People are always asking us this question. We deliver workshops with communities through our All Around You program, and in partnership with the Generations program, we’ve been collaborating with the art class at Miller Technology High School for over 6 months this year. So here’s a quick run down of what we’ve actually been up to – with pictures and videos!
In our first 6 months at Miller Technology High School, we delivered a diverse mix of arts and technology workshops with the kids at Miller Tech: resulting in the creation of several short video works, interactive multimedia installations, thousands of photos, portable speaker systems and an extremely funny 8 minute film that the kids conceived, shot and edited themselves.
We began in early May. We had come straight from a 3 week residency at Casula Powerhouse, building and modifying open source technology tools for use in the community and contemporary arts industries. Some of the Refill kids came to our showing – along with their teacher, Sally Atkins – and were already aware and excited about the tools we were going to build in our workshops with them.
We began each of the early workshops with a series of regular theatre games, allowing the kids to have fun, get comfortable and get to know the tutors. The theatre games were crucial component in the kids pulling out such amazing performances in the film 8 months later.
These early workshops were split between the theatre and introductions to the new technological tools we had built in our residency at Casula Powerhouse. The kids played with the different tools, asked questions, and offered suggestions on what they wanted to do with them. We set up a system for them to develop their own creative ideas on using these tools and those ideas strongly affected the direction of our future workshops as we helped to make their ideas a reality.
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Slowly, we introduced simple multimedia skills training into the theatre games, turning a devised theatre scene on a train station, for example, into a news conference and series of video interviews with the kids. Within a few workshops, the kids were playing their own theatre games, as well as filming, interviewing and evolving the workshops on their own.
By the end of the term, multimedia took over, and the kids created several video pieces, shooting and editing themselves. The kids worked on experimental video, stop-motion animation and traditional film techniques.
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These video snippets (works 15 secs – 2mins in length) eventually came together on an interactive video wall we created for an event at the local PCYC that November. During this period the kids were also signed up to www.allaroundyou.net, CuriousWorks’ own Web 2.0 social media and networking site for the community arts industry. Each of them had profiles on the site and were able to view their own videos and photos (they took hundreds every workshop), chat to each other, and put up their own independently made multimedia.
In term three, the focus turned from multimedia content to building their own tools to deliver and interact with that content. Throughout the term, the kids built their own, personalised speaker systems and digital spray cans. The kids learnt basic electronics, basic craft skills and each got to personalise these tools with their own designs and ideas.
By the end of the term, the kids had built four speakers that were self-contained systems, powered off a 9V battery. In other words, you could walk around with the speaker, like a ghetto blaster – only it cost about $40 to make. One kid even built the speaker into his school bag! The digital spray cans were simple infra-red circuits built into an everyday water bottle. The infra-red LED sat in the cap of the water bottle and its light was picked up by a wiimote connected via bluetooth to a computer. The computer’s screen was projected onto a wall, and with the spray can, the kids could paint, draw or graf in light anywhere in the projected surface. These tools were built entirely by the kids themselves and again showcased at the Liverpool PCYC showing.
Finally, in term four, the kids made their own short film – Attack of the Bullies. A broad script idea for a bully film was offered by one of the students. Then through devised theatre workshops the kids worked on the ideas for the scenes, developing characters, plot and narrative. A lot of fun was had as the eventual outcome was highly exaggerated and stylised. Then the filming began – with some of the kids performing, some on set and props, others behind the camera. Over the term the film came together and was edited by a few of the students with us – those who were really interested in the filming process. The eventual film – ‘Attack of the Bullies’ – was a hit at the Liverpool PCYC showing and can now be seen on www.curiousworks.com.au, www.allaroundyou.net, YouTube and several of the kids’ own Bebo profiles!
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Next year we will focus on building capacity in the teacher, Sally as well as the students, to maintain their own, vibrant digital cultural life in the school, long after CuriousWorks has stopped engaging with them and the Refill program has concluded.