I think artists are allergic to strong leadership, or anything overt? I am a bit averse to ideas of ‘strong leadership’, but wow…in my experience, the quality of leaders in schools is the defining factor. It has taken me a long time to accept how defining leadership is in schools. But every school has its own spirit, and you can feel it along with the leadership. You are outnumbered as a teacher, en masse. It is quite an intense thing to have hundreds of kids together, and in Auckland, it’s often thousands of kids in one place. My sense is there's probably no ideal school model. What is your sense of schools in Aotearoa, from your unique position as a welcomed outsider? Schools can be tough places for children and adults.
Though, I also feel the strain and hardship of these environments. We should have fun in the classroom making art, because it gets harder as you get on.Īs a teacher, I can really relate to the joy of young creative expression, which is so tied to an emerging sense of self. And also tricking them! Tricking them into having fun, into thinking that what we’re doing is not scary or difficult. But if I am taking centre stage, I am really pushing students to think-it's all about critically thinking (as the beautiful bell hooks said), going beyond the surface. I'm more like a teacher aide, I would say. Now, when you’re working with children, who are you in the classroom? How do you think the students make sense of the ‘artist’? I really enjoyed how that filled my day, but also how it allowed me to think about the world beyond the end of my driveway. Yeah, I am fearful that it is like that now, but I just remember making stuff. There are formulas, working to artist models and GCSE boards for instance. It sounds like you had some good art teachers?īecause in my experience of secondary school art, it can sometimes be quite prescriptive. And it was self-referential, so I could pull in what I wanted to. I really liked the way art allowed you to think, there was no right or wrong. I know it’s quite dramatic to speak this way, to say things saved me, but art saved me in school.
Artpaper windows Bluetooth#
The moon reference also appeared in the art room, perhaps helped by the playing of the Bruno Mars song Talking to the Moon on a bluetooth speaker. The title of the exhibition is taken from the opening line of a student’s monologue, Ashleigh Sinclair. The Moon was Talking is a dreamy title, how did it come to you? I learned a lot and still laugh at some of the performances the students produced that day with Manu. Thank you also to my friend Manu Vaea who visited Kelston Girls and shared their expertise and helped the students develop the monologues. The school allowed me to work across disciplines which really enriched the project, and as an artist, I felt privileged to sit and watch the work unfold. These pulled together all the different elements of our collaborative work, and I encouraged the students to relate these to their own lives and bodies. The portraits are drawn from monologues performed by the Year 11 English and Art students. You seem to be reaching for a creative synthesis or 'total art' with these teenagers. Can you tell me what they’re up to? The portraits reflect your own approach in the classroom, which involved writing, costume design, and performance. I like the incompleteness and the potential of it. It's not filled in-there are no mortgage repayments or heavy responsibilities. Also, it’s really fun to work with that time of life. For me, growing up in the ‘90s and going to Auckland Girls Grammar was such a formative time in my life. He’s the writer who wrote Mystic River and Irish American guys are always making his stories into films.Īnyway, he said this really cool thing: “you don't choose what makes you who you are, your family, your schools, your neighbourhood.” That's why I come back to these massive things in life that you can’t shift. What is it that has led you back here, and to an ongoing exploration of childhood?Įdith Amituanai: I found this quote from a friend of mine, do you know Dennis Lehane? It brings together fourteen student portraits that show these young people in an elaborate costume of their own making, alongside phrases or quotes from the encounters penned on the windows. Emil Sheffmann: Your current exhibition at Te Uru, The Moon was Talking, marks your second collaboration with highschool students.
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