Written by artist Kirsty Claxton
Boundaries, Territories, Enclosures
On Wednesday, I spend the morning in the Nursery and then attend the City Hall meeting joining
community and parents to object to the planning application of a power station next to the nursery. If I am going to work with the children to explore My Place, it becomes important to be immersed in
context of their lives. The head is there and Marsh Makers, parents attend with their children, there
are powerful speeches, the development is overturned (for now). There is energy and power in this
community. The battle about clean air remains but the families have made themselves visible and
heard.
I am struck that St Philips is, so to speak an island, it is also potentially an important model for
community activism. Islands, Nowhere Island – it has been called this in the past. I think about Italian
architect Pierpaolo Lazzarini who designed ‘Wayaland’, an offshore city made up of floating pyramids,and the 20th Century Italian century architect who dreamt up floating metropolis – was it Aldo Rosso? Carlo Scarpa? I must read Italo Calvini, Invisible Cities.
Researching with the children
I bring in materials; large rolls of colour acetate transparencies, mirror film, boxes
and tubes, tape and very hi viz netting.
Our framing questions consider:
Thoughts and observations
We are developing a methodology, we spend a session working with the whole
nursery, it is quite wild, followed by developing enquiries with a focus group in the
following session.
On Wednesday, I spend the morning in the Nursery and then attend the City Hall meeting joining
community and parents to object to the planning application of a power station next to the nursery. If I am going to work with the children to explore My Place, it becomes important to be immersed in
context of their lives. The head is there and Marsh Makers, parents attend with their children, there
are powerful speeches, the development is overturned (for now). There is energy and power in this
community. The battle about clean air remains but the families have made themselves visible and
heard.
I am struck that St Philips is, so to speak an island, it is also potentially an important model for
community activism. Islands, Nowhere Island – it has been called this in the past. I think about Italian
architect Pierpaolo Lazzarini who designed ‘Wayaland’, an offshore city made up of floating pyramids,and the 20th Century Italian century architect who dreamt up floating metropolis – was it Aldo Rosso? Carlo Scarpa? I must read Italo Calvini, Invisible Cities.
Researching with the children
I bring in materials; large rolls of colour acetate transparencies, mirror film, boxes
and tubes, tape and very hi viz netting.
Our framing questions consider:
- how do children make themselves visible, seen and heard
- how do they use space
- how do they take up space physically and with sound
- how do they make themselves big or small, depending on their imperatives?
Thoughts and observations
- changing how they see the space, colour, light, cooperation
- needing spaces that are separate and that are shared
- being able to move between the two
- big collective spaces, intimate spaces.
We are developing a methodology, we spend a session working with the whole
nursery, it is quite wild, followed by developing enquiries with a focus group in the
following session.
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