Guided Tour
Intrigued, surprised, perplexed and very much inspired are some words to describe the tour. Initially, as eyebrows dipped to grasp the concept of contemporary art the open mindedness of the group allowed the students to think outside their normal parameters of what they perceived to be Art.
Some of the students had seen Sara’s work and had already started to question what it was. ‘Is someone trying to escape to an island’ (Jordan)? ‘Is it a den in a tree that has been flooded’ (Richard)? ‘Is it where people live in Africa’(Ben). ‘Perhaps it’s an immigrants house’ (Jamie). ‘I wouldn’t think of it as art as it is made from scraps of wood’(Rebecca).
After an explanation of the work many related it to a recent devastating fire in which their school burnt to the ground on March 18th 2006. After learning about this work the group is considering a future project made from some of the debris material left from the fire.
Torsten’s work was very much enjoyed as a few pupils started jigging when viewing. ‘There’s a beat, it’s awesome it’s obviously something to do with music.’(Keelan). ‘I’m trying to find where different sounds are coming from’(Katie). ‘You don’t know what’s making what noise’ (Ben), ‘It’s a musical masterpiece’(Rhys).
On viewing Niamh’s sculptural mural, general comments were, ‘it looks American, is it something to do with war’. ‘Is the sun a Japanese Flag symbol’?
There were many comments upon Milena’s work. ‘We use to draw like this in primary school’ (Ben). ‘Is it to do with slavery’(Jamie)? ‘Under developed countries can produce thing at a cheaper cost’(Richard).
‘Does the artist get her inspiration from children’s drawings and doodles etc’(Ben).
‘Is it influenced by video games and films’(Jordan).
At the end of the tour the group were asked what they thought or the tour? ‘We got to see different types of art’. ‘I normally think of art as drawing and painting but this exhibition makes you think differently’. ‘ It helps you to think about different ideas’. ‘Some of the work was strange but it was cool’. ‘It was unusual, it was new, it was inspiring’. ‘It was way better than any other art trips’ (Joelle).
Looking at Niamh McCann’s mural on the back of the Dylan Thomas Theatre
Looking at Sara Rees’s floating sculpture in Swansea Marina
Watching Rhona Byrne’s film in St. Mary’s Church
Artworks
On arrival, it was obvious that the students had been thinking about various ideas based on the concept of Locws 3 and it’s site-specific work. Their work ranged from graffiti, sound, video and installation, using a variety of inspirations from the Locws artists and also reacting to a tragic fire, which took place in their school last year.
Graffitti was applied to areas of walls, a classroom was made from scavenged materials and a video was made within the derelict site: a burning book with violin music recalling the memory of the old school.
The students clearly enjoyed the work that they produced and said, ‘We would like to do the project on a bigger scale somewhere in Swansea as we really like the way the graffiti can tell a story’(Ben).
‘It showed us lots of different types of art’, (Richard).
‘It was a really good experience’, (Rees).
Graffitti of the burning school
The video of a burning book with violin music recalling the memory of the old school
The classroom made from scavenged materials on the site of the old school
The classroom made from scavenged materials