Artist in Residence Tania Jovanovic Term 2 2012

Photographing Time

Week 1

This is the first week of our Artist Residency with photographer, Tania Jovanovic. Over the course of 5 weeks the grade 2 students are further deepening their classroom inquiry into “Time” in the Visual Art room. They will be observing a range of seed pods and flowers and watching how these natural objects change over time. In contrast to watching natural things grow and change they will challenge their senses to observe the changes that occur as cut flowers and seed pods lose their hold on life.

They will be inspired by the Japanese photographer, Yoshihiko Ueda and his photographic works of flowers.

Each week, students will draw and paint their flower using a black pen and watercolour paints in a zine created for this project. They will also take a photograph of their flower under the guidance of Tanya. They will view the world from the eyes of both the artist and photographer and through their careful observations of their chosen subject. They will observe change as time passes.

Each week they will reflect on their work, their observations and the changes that have occurred in their subject over the week.

Questionings:

What if our flower doesn’t change over time? Fillip

How much water will the flower drink in a week?

How many leaves will my flower lose over time? Harvey

Which flowers will die the fastest? Tanya

Which flower will die first? Evie

How many weeks will they stay fresh for? Lukas

Observations:

I thought my photographs could be brighter. Luca

Tanya said that we can work the colour and brightness out later when we develop the picture.

In each flower I noticed the colours are mixed. Emile

I liked the light shining down on the flower in the photograph. Archie

When I had my vase of flowers photographed it had a shine on it from the glass. Sarah

I noticed three things when the flower was photographed: the first photograph was normal, the second had a shadow, and the third had a light. Eliza

I liked it when Tanya put on the light and made a shadow. Celina

Photographing Time

Week 2

Tania Jovanovic, our artist in Residence returned this week camera ready and full of enthusiasm for the students’ work. The students entered the visual art room with an expectancy and understanding about what they would find and the task they had set themselves in recording their special flower. During the week, in their classroom inquiry, they had further deepened their understandings about “Time”. These understandings would, in turn, be extended and challenged in the context of their observations and Visual Art work.

This week, students drew and painted the same flower or seed pod they drew and photographed last week. They also took a photograph of their flower or seed pod under the guidance of Tanya. Through the eyes of both the artist and photographer and through their careful observations of their chosen subject, they observed the changes that occurred in their flower over course of the week. They have recorded time passing.

This week student reflections and observations about the changes in their flower or seed pod over the week were interesting.

Our observations describe ways that we can tell that time is passing:

Some of the flowers are folding up for winter. Freya

I feel like some of the flowers are growing and dying because all the flowers have changed. Gen

The flowers have grown only a centimetre but have also drooped. Tin

I have noticed more leaves on the flower this time. Findlay

I think most of the flowers have wilted and got smaller and leaves are falling. Clara

The stalks at the bottom of most flowers have less water because they are soaking the water up. Arlo

I noticed that some flowers are dying faster than others. Zayas

I realised that the petals had fallen. Zoe

Time is changing and so is the life cycle of the plant. Kiarna

Some water is getting very dirty because it has been there for a long time and some of the plant is getting into it. Owen

The top fell off my seed pod. Zoe

Some of my petals are dying. Joe

Many of the children have an idea that the plants and seed pods are growing over time. They recognise and observe change but see the change as growth.

I saw in my flower that it didn’t drink much water and the stem had changed from yellow to brown. You can tell time has passed if it changes. When it is fresh and bright it smells nice but later it changes. Eliza

The water level on my plant had gone down, the leaf had crinkled up and the colour was darker. Emile

If the petals are soft, the flower is old. It’s not just what it looks like it is also what it feels like. Tiesha

Photographing Time

Week 3

As in previous weeks, students observed, drew and painted the same flower or seed pod they drew and photographed last week. They continued tracking the life of their flower and developed their own understandings about what was happening to the flower. Some students still refer to the flower as“growing”. Others see their flower as part of a life cycle, closing down for winter. The students’ observations are poignant and each week they are re-assessing their understandings of photographing nature.

Our observations describe ways that we can tell that time is passing:

The flowers have changed colour and they are staring to die. Some of the flowers are getting more decoration and some are losing their decoration. Freya

Time is passing through the stems of the flowers and they are staring to drink more and wilt and die. Gen

Some of the flowers petals are falling and some of the flowers are hibernating. Some of the flowers are closing for winter and if they don’t they will die. Some of the flowers are growing more leaves because of the time is changing and the petals are changing. This is interesting. Some of the flowers are getting different coloured stems. Finlay

The flowers are struggling to close and that is another reason why they will die. Sofia

The flowers started off beautiful and then they started to wilt and die. Clara

The petals are falling off and sometimes the plant falls to one side and the plant is going to die and it is struggling to get up again. Andre

The petals are growing older and the plant is getting bigger. Arlo H

Some of the plants are having bugs living inside their petals and some of the leaves are drooping and wrinkling. Matthew

Some of the flowers have started to change colour and turn very dark. Over time some of the flowers are still alive a little bit and lots of the flowers petals and leaves are falling off. Riley

I noticed that Kiarna’s flower has fallen off. I noticed that my petals are falling off as well. This has told me a lot about time. Zoe

I am recognising that my flower has got dots and the seeds dropped out. Sage

My flower is still crunchy. Zayas

Have we recorded time passing and changes though time?

The leaves and petals are falling off because when you got a flower off a branch and the leaves start to fall off and then the flowers start to fall off. All the flowers and petals fall off at different times. Harvey

The water over time has changed colour, it has bits of the flower have fallen into the water and it’s become foggy. We think we have recorded time successfully like this. Arianne

Some of the flowers are closing up while some of the flowers petals have fallen off. Emma Salmon

We have recorded time passing through the changes in our flowers.

What have you observed?

The flower has changed shape and direction each week. Some of the leaves have fallen off. Alexandra

My flower is starting to get old and is starting to fall apart. Eliza

I realise the top of my flower is slanting and the leaves are falling off. Bianca

Photographing Time

Week 4

Our flowers and seed pods are looking very old and sad now. Some have survived better and for longer than others and the water levels are changing, as well as the colour of the water in the vases. The petals have dropped off many of the flowers and as they fall off and dry they take on a new beauty.

As in previous weeks, students observed, drew and painted the same flower or seed pod they have examined in the past 3 weeks.

Today they observed very closely the big changes in their flower from week 1 -4. They examined their drawing from week 1 and the original photograph of the flower. It is from this comparison they were able to really notice the passing of time and the changes that occurred.

This week we examined our first drawing carefully in order to make a comparison with our flower today. By doing this we were able to really notice the changes that have occurred in our flowers over time.

We again recorded our thoughts and reflections:

The flowers are dying, changing colours and wrinkling up. Freya

The flowers have fallen off. Zoe

The water has gone all mouldy. Arlo

More leaves are growing and some are dying. Owen

My flower has changed heaps in time. Jo

My flower has a half green and half brown stem. Harvey

My flower has shrunk. Arianne

My flower lost all of its leaves this week. Eleanor

My flower is not there anymore. Valentino

My flower petals are all rusty and are curling up. Maddie

All of my flower’s petals are closing up. Emma Salmon

I think the flower petals are curling up because it is nearly winter soon. Evie

Half of my petals fell off and all of my leaves.Sarah

How do we know time has passed?

Things have changed. Harvey

Things have come to an end. Emma Salmon

My flower is almost dead. Luke H

The flowers have changed a lot. Ahmed

I can tell time has passed because nearly all the flower has gone. Arianne.

These changes have measured time and we can tell how long or how much time has passed because of how big the changes are. Harvey

Things change as time passes.

Hannah Rother-Gelder
Visual Art teacher