On January 5, we held a remote workshop at an after-school daycare service in Kanazawa where a seminar graduate works.
We sent the equipment and materials for the workshop (a little box) in late December, conducted a Zoom connection test with a meeting on December 28, and were just waiting for the workshop on January 5 after the New Year. We had hoped that the Noto Peninsula earthquake would make it as easy as possible, but we were able to hold the workshop as planned.
We were even happier than usual to hear the cheerful voices of the children when we first heard them at the start of the connection on that day.
This time, we sent samples of the Scribbling Machine to the children in advance and had them play with it, and then challenged them to create a moving toy using either a motor or a Programmable Battery, depending on their interests.
First, we spent about 10 minutes remotely showing them the samples and explaining how to operate the tool. As they looked at the samples, I could hear them saying things like, “I want to make this. It was evident that the ideas for the work were expanding rapidly. After choosing whether to use a motor or a Programmable Battery, the participants were divided into tables and began working on their creations.
With careful support from the staff in areas they did not understand, such as how to connect the blocks, their creations took shape in no time at all.
The children’s energetic voices could be heard saying, “Look at this,” and “I have a great idea.
The children were enjoying creating works of art by using their entire bodies, such as moving an airplane-shaped work of art with their hands, turning it with their hands, and putting it on their heads. While some children are enjoying (or experimenting with) their artwork, others are lying on the floor and staring at the artwork as it moves.
The children were moving, standing still, and enjoying creating artwork with their entire bodies, which made me think again about the importance of the connection between the artwork and their bodies.
The workshop started at 10:00 and went beyond the scheduled time, ending at 11:30 when it was time for lunch and the remote connection was temporarily closed.
The children’s work, as seen in the images they sent us after the day’s activities, had evolved even further since the morning. We hope that they will continue to enjoy creating their works of art, and together we will come up with ideas for the next remote workshop. We are also happy to be able to work with our graduates, who this time last year were hard at work putting together their theses 😭
