felt that it would be wise to attempt this with a small number first, to discover how the overall group may respond.One student, we will call him student A, needed very little direction, just a helping hand on occasion when things got too tricky. Student B struggled more apparently, so I payed particular attention to them , looking for new ways of making the task more simple. We increased the thickness of the paper strips, used a stronger glue, and made the overall piece a little bigger than originally planned. All this considered, Student B thoroughly enjoyed the task, and is eager to finish the work next session. Student A completed the piece, and is moving on to the next stage next week. The rest of the class, created flowers by folding and cutting paper. I showed some examples of intricate illustrative paper cut work, including pieces featured at the Saatchi Gallery created by Yuken Teruya. This gave them a new way of looking at the potential of something they took for granted as well as additional enthusiasm for the task ahead. Paper can be delicate and impressive.

After discussing the task with June, we have decided that the children would find simple paper cutting easier to deal with, and equally, we would struggle to support a whole class while they were attempting Quilling. 

After our next session, we began to display the flowers in the main entrance to the school.

These displays are fit for purpose, we considered the height, allowing children to read the display and writing. However, considering the next project will involve making dreamcatchers. I believe there is room for a more interesting means of presentation.