Shibori Landscapes 2
Finally, Shibori Landscapes has been installed. The students who created the forty 3′ x 5′ long pieces strung and hung them this morning in the school courtyard. The weather was perfect for it and I’m sure they enjoyed being out of their classroom. The project referenced Christo and Jeanne-Claude with one idea that it would change the way the students and teachers perceived their school environment (or a part of it). It involved stringing the fabric along a clothesline, then pinning them in place so that they couldn’t shift. Dee had asked for faculty permission to access their windows so that we could tie the lines to them. Some cooperated and some did not so that some of our plans had to be altered. However, with the aid of an administrator and one IB coordinator, we got them up. Once up, the responses were immediate. Students and teachers who came into the courtyard remarked on and enjoyed it. It made them smile. They wanted to be under the pieces, lying on benches where they could look up at them, sit nearby or even wanted to have their pictures taken with them in the background. It was even a bit of a sensation from some surrounding classrooms. It’s a temporary “exhibition” so the pieces will hang for only a few days.
Tags: shibori landscapes, workshop
May 7, 2008 at 7:55 am
The installation looks beautiful billowing in the wind that way. It must have been a really positive experience for the students involved.
May 7, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I think it was and they found that there was more to it than just making them, there was some engineering involved. Also, all of the students in these particular classes are exhibiting and that’s a real source of pride for them.