Locws Schools 2008: Parklands Primary School

Guided Tour
Sixty pupils and extremely overcast skies were a slight concern as we viewed Jennie Savage’s installation. It was very interesting to see that the weather conditions changed the perspective of the onlooker.
Mina considered the work or view, which in this case is part of the piece, as depressing because “it’s a cold day and the colours are sad”. Emma’s viewpoint was, “it’s scary because the sea is so big and deep, there are lots of rocks and unknown fish beneath. It’s like being little inside something big”. Nathan seemed to be a lot more relaxed about the situation, “I could sit here forever watching the sea, it’s cool”, however when he was confronted with a strange sound from the headphones he said, “now I feel scared, scared”.
Many of the pupils thought that it took them to a different place and reminded them of “cool memories”. The pupils weren’t short of ideas as Aerin said it would be good to try to mimic sounds of the sea by using different materials. Other ideas were of murals with text relating to what other people in the class thought about the sea or the artwork. One pupil questioned, how was the installation art as the view was already there?
The weather held off as we walked along the promenade discussing some very exciting ideas for day two of the project.
Richard Higletts artwork, “A Song for Jack” once again gave the pupils a smile as it was viewed by all, huddled around the screen.
“This is something new, something different and original” said Luca. “Maybe the dogs are passionate about what they sing” Arefah said. “High- pitched sounds make me feel happy and low-pitched sounds make me feel sad” said Nathan. Ruby suggested that we could make our own dog costumes and hold a performance in school.
It was an interesting tour as the pupils had obviously had a total new experience about their perception of art and this made them think differently about what art was all about.

Listening to Jennie Savage’s audio soundtrack to the sea

Looking at Jennie Savage’s audio box

Looking at Richard Higlett’s ‘Canine Choir’ display at the National Waterfront Museum
Artworks
It was a treat to find, at Parklands Primary School, that the Year 6 pupils had voluntarily done some homework about their forthcoming projects. I arrived to see photographs, recordings and concepts ready for us to work with. We were off to a great start.
After discussion, we had worked out group projects with animations, large drawings, performance and slide shows. The children had really embraced the concept of contemporary art and we had some fun filled days working very hard in producing the work. Their classroom situation turned into a full-on workshop using a large variety of mediums. Some children worked with clay, making dogs story board, looking forward to editing, others making slide shows or costume for a performance piece.
‘This is real fun and exciting’, said Lucy-Anne. ‘I enjoyed using all of the different materials’, said Roberto. ‘I really enjoyed putting the sound onto the slide show’, said Sidhant. ‘I want to do this again. No I don’t want to do this again I need to do this again. It’s the funniest thing I’ve done this term’, said William.
Mair Lewis, Deputy Head of Parklands Primary School, said ‘Our project about ‘A song for Jack’ by Richard Higlett and the installation by Jennie Savage, was really enthralling. The children were captured by thinking through their responses. Researching the history of Swansea Jack drew in the children’s interest which gave rise to the connections they made to the performance of live dogs. What was really thrilling was their innovative ideas which entwined their work and their understanding of the two pieces of unusual art.
‘The children have thoroughly enjoyed and eagerly looked forward to the Project Day and working and sharing ideas with Mr Dave Marchant. To be truthful they are very sad (but very proud) to have completed this project. Many thanks for including us’.

The Parklands Primary School ‘Dog’ Choir


Making the costumes for the ‘Dog’ Choir


‘Working on one of the films

Drawing the dog choir concert at the National Waterfront Museum

Making the dog choir models