The Kids’ Own School at The Dock: The Discovery of Building and Architecture took place this July. Artist Vanya Lambrecht Ward collaborated with two groups of children aged 4-7 and 8-12 over the week. Here Vanya fills us in on the different techniques and materials the children explored: 

Every day a new material produced a new set of challenges and delights. A very important bit of every day was our games which let us test the limits of the materials a bit before we explored what we could make.

 

 

 

 

 

On the first day, the children explored shapes and structures and made a collective fort so big it filled the room.

 

 

 

 

 

On the second day, the focus was on paper. We folded and crushed and crunched until we had a large selection of wonderful hollow rocks which became a collective  structure. This was, it must be said, influenced by watching a few excerpts from the Andy Goldsworthy Documentary “rivers and tides” and by our extensive rock building research outside.

 

 

 

 

 

Day three was all about sticks; tepees and mats woven from sticks were the result of our experimentation and Theo Jansens “Strandbeesten” made an appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

Day four was all about card – a way for everyone to try and make their own more set and specific designs.

 

 

 

 

 

And our last day started with string and ended in a display of tasters of all the things we explored during the week.

 

 

 

 

 

A busy and physical week which let us explore every corner of the room and everything to do with structure: balance, gravity, strengths and weakness, construction and destruction. Such great minds and hands at work! A great week!

http://www.vanyalambrechtward.com/

http://www.thedock.ie/