Alternative DisplayThe potential of unique surface choices

in the exhibition of children’s art. George Fisher/VREC

My own ideas have been changed.

– In my own work, it is the act of creating art that is important, and after the piece of art has been made it ceases to have much relevance. Yes, the art-making process itself is cathartic. It brings relief in the form of en-masse release of pent-up creative impulses.

– But, I am also a teacher, so display methods for the students work have been pushed to the fore of my considerations.

I’ve long been weary of the black frame, white mat, centered at 60 inches, each work equidistant from the other way of hanging a show that I learned as an art student.

Kids have the ability to think in new ways unrelated to our formal ideas about gallery display. Children’s ideas about display can be more fertile than

established display norms. They generally look away from convention, and have outsiders’ unfettered perspectives on

forms of display.

Dirty Car Art GalleryScott Wade, 2006

http://www.dirtycarart.com/gallery/index.htm

•

More of Scott Wade’s work

http://www.dirtycarart.com/gallery/index.htm

Student InvolvementIf the students have a hand in the mounting of and the display of work, they will take ownership of it. Even if there are limited possibilities for standard locations regarding displays outside the art room, it should be our duty to at least give students some choices. Their decisions can be arrived at democratically, by voting.

Places of Display The kids want to have something on their doors, and most parents will let them decorate the door to their room. Will we? Perhaps we should consider decorated doors as “door canvases, on which souvenirs from fast-food restaurants, family photos, and concert ticket stubs are playfully arranged…the door is constantly worked on; its messages to the family keep changing” (Szekely, 2001, p. 21). The privilege of decorating the art room door should at times be awarded to the students.

Toronto TransitThis collection of drawings, entitled �Tricked Out TTC” was created by students from Oasis Alternative Secondary School and West End Alternative Secondary

School. An exhibit featuring images of an advertising-free TTC is on display from today until Sunday at XPACE Gallery at 303 Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market.

A possible door display

http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/data/200601050100.shtml

Other Places

• Walls - provide the most space• Windows - sills and the panes themselves are good for translucent

and transparent objects because of sunlight• Ceilings - things can be hung from tile dividers and/or netting can be

installed to hold things. Tiles can be painted. • Floor - has a lot of unexplored possibilities, can be painted upon if

okayed by administration, can be roped off to make the space “for kids only”

• Trees - are custom made for hanging items from• Columns - have similar outcomes in comparison with displays in trees• Fences - Can be viewed as a less static “wall” space• Abandoned buildings - with restrictions• Sidewalks and streets - similar to floors, but as with all outdoor

display, items on display should either be disposable or weatherproof

Heidelberg Project, Animals Hung in Tree

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.heimat-erde.de/extrem/detroit/bilder/hdkermittree.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.heimat-erde

.de/extrem/detroit/exdetroit_h01.htm&h=300&w=443&sz=18&hl=en&start=47&um=1&tbnid=9RJTa_hRAh9fNM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=127&prev=/images

%3Fq%3DHeidelberg%2BProject%26start%3D40%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dstrict%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

Let’s not forget furniture!

• http://www.murals4u.com/furniture1.html

FurnitureAll kinds of furniture can be utilized for display, including t.v.’s, bookshelves, cabinets, and on and on. Boxes and crates also can figure prominently in the display of items. Sometimes kids will create a “scenario” for a pet. Envision a hamster with a display of figurines and toys grouped around his cage. This is a way of arranging “dominant themes organized as artworks around the personal concerns of the artist” (Szekely, 2001, p. 23).

Carry-around displaysSome displays can be deemed portable – made to travel easily from one place to another. Hot Wheels cases or some of the Barbie cases come to mind. Children could make portable display cases without much difficulty. Cardboard or wood or even a transformed “found” box can fill the bill. They could become the “Cornell Boxes” of the 21st century.

Postmodernism? Yes!Are these “groupings” that children

indulge in to be defined as art? It is for the same reason that maybe Duchamp figures to be more influential than other of his contemporaries (subjectively)? Ready-mades from mass production make it easy for us to collect, hence the popularity of the figurines and trinkets we collect these days. Yes, it’s true that a lot of stuff the kids will display is mass-produced. They all have a lot of the same stuff, but it’s in their arrangements of the items that elevates their displays to original art levels (Szeleky,2001). Lets just call each display of different items a combine – a la Raushenberg. And remember, we’re supposed to have an inclusive total view of all art, not just the black frame/white mat kind.

Unique Exhibitions

• Maryland Newsline, Mural Fever

• http://www.newsline.umd.edu/etcetera/murals/muralpage1.htm

More Heidelberg Project Work

Heidelberg Project, established by Tyree Guyton, 1986, Detroit, MIAll at http://www.agilitynut.com/h/heidelberg.html

recycled buses

http://detroityes.com/art/16heidelberg5.htm

The city (Detroit)declared the Heidelberg project an eyesore, and dismantled part of it in 1999. It had been conceived by Tyree

Guyton, and consisted of found objects strategically placed around both occupied and abandoned buildings. Some objects were hung in/adhered to trees. The buildings and other parts of the scenery

were painted in a mostly polka-dotted motif.

http://www.thisnext.com/media/230x230/More-Art-for-the-Floor-kewl_813DC71F.jpg

Carpet can sometimes be floor art.

Floor lightshowhttp://cache.viewimages.com/xc/52446027.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2

&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193CC300C081D9F47009A389AB24635D626647233FC966B2051A55A1E4F32AD3138

Proposed Plans The children will be asked how they wish

to mount their work for display. They will be given the chance to do the mounting themselves with my assistance as needed. The students can try a display area besides the usual bulletin boards and hallway walls. This display area will be on the floor. It will be roped off and no adults will be allowed to enter (besides me). The display will consist of school-approved items the students bring from home or make at school.

It is important for us to give children a chance to display on as many different surfaces as possible. With limited space for display at our school, it is probably pragmatic to attempt some outdoor displays in trees or woods, and possibly on fences too.

SchedulingTo organize such displays, a rotating

curation schedule should be created. A day during a class period could be assigned to the student curator in which with the help of a student assistant and the teacher (if needed), the curator could set up the display. The display could stay up two weeks before another student gets a chance to curate. If there is more than one possible display location, then even more students can immediately become involved.What do kids have to say?

As educators, we need to know what kids are interested in: what makes them “tick.” If we provide a forum and sufficient freedom for their ideas to find expression, we will gain knowledge about their ideas and the interests they have.

Children’s immediate interestsIf the connection to our students is to be a strong, fundamental one, we need to stay abreast of their customs and interests. To a child, the past and future do not have quite the value that right now does. This immediacy is of greatest value to a child because he/she has the need to develop foresight. Our listening and recognition needs to be directed to them. Let’s give them a chance by letting girls and boys create art displays.

References

Szekely, G., (author), Dalton, R., & Zuk, B. (Eds.) (2001). Student Art Exhibitions - New Ideas and Approaches. Reston, VA.: The National Art Education Association.

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