Gifts and Occupations – August 2009 Residency

Last night i had a beautiful walk through the campus. It was just before midnight, and i had been out for dinner, i’ve got accommodation on campus here but its the first time i’d wandered around after dark. I couldnt believe how many stars were visible so close to london – and the atmosphere of the place was totally changed. A country girl, i have always loved night time walks, and passing the grand Grove House with its kept gardens was a real treat.

Had a great chat with Jo, the subject leader here, and talked her through my ideas (too many, as usual…). I’ve weeded out the boring ones, the over ambitious ones, and decided to focus on a main installation piece, as well as a couple of 2D studies – some pieces to fill the corridor leading to the department. Another piece we both thought could work really well may have to be scapped as i cant find quite the right location for it… i need a really high ceiling and they seem to be lacking around the college. Next step is to get clearance about the installation piece from the principle, but i have a backup plan if not.

My focus with these pieces will be paper folding and embroidery. I’ve just calculated thati should be able to get 555 tiles – this morning i plan to test how long that will take. I’m curious to see how i will cope with such a large amount of repetitive manipulation… the embroidered pieces may function to keep me sane when i just cant look at another piece of paper. This blog will help too i think…. i’ll be recording the whole process…!

Spent all evening, and all of this morning drawing lines. I am now certain that i have a highly addictive personality. Froebels occupations are said to be activities that have sense, purpose and meaning to the child, and involve joy, wonder, concentration, unity and satisfaction. I certainly agree with the concentration and satisfaction part, starngely enough…

The focus of my attentions has been the reproduction of some really interesting diagrams i found in a picture of Pestalozzis classroom. Pestalozzi was a pioneering teacher from whom Froebel took much inspiration. The diagrams seem to look at geometry, mulipication, division of space and alignment within an area. I cant find any other records of them on the internet, or in any other book.

This afternoon i’m heading into town to get some materials and get cracking with some more making. Embroidery will be my focus for a day or two i think… it seems to encompas the era, concentration, and delicacy, that i’ve found so appealing.

I’m back at the college, and upon walking into the studio have been treated to a fantastic performance by the overhead flourescent lights… its still tinkling away now, as i type. I wish i’d recorded it in some way, but i feel that by the time you’ve rushed to set up a camera or recorder, you’ve missed out on experiencing it yourself.

So i’m sat here reunited with my laptop, listening to the fluttering jingle above me, and pattering away on the shiny white keyboard (i spilt tea on the last one which is why i had to send it off for repair).

Returning to the college after a weekend away, i am far more aware of the emptiness of the place. I almost feel like an intruder, like its not my place and i’m tresspassing, careful not to make too many sudden movements incase someone is alerted to my presence. Of course i’ve done the usual curious investigations, opening cupboards and making my mark on the white board, and although it has felt more safe as the week went on, i feel as thought there is something missing. One comment that a staff member made to me before the college closed down for the summer was how their department and work focused so much on children, yet their presence was distinctly missed. Althought the studio is far from being a kindergarten, there are so many elements within it that are most likely found within one. The smell of poster paint, the clearly labeled plastic drawers, primary coloured furniture, pipe cleaners and pva gluepots…

Now theres not even any students here, let alone children, and i cant help but think how nice it would have been to experienced the college buzzing with life. But then this is probably quite a priviliged position to be in – enjoying such a beautiful campus and having it almost to myself.

Theres a nursery on campus and i’m trying to get in to take some sound recordings… i have a few pieces that i’d love to do but not sure about time and availablility of equipment with only 3 weeks left. I’m definately looking to include a sound element witin the work.

Whatever i create here will not only be influenced by the research i’ve been doing into Froebel, but also on my sudden solitude. Last week, without any form of entertainment, i obsessively folded paper – a Froebel ‘occupation’. The meditative and mudane nature of it was actually rather satisfying, and certainly killed time. The challenge in folding the top layers of the same folded form over and over, to create differnet aesthetics was actually quite challenging and gave me time to think. It was the first time i understood Froebels idea that such activities could show one ‘unity and diversity’, a ‘sense of time’ and provide ‘self-awareness’.

According to Froebel: “to give the child a ball to play with is to guard himself against ill-humour and all the moral evils of which it is the root. It also protects him from his own desires and passions…”

Well, i’ve arrived in the countryside after 3 and a half hot hours in the car… wading through the boxes that have taken over my old bedroom in my parents house, i came across a “Book of Knowledge” something i picked up last year in Notting Hill Book exchange (i’ve spent many hours in thier 50p bargain basement). Flicking through it to brush up for the village pub quiz on sunday, i thought back to the ‘general knowledge’ classes at the stuffy primary school i attended. Their teaching methods were a far cry from those promoted by Froebel, with dictation and copying vast texts being their most imaginative way to force knowledge into our brains. Judging by our performance at the last pub quiz, it certainly didnt prove to be a very effective method.

The way Froebel taught is in a sense how i have come to learn as an artist, how materials react, can be manipulated, and how to investigate an idea, show my concepts through form and function. I feel very drawn, not only to his theories, but to the ‘gifts’ Froebel created. Their simplicity and tactility really appeal to me and i cant quite get them out of my head. So many of today’s childhoods are filled with fancy, branded, plastic toys that inevitably break the minute they are really played with, and there is truth in the thought that children are usually more interested in the box the gift comes in. I guess thats because its almost a blank canvas – it can become anything, a car, a boat, an aeroplane, a lab for making potions in, or simply a secret fort. Its the imagination that is pleased by a simple box. There in little room for creativity with a Spykee Micro Bot thing….