The
Suitcase Project
Artist in
Residence
2013
Ulli Birve
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Ulli Birve
Who
am I?
By
profession I am an actor. I studied performance at Flinders University and have
enjoyed a diverse career performing in the arts, television and film throughout
Australia and overseas. I later studied visual merchandising which allowed me
to explore and develop my love of creating conceptual artworks and
installations for a ‘smaller stage’. I am a passionate collector of all things
I consider beautiful – a gumnut, a skeleton, a piece of seaweed, a quotation, a
splash of colour – whatever catches my eye that can be drawn into my creative
web and re-spun onto a new story.
I
am never bored. I am happy when I am making something – whether that is a character,
an artwork or a garden. I’m happy scavenging on a beach, a flea market or a
recycle yard. On the outside I am extremely disciplined, on the inside I worry
a lot. On that note, I must begin making my suitcase or I’ll worry I won’t
finish it in time!
…
This term
the grade 5/6 students will have the opportunity to work with actor/artist Ulli
Birve on The Suitcase Project. Ulli sees life in stories. She is passionately
interested in the many ways that we can tell a story about our lives and the
many ways we can represent our ideas about ourselves. Under her guidance, every
student will make their own suitcase that will become a representation of their
inner and outer selves.
The outside of the suitcase will represent their outer selves.
The inside of the suitcase will represent their inner selves.
Students will have the opportunity to explore and find their expression
using a range of mediums.
The aim of this residency is to allow students to reflect on
their own identity and place in the world. They will be encouraged to explore
their sense of self through art and become aware of the importance of art as a
means of communicating aspects of the self.
The suitcase will reflect students’ view of themselves and their
lives. It will symbolise how they see themselves, what is important to them,
their emotions, dreams and ambitions at a pivotal time in their young lives as
they prepare to move from primary school onto high school.
The representation of the self in the form of a suitcase is
symbolic of carrying ourselves through a journey in life.
Through the work of artists Fiona Hall and Joseph Cornell, and
supported by Ulli Birve, students will focus on developing a range of artistic
skills and techniques that will enable them to successfully create 2D and 3D
work.
Week
1
This week
Ulli introduced herself to the students and talked to them about what inspired
her to want to work on this project with them.
“The
inspiration for this project began at the end of last year when I went to the
final grade 6 assembly. I was so moved by the level of emotion shown by the
year 6’s, and it stuck me that they were facing a major change in their lives.
They were at the end of a long familiar journey, about to embrace something new
and unknown.”
In her
introductory talk, Ulli introduced the students to the idea of coming to the
end of a journey in their young lives, the final years of their primary school
education. Over this time, their experiences have shaped who they are, who they
have become and set them up with dreams and aspirations for their future
journey. These years have been years of transition and change. In this
residency, these years will to be acknowledged in the form of their visual
artwork, their suitcase.
Why use the
suitcase?
“When
I travel and it comes the time to pick up my suitcase, everyone’s suitcase
looks the same. I have had the experience of picking up someone else’s
suitcase. After overcoming the shock of realising that it was not mine, that if
I were to accidently take this suitcase home, what would it reveal about that
person? Could I piece together an identity from the belongings inside? What
would it tell me about that person? Would I misjudge that person? What would
you put in that suitcase that would tell a story about yourself. Does the outer
suitcase reflect what is inside the suitcase?”
Ulli asked
the students to ponder the following questions:
Who are you
on the outside and is it different to the person you feel you are on the
inside?
Do you have
a private inner side and a more public outer side?
What in
that little world, that little suitcase will tell us about who you are?
Students
worked hard in this first week to transform their boxes into suitcases; gluing,
cutting and manipulating. No longer will the stacked boxes be referred to as
boxes. Each is now a suitcase that will potentially hold the essence of each
grade 5/6 student.
Our
adventure begins…
Week
2
Who
are you on the outside?
This week
we commenced our work on the outside of the suitcase. It is a difficult
beginning because we have to adjust the way we think so we can really begin to
understand how best to represent ourselves in words, colours, textures, shapes,
objects and images.
Our aim is
to avoid the obvious representations and to delve deeper into ourselves to find
a range of creative solutions that are layered, nuanced and felt.
In pairs
students were asked to describe their partner. They were asked to contemplate…
How accurate
was their description?
Is this how
you see yourself?
…
How
will you represent yourself in a visual way, other than in photographs?
Ulli asked
the students to consider colour. Not
the student’s favourite colour, but the colour you would choose to represent
your outer self. Would it be bright or subdued?
How
would you apply this colour?
Will it be
tiny dots, large bold stripes, very straight, tidy lines, random swirls,
chaotic, bold, soft water colours and wash, or a hint of colour wanting to wash
away.
Will you
outer selves be reflected in layers?
Will the
outer be textured? Will it be rough,
hard, soft and sensitive or smooth? How will you create these textures? Will
you use fabric, found objects, nothing but colour, strips of textured paper, natural
objects or sand paper?
How do you
represent your outer self in the way you dress
and present yourself? Is fashion important to you? Are labels important? Do you
want to stand out, or blend in?
What
personal item would you attach to your case so that only you could identify it,
relate to it and recognise it? Is this your own secret visual password.
What quotes, words, texts best represent you? Find a word or
quote or text from a book that reflects or relates to your description of
yourself.
Are you
aware of your outer image or fashion? Is it important to you? Do you want to
stand out or blend in?
What personal item would
you attach to your case so that only you could identify it, recognise it,
relate it. It is your visual password.
Weave a
story around your chosen images that tell you and others what your outside
persona is.
This week
was a difficult and challenging week. To define who we are on the outer and
inner requires much contemplation and reflection. Students were asked to find
images, colours, textures, words and symbols to represent their outer selves.
Some of these were forced into the suitcase to serve as the inner self… Some
remained on the outer. It became hard to distinguish ‘what we like’ from ‘who
we are’.
Week
3
Words,
Quotes, Stories
To support
the students this week we have asked them to define who they are using words.
Words that come to mind, words that they find, words they notice and reflect
upon and quotes that they relate to.
The more
words the students chose, the more it opened up their reflections on themselves,
and triggered further thoughts and more words.
“It’s
difficult. It’s like pain or when the breeze stops and there’s nothing. That’s
how I feel sometimes on the outside.”
“I’m weird,
but not in a strange way or crazy. I’m
weird in a funny way.”
“Each
colour represents a different mood”
“I’m kind
and cheerful, but the black lines represent the change from one mood to
another.”
“The
balloons represent lightness, joy and happiness.”
“I chose
Australia because it is a safe country, big and strong. I feel safe and
strong.”
When I’m lonely, I’m green.
When I’m angry, I’m red.
When I’m cared for, I’m white.
When I’m blue, I’m a ghost.
“When I am
happy I feel light, and when I’m angry I feel dark, black and a strong colour.”
This week
has been so inspirational and thought provoking and there have been some
profound reflections and observations from the students.
How the
students managed to articulate and draw a connection between a word and
themselves has been at times very moving.
One student
said,
“I’m
learning more about myself. I put things on the outside of my suitcase and then
discover that it’s not me.”
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Week
4
Layers
This week
we are focussing on words, quotes and layers. Students were asked to find
quotes from words that inspire them.
The hardest
thing is to build the character with all its many complex layers.
The aim is
for each element of the outer character not to be floating and isolated.
This will
be the main focus this week.
How do we
create these layers?
Words can
create layers.
Paint on
paint.
Pen on
paint.
Collage
paper on paper.
Paper on
paint.
One image
on top of another.
Bleeding
the different personas and layers of the characters into each other.
Ink Wash
Stamps
Words on
Words
Quotes
Tags and
labels.
We began to
examine how we felt about our portrayal of our outer selves…
Talking and discussing ideas with friends helps a lot.
Layers of
the persona were added tentatively and established as part of the surface.
Sometimes it seemed like hard work
Starting at the beginning and helping things along… as friends do.
----------------------------------------------------
Sometimes it seemed like hard work
Some struggled
to define and express who they are…
UNTIL
A
spontaneous act of kindness and assistance from a friend made things a little
easier…
Starting at the beginning and helping things along… as friends do.
Giving some a head start and a lovely place to begin.
Week
5
This week we worked with a small group of
students who were not attending the grade 5/6 camp. We had the luxury in this one
day master class to brainstorm and discuss all those things that the students
picked up to use as they worked through their ideas during the course of the
day. The students’ thoughts branched out in many wonderful ways as they were
given the time to contemplate small ideas and develop these into larger more
complex ideas.
This week
we discussed the importance of the process of making and creating and how this
has become far more meaningful than just making something that looks complete
at the end.
Today
students decided that being given the time to consider why they chose
particular objects as a means of expression, and a particular medium to express
ideas about the self, has been integral to the whole idea of the residency.
Siena
reflected on the idea that for those of us who are struggling, remember that
break- throughs do happen at the most unexpected times.
For Viarne,
the label or tag was her access to developing her ideas about the ‘self’
further.
“The tag
was inspirational, there were a lot of elements on my labels and I thought, if
I can do this on a label, I can take these ideas and develop them further on a
bigger scale on the suitcase.”
Some people
added and added more and more layers to the outside telling us so much about
who they are.
“If ever
you get stuck, the best thing to do is to look at yourself in the mirror. What
do you see? What do you like? Who am I?” Lilli T
At one point Lilli asked Hannah if the suitcase looked like her.
She replied that it didn’t look like her but that she could definitely,
unmistakably identify it as hers.
These fine distinctions about the making and creating process
defined the day.
As we move on through the process of identifying our inner and
outer selves artistically and conceptually, we are discovering how different we
can be in the outside and inside and how private some people are about exposing
their inner selves to others. As we have moved from the outside of the suitcase
to the inside of the suitcase we have discovered that some peoples inside
selves are so different to their outside personas. There has been an element of
surprise.
“Isn’t
funny how all of the boxes started out looking exactly the same and now, with
the same materials, we have all managed to make them so vastly different, just
like us.”
Isaac
Smalley
Yes Isaac,
I believe you have summed the process of creating and making an art work very
well…
---------------------------------------------------
Week
6
This week
students will be moving onto the design and construction of the inner suitcase.
On paper they were encouraged to reflect on their inner self and how they could
represent that 3 dimensionally and most importantly conceptually.
We aimed to
move away from the obvious and to clarify our thoughts on the inner self. On a
practical level students made design plans and choices about materials that
they would use in their 3 dimensional constructions.
Their ideas
and reflections were intensely personal and honest.
After today, and the depth of the discussion students had with
both Ulli and myself, we now feel they have a strong sense of direction and excitement
about where they will go next week. This week was about stopping and
consolidating our thoughts and beliefs so we are ready to move on to the next
main stage of our project next week.
Week
7,8 and 9
We have come a long way in the past few weeks, slowly and
carefully examining who we are and finding ways of expressing aspects of
ourselves using colours, textures, shapes and forms, symbols, pictures and
patterns. Sometimes our messages have been quite obvious to the viewer and
other times we are drawn in to our suitcases in an effort to decipher the
meaning behind a cluster of objects.
The representations of the self in the form of a suitcase have surprised,
bewildered and delighted us all. We have learnt so much about each other and
understood the struggles and joys we all face, have come to understand our
place within our school community, our friendship groups and our families.
The following images tell the story we have all been given the
opportunity to tell.
Hannah Rother-Gelder
Visual Art teacher
Visual Art teacher
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