Click these little arrows to the left and right of this sentence to scroll through the participatory still art.
For many sessions, I prepared the space with books, magazines, plain paper, scissors, markers, and glue,
and we would sit together and make our own creations. Everyone's work provoked me to think deeply.
A child was asked by her mum what Ms. Wrenne's job at the school was.
The child replied, "Her job is to make people happy."
Another child within earshot added, "and she calms them down."
My observation is that feelings of peace and happiness
arise when we are participating together in a
creative process that is child led.
This is a piece of my own research on "Imaginary Granny",
a fictional character I am creating, who is my future self.
The backdrop of this piece came from a primary school
session where we tried asemic writing. I first tried asemic writing
with an Experimental Performance mentor, Andrew Ingamells.
This inspired me to try it with the children. Equally, the experiences
that I share with the children deeply influence my personal creative projects.
I am interested to see how the cross pollination of the two environments will
inform how my work moves forward.
OMG. The band named themselves Cobra Chickens and wrote their first song, "Karma".
We recorded it and put it on Spotify. I made them a music video.
I can get you their autograph.
One day, a child spontaneously created a brand for our sessions
when she was drawing on the white board.
Her
feedback
taught me what
it was that
we were doing
there.
The band members showed this video to the school at assembly.
They each gave a speech to describe what they learned
from being in a band:
Teamwork, collaboration, patience, friendship.
The singer said, "Cobra Chickens is more than a band.
It's like a small community. It's a place I can go to sing,
which is what I love to do."
That's all I ever want: a community and a place to go
where I can do what I love.
I wrote a school song that highlighted the School Motto and Values.
I engineered a session for the children to sing on the record,
which I co-produced with Johnny Tomlinson. I made them a
music video that they sing along with in their morning assemblies.
On a tech day, someone (age 8) made this short film
featuring their photography, voice, and computer graphics.
I approach my work with the children as Participatory Art.
The official school paperwork states that I am a "Theraputic Support Worker
who delivers art therapy, music therapy, physical fitness, yoga and mindfulness
sessions to groups of vulnerable children identified by class teachers."
I try and create opportunities to be creative and expressive,
taking a child led approach as much as possible.
The process of playing together is more imporant to me
than the sound it makes. I'm not there to teach them music.
I'm there to make music with them.
I am participating in my own dialogue with my
inner child when I am sharing the space with children.
We travel through this life together.
They follow
me, but
they are
my teachers.
Overstimulation regularly causes this child to lose the ability
to regulate her emotions.
We calm down by playing the piano together.
I can hear she is musical and gravitates towards
matching finger shapes and rhythms with me.
We often improvise like this for 10 minutes at a time.