THE HALF-LIFE PROJECT

What happened

Week 1

Gallion School

In front of computer, Simon Faithfull opened the pupils' drawings and the group guessed what the drawings were of, following on from discussions of Simon's work in the gallery. The children had drawn different objects in their classroom, for example:

The whiteboard

The school logo printed on pupils' jumpers

 

 

The process of saving and sending drawings by email involves naming files. The children decided to give the images enigmatic names. For example, a drawing of a window blind with shadows on it was called 'shadow' and a wire bookstand was called 'Victorian wire'.

Shadow..............................Victorian Wire

The teacher had interpreted and modified the brief slightly during the week. He had had the pupils sketch in pencil and charcoal first before drawing onto the Palm Pilot. Simon Faithfull suggested that the following week they draw directly onto the Palm Pilot. The pupils seemed to like the detective, game-like aspect of the project, guessing and giving clues, making it difficult for the others. They drew details which were significant to them, and there seemed to be a process of 'owning' pieces of their environment by drawing them.

Ben Johnson School

We spent the session helping each pupil make a Palm Pilot drawing in the classroom. We were able to do some direct teaching, by reinforcing the instructions they had been given. Sometimes we helped them make their drawings more specific by calling attention to shadows, neglected aspects of form and so on. There was no time to look at the drawings on the computer screen, nor to title them.