Zoe entered the classroom after lunch carrying a very large tree branch with her. During EBL time, it was clear she had a plan for it. Walking up to her, I told her I was really into her large branch (being a lover of natural materials myself). She was already in the midst of creation at this point, using a thin rope to attach a much smaller piece of thorny branch to her large one: “I’m gonna make it deadly. Maybe not deadly, but super sharp. I’m gonna hot glue stuff to it.” I asked if she had found these items in the wash: “I used this stick [the large branch] to wack this stick off another plant. Then I decided they would be cool together.” I left Zoe working and when I came back to her she was hot gluing other various natural materials to her self proclaimed “stick of pain.” We began to chat about making art with natural materials, which I told her I really enjoyed, and she replied that it “takes non-natural materials [hot glue, rope] to make it stay.” I shared the example of Andy Goldsworthy, who makes art with only natural materials, using things only made from nature to help keep his work together. Zoe mentioned a friend of hers who makes clay, noting that maybe what Goldsworthy did was something similar. I photographed her work once it was complete (from both sides, though she did note that the back was “not as cool”). I can’t help but wonder if next time she will attempt to use only natural materials in her next work? Worried about children engaging in “violent” play/art? Don’t be! There is a great deal of research about children’s violent play and art, as well as the way they talk about this kind of work with adults. Feel free to contact me [email protected] if you’d like more information!
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