A little shadow play...

Olivia's class is doing a unit on "How we express ourselves". Since GEMS AA is a PYP (Primary Years Program) IB school, this means that the teachers try to incorporate this theme into every subject throughout the day.... maths, science, history, English, art. Arabic, PE.... You get the idea. 

This can be quite challenging, but I'm always impressed with how the staff pulls it off. Today was no exception. 

I accompanied two of the 4th grade classes on a field trip to Manarat Al Saadiyat (which literally means: the place of enlightenment). The building is on Saadiyat Island & houses a series of temporary & permanent art exhibits for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi & Louvre Abu Dhabi (which are currently under construction). 

The gallery/museum had organized a private tour & a hands-on activity associated with the current exhibition:  "Seeing Through Light". 

The collection is explained thus... 

(from the brochure): "The artwork displayed is presented through five sections that examine the exhibition’s theme of ‘light’ in various iterations: Perceptual, Reflected, Transcendent, Activated, and Celestial."

Wow.... I do believe 4th grade may need their dictionaries for a few of those words! Sounds pretty deep for the 9 year old set, but I've heard lots of good feedback. It should be fun. Olivia was certainly looking forward to it!

The kids were instructed on the usual protocol: no touching the art, no running, no eating, & photos are allowed only in certain areas...

It took about 30 minutes to tour the whole gallery. The kids asked a lot of good questions & paid attention to our guide. 

Some of the art was designed to play with reflection.... & our guide asked the kids, "Can you imagine what these reflective poles would look like in the open dessert? From how far away could you see them on a sunny hot day? Would the result make you curious & travel across the sand to investigate?" 

Hmmmm... Thought provoking already!!

Other parts of the exhibit, played with shadows. This globe, made out of various terms for "love" written in Arabic, can only be read by reading the shadows that are cast around the globe when light shines through it. (It's really a beautiful concept & there's some deep thoughts in there, if you really start to ponder it.... But those nuances were lost on this preteen crowd. They just thought the metal writing was cool!)

...  And then there's always that one piece that just makes you scratch your head... This was 6 lines of boxes that change colors in a predetermined sequence related to the number 54. 

I still don't get it.... Why 54? That's not in the Fibonacci Sequence (55 is....), it's not the factorial of 6 (that's 720), it's not the frequency of some special light wave (54 Hz is waaaay to slow).... So why 54? What possible mathematical or scientific reasoning could it be? Ug. I may never know...

There were displays about light & color, shadow & gradient, sound & light, language & earth metals...  We could have been a physics class, a math class, an art class, or even a history class (the artists span the years from 1960 to present & come from many different cultures). I had to practically bite my tongue to keep from pointing out all the various educational ties. 

But the pièce de résistance... & everyone's favorite... was an infinity room hung with tiny colored lights to simulate being in space.... as if you, yourself, were a celestial body. 

Photos just don't do it justice; it's really an experience. I think it was at this moment, when most of the kids began to understand what drives an artist to create: the feelings provoked by a piece of art. 

To see the wonder on thier faces as we stood in this (rather) tiny room... in the dark... surrounded by mirrors or water on  all sides... & then have the lights twinkle & reflect...

Yeah, totally awesome! 

So after everyone had their moment of wonder in the infinity room, we were off to the hands-on activity. Using light, the kids were to create layered (stacked) shadow outlines of themselves. Our instructor demonstrated how to use the tripod flashlights. 

The outlines could then be enhanced with color (pastels) to show shadow, movement, emotion, or pattern. 

Mr Scott (Olivia's teacher) talks about how this activity lets everyone express themselves differently. Five groups of four meant we would have lots of masterpieces! 

The kids really got into it & I'm truly impressed with the outcomes. 

Of course, we ARE talking about chalks so you knew it was only a matter of time before someone discovered...

... Smudging. 

It got a whole lot more messy....

But who can argue with the final result?

There were actually several really good ones... Here's another of my favorites:

We washed up, then sat down to review the finished pieces. The kids had some insightful comments about the use of colors, shading, & smudging. Of course it helps to know each other so well, so lots of the comments revolved around personal descriptions of the artists. 

One kid completely shaded his profile in two gradients of orange. Why? Because he likes oranges & the color! One kid used every available color in his box to "scribble scrabble" around his outline. Why? Because he was feeling crazy!!!

LOL! 

I can only imagine how the kids will be using this experience in their various studies over the next few weeks...