Guided Tour
After the initial introduction the group concentrated on unravelling the meanings behind Rhona Byrne’s work at St. Mary’s Church. ‘We see the contrast between the beach and the built up area’ (Luke). Michael says, ‘you get to see Swansea from a different perspective because it’s high above’ . ‘The film seems to be focusing on the church which is old and the new buildings that surround it’ , (Josh). ‘ The cross on the altar was as though ‘x’ marks the spot there’s also a cross on the runway and the plane is the shape of an x’ (Laura). The situation of the work in the back room between the windows seemed appropriate to Mike as he commented on the fact that they were both linked to a space looking from the sky.
The initial reactions to Torsten’s work were, ‘wow its cool’, ‘sounds like music’ (Polly), ‘it sounds like percussion’ (Ben). It brought up questions about Art in general, ‘this piece shows that art can be different, it’s very expressive’ (Michael), who responded by body popping, which seemed to provide great potential for a performance piece of his own. Michael couldn’t believe the amount of wiring involved and was intrigued on how it worked.
Many pupils had seen Sara Rees’ work prior to the tour and questions arose such as, ‘Is it to do with poverty?’ ‘Is it about someone who has lived on an island?’ ‘ There seems to be a contrast with the expensive boats surrounding the shack’ (Jack, Michael, James). An interesting comment from Polly, ‘things don’t matter what they look like from the outside it’s the inside that counts’.
Niamh’s sculptural mural was viewed as the background being a map, polluted air, the earth heating up and birds scavenging on the lookout for food. ‘The red sun being associated with Japan’, ‘Is the background a cloud or a country?’ (Michael, Luke, Polly).
Generally the pupils were very inspired by the work they saw in Locws 3 and look forward to giving a response to this artwork. Their teacher was very impressed with how open minded and engaged the pupils were towards contemporary art.
Looking at Niamh McCann’s mural on the back of the Dylan Thomas Theatre
Watching Rhona Byrne’s film at St. Mary’s Church
Looking at Sara Rees’s sculpture in Swansea Marina
Artworks
Some interesting concepts were put into practise when I visited the school. Some students being inspired by a mix of Rebecca Gould’s performance with Torsten Lauchman’s mechanical Orchestra and others inspired by Sara Rees’ work in Swansea Marina.
Inspired by Niamh McCann, Polly created a mural around a corner, which was a graphic version of The Worm’s head and Ospreys. ‘ I really, really enjoyed it, it was fun painting a wall’.
The group inspired by Sara Rees were prepared for some hands on physical work deconstructing creates and reconstructing Artworks – resulting in houses from the future.
Another group creating a video piece of mechanical bodies using mechanical tools – an extension of the hybrid. The boys body popping skills proving the main performance of the work. ‘ I had a really fantastic time. I enjoyed being a robot. It was different to everyday school life’, said Mike.
The students were very much engaged in the Artworks that they produced and showed utmost enthusiasm during the making process being very pleased with the results.
‘Thank you more than anything! I mean that, it’s much better than staying in lessons’, said Michael.
A house from the future
Another of the houses from the future being built
Another of the houses from the future
One of the mechanical bodies using mechanical tools: Click here to watch the film