What is the role of the arts when the lived experiences of youth are cultivated in war, violence, trauma, and influenced by images and policy that dictate which populations or groups of people are valued- which are entitled to be alive, safe, free, educated, healthy, prosperous …. ?
Your Utopia, My Dystopia. Graffiti, London, UK by Laser.
The Youth Project
We know that children and youth have the capacity to express hopes for their world and to effect change. To that end, the ArtsAction Group: Kosovo Collective designed two arts experiences, one for youth and one for children with our partners at Fellbach Haus Centre for Creative Education in Theranda-Suhareka, Kosovo.
Critical Questions:
"Where do you see utopia? Where do you see dystopia? and "Where are those spaces between the two?"
The youth expressed responses to these questions through a series of making activities including painting, drawing, and interactive media bringing together sound, sensors, circuit building, 3D printing and projection.
A range of artist/artists collectives that reflect the theme Utopia/Dystopia were shared with the youth.
The sculpture of the angel in the background is Tom Frantzen's New St Michel (Patron Saint of Brussels).
We wanted to share a diversity of work across concepts, materials, and time periods, being thoughtful about working with artists/art history from the region.
We also included work such as Bot & Dolly's BOX, art that conceptually explores the illusionary or magic through new media. The five principles of magic explored in this piece can be symbolically linked to the theme Utopia/Dystopia: transformation, levitation, intersection, teleportation, and escape.
Frederico Muelas and Terry Dane's Sonic Graphite 2B (SG2B) was a primary inspiration with regard to building interactivity into the work.
We spent time talking about utopia/dystopia in relation to the artwork shared, as well as the youths' responses to the 3 questions in relation to their own lived experiences, wishes, fears, and desires. Taking the time for this kind of exploration and reflection on big ideas and other artists' work is critical to our process.
Once the students talked through and sketched out initial ideas, they began working on large-scale graphite drawings, made interactive with Bare Conductive Touchboards.
At the same time we demonstrated how to work with the technology. The youth starting thinking about what sounds they wanted as part of their drawings and where they would embed them in the artwork.
This year we were joined by Barrie Maguire, a music producer, musician and teaching artist based in Philadelphia, PA, USA. We love this video as it captures that aha moment when a learner makes a new connection.
As another entry point into understanding the technology behind the microprocessors, we experimented with breadboarding and creating theremins using light sensors and graphite.
With the drawings completed and sound files prepared for upload to the Touchboards, it was time to create the circuits on each drawing. Some youth prepared circuits using graphite as the activation, others used conductive paint or copper wire.
While the theme and narratives expressed required serious contemplation and symbolic translations, there was also a lot of laughter and joy generated during the artmaking.
Each sound point is labeled on the finished artwork with post-its to help us navigate the wiring of the exhibition.
The installation got complicated. After running copper tape circuits from the microprocessor to all of the artwork, we discovered the wall paint was lead based. This meant that the microprocessor was short circuited. We decided to use plastic coated copper wire to construct the circuits.
3D Printing and Interactive Wallpaper
This year we also introduced 3D printing incorporated into an interactive digital wallpaper installation, inspired by the work of Cindy Maguire of AAG, and the work of artist and designer, Purin Phanichphant.
This was our first year working with the centre's Lulzbot 3D printer. Each youth chose a symbol taken from their Utopia/Dystopia drawing and brought it into photoshop to render it into a black and white 2D image. These these image files were converted into STL files using Selva3D. Each student's printed symbol became the content for our interactive wallpaper for the final exhibition.
Youth Interactive Drawings
Alliances, are about individuals, they are about love, they are about commitment and they are about responsibility. They are about concrete manifestations of our rebellious spirits and our sense of justice. They are about shared visions of a better society for all of us. Molina, 1990, p. 329.
The Children's Project
The central question for the children was
"What's your secret superpower?"
By focusing on imagination, we validate the need of every child to dream big and feel important. By creating and sharing art about superpower/superhero dreams we invite children to consider what they value and even, thinking into the future, how they might make choices when in a position of power (Jaqueline Jules, Children's book author).
The Process
In the past we designed youth projects that brought together traditional studio art skills with contemporary art practices and emerging technologies. This year we introduced two new technologies to the children to explore technology and interactivity in artmaking with the Makey Makey and e-textiles.
Before engaging in the artmaking, each child decided what their superpower was and made a recording of their name and (not so) secret superpower with Barrie.
Next, the children started designing and embellishing a pair of pre-cut styrofoam hands provided by a donor. These hands were then wired to Makey Makeys to be 'played' at the final exhibition using Soundplant.
The children at work
The final hands
Bookmark Book Light Project
The e-textiles project was based on a lesson from the book, Sew Electric, a joint project between MIT researchers and the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) by Leah Buechley, Kanjun Qiu, Sonja de Boer, and Tayo Falase. The children worked with felt, LilyTiny LED lights, sewable battery holders and a range of materials to embellish their own bookmark book light.
E-textiles makes hidden technology visible and tangible. Some of the concepts explored included conductive materials, basic sewing skills, polarized components, and planning a basic circuit combined with personal imagery.
By working with sewing, a craft and skill with a long history in the region, combined with electronics, we found that the girls (and boys) were especially motivated to engage. They learned how to sew and design circuits along the way.
Final Exhibition
The young boy with the purple headphones is Malachi. He did a super job as our primary English to Albanian translator for the children's workshops.
Utopia/Dystopia video by Sasha Spare, AAG.