Well, i’ve been shown up by a 12 year old. A very mature and intellegent one its true, but nonetheless… she managed to fold a totally different variation of Froebels form and it looks great. But in my defense its quite elaborate, and i’m nott too sure about how many i could fold!
But i’m half way through. 240 to go. The pressing is slowing things down as i want to leave them for at least 24 hours, and they’re piling up, making a mess of my ‘system’.
Got some more great audio from the nursery, and took a break to go to yoga. I’m finding that although each process ahs a meditative effect, variation is definately the key.
Oh, and i’ve discovered TED – a website with hundred of lectures and speaches – i’ve had it on all morning. There are some really great ones – Gever Tulley talking about his ‘tinkering school’ where children are free to pay with hammers and nails and any material you can think of….Ken Robinson about schools killing creativity… Tim Brown talking abot creativity and play…. definately recommend it.
Well, time to get on with some cross stitch….
Spent some time experimenting – gluing the paper folds down to reduce them springing open just seems to deaden them – i’ve found a great press inthe studio and it seems to be doing the trick – the paper tiles come out flattened but with some life in them, so i’m pleased with that. Reminds me of pressing flowers especially as ive also resorted to sliding each piece into a book before transfereing them to the press. Theres such a romance withing pressing flowers – as if they have just been frozen in time and transformed into delicate and fragile scraps of paper.
The studio has turned into quite a production line – one table has the series of different foldings, another the cut paper – another i take the 10 pieces and fold them into identical pieces, before moving them to the press. I’ve started laying out the finished pieces on another table, and am quite pleased so far.
Yesterday, i researched the audio element – i’m going to use 8 small mylar speakers and wire them to a speaker splitter box, to which i can connect a small amp, power source and output jack, so it can be simply connected to a hifi or mp3 player. Fingers crossed it’ll work – the parts will arrive on monday…
This morning i visited the nursery – such a lovely place! The kids were great, and although i was trying not to disturb them too much – just set up my recorder and leave them to it – they all came up and asked my name, showed me their pictures and asked me to read stories. As much as i would have liked to, i had to get back for a meeting, but maybe i’ll be able to pop back in again tomorrow.
While the kids ate lunch, i collected my recorder, and took it back to listen to as i ate my own picnic in the sun. It was quite fascinating listening to the children at play without being there – at one point a group are playing families, really quite convincingly – i suppose we always forget how much children absorb from their environments. The sounds combined with the original sources as the children passed me on their walk to the ‘forest school’, an outdoor classroom set up in the grounds. Got some great audio, definately something to work with, and will take some more tomorrow.
Got back to the college last night, really ready for a productive week. Spent a little time organising in the morning, then laid out all the pages from the book of knowledge, cut them to the right sizes and put them into piles to start folding. I now have 40 variations of the basic form, so with 12 of each and a few spares, i should have nearly 500 by the time i finish (half what i had extimated before, but plenty i think!)
Going to try and start getting the audio element sorted tomorrow by experimenting with some small speakers. Unfortunately my electronics skills arent quite past the beginners stage yet, but i’ll give it a go…
Folding paper the other night, one of my new flat mates saw what i was doing and, being japanese, started showing me some of her oragami skills. Certainly put mine to shame, and within seconds had knocked out a ‘crane’. She told me that when someone is sick, the tradition is to fold a thousand of these cranes, to encourage their recovery. Ive also heard that the folder of the thousand cranes is granted a wish – i wonder if i will get such good luck from this project?!
Despite the tender fingers and aching neck, i am gaining a sense of satisfaction from each small milestone i reach… i’ve finished my “beauty” cross-stitch and started the “knowledge”, “life” turned into something else, so will be starting that one fresh again another day. Not sure if i’ll finish them, but its nice to change tasks occasionally. Embroidery will be my night job and folding my day.
I was talking to someone at the weekend, who, as a teaching assistant, had to cover a few weeks of art lessons a while back. Despite the initial dread,she said she found it really enjoyable, was able to switch off and get into a simple task (it was a primary class). I suppose that is what is happening for me. Its highly meditative, and i find myself thinking, “right, i’ll stop i a minute” but then find myself continuing for another hour….
I’m back in the countryside. Last night i walked to my parents house from the local pub, a journey of about 10 minutes along a dirt track lane, sheltered by huge trees, and, with the distinct lack of a moon, no lighting whatsoever. Its one on my most favorite walks. Especially when its so dark you may as well have your eyes closed. Its a scary but quite liberating feeling navigating purely by instinct and what you feel beneath your feet. I have been walking that track for 14 years – not so much in the last 5, but nevertheless it still feels very familiar, and i have only once ended up in the hedge (due to a slightly longer session in the pub than usual). When its that dark the atmosphere is thick – like a black fog all around you. Your heart beats like hell and it feels wonderful.
The other walk i love is when its been raining, and the lane fills with water, leaving a narrow path down the middle that is slightly raised. The puddles down this lane seem to be better than most, and it really does feel like there is another world within them, like through the looking glass. When i was little i was really quite scared of falling off the path and plummetting into this upsidedown universe. When the jump was finally made, the alternate world was forgotton in the pleasures of kicking up the water and drenching oneself.
But back to work. Ive been think about how to encorporate the whispering effect that i want within my paper paracites… I want a really simple circuit that can just be connected to a cd player and turned on and off easily in my absense. I have a meeting with the principle on wednesday to talk about the final location and timing of the piece, so cant finalise anything until then. So for now i will be forlding paper and cross stitching….!
I’m hoping to get into the nursery on monday to take recordings of the children at play for the piece. My consent letter was sent to the parents this week, and i’ve already had a call from one mother, agreeing to the use of her son’s “sound” – its encouraging to hear people are intereted in the project, but i also feel a certain amount of pressure to deliver the interesting piece at the end! Not only self-indulgence any more…
Despite the satisfaction i feel for finally getting into some making again – i must say i’m suffering slightly – i really have done some hard core cross stitch today… as a result my fingers resemble pin cusions and my eyes are a little fuzzy…
Last night i treated myself to a few hours of paper folding – it really is great to get started but i think the next few weeks will certainly be a challenge – but that was what i was after so no complaints. I have found that i can actually get 3 tiles from each page, which means a potential 832 pieces within the installation. Last night i finished 42. Only 790 to go…
Doing these repetitive occupations has given me the chance to catch up on the news – radio 4 has been on all day and i feel rather educated on topics such as the osprey population and how to claim lost premium bonds. So Froebels justification that these tasks were the path to knowlege are proving true so far – although i’m not sure he would have agreed on my methods. I chose cross stitch rather than the geometric embroidery he encouraged as i felt it was something he was fighting against in Victorian society – the idea that children and women should be kept quiet and busy with this kind of occupation. In fact, needlework was one of the main parts of female education – even in my own primary school, rather than more intellectual subjects. By the 19th century, samplers were well established as vehicles for religious instruction, geography, English and mathematics. School girls produced needlework exercises of almanacs, mathematical tables and maps, as well as numbers and letters. Froebel hated this kind of education – copying facts from books and repeating dictated passages. His type of embroidery was far more expressive and free. I hope to be exploring this contrast within the pieces.
