Schulprojekte

"Sound in image" – video art DIY

New video art workshop from the imai foundation with pupils from class 7
5 - 9 October, 2009 at the Georg-Büchner Gymnasium (high school) in Cologne

This time the imai foundation took a look at another important area of video art communication. Whereas up to now the pupils were encouraged to learn how to communicate video art and in the process to focus on aesthetic areas and content of the art form, now they were able to produce their own works.


The one-week workshop "Sound in image" was guided by the video artists Freya Hattenberger and Peter Simon from the imai program. Their special attention lay on the combination of images and sound. After an introduction to the theme "Sound in image" with examples of selected videos from the imai collection the 29 children of class 7b were given the opportunity to design their own video on the theme.

Music videos and works with choreography proved popular with the 12-year olds. Their playful approach helped the pupils to break away from dominant viewing habits acquired from films and television. Using their own ideas and abilities the children were able to create new medial forms of expression.

Five different works were created in which the pupils converted objects of daily life such as playground equipment or umbrellas into dominating props. Whether Dancebattle – girls against boys – or black and white gangster film – based on old silent film classics – the videos created are a mix of the familiar images from the world of children and the experimental language of this art form.

 

In groups of seven to eight pupils five short videos were created which speak for themselves:

Play Again

A different kind of music video.
The music associated with the equipment at the playground has the upper hand here. The squeaking of the swing or the crunching of sand set the tone in the video «Play Again».

"We sat together and thought about what we could do. And then one of us suggested doing something with a playground. Then we considered it would be amusing if everything repeats. That's how we came across the name 'Play Again' ".

            

 

     

Battledance and Friends

Girls against boys: who can win?
«Battledance and Friends» brings the battle of the sexes to the dancefloor. The three girls and four boys put the music for the clip together themselves and rehearsed the choreography.

"We especially liked our mixed group and the freedom of the implementation of our battle idea."

     

     

Mystic Umbrella

Eight girls worked together on their own to produce a well thought-out choreography with rain umbrellas to the song «It’s raining man». 

  "We came across the idea when it was raining outside. We started playing with our umbrellas. Then we saw how cool that looked and invented a choreography to go with it. We were dancers."  

     

   

     

Die Weiche (The points)

The gangster film "Die Weiche" reminds us of an old silent film classic – without words and in black and white with the dramatic moment of an approaching train. Perhaps a tribute to Charlie Chaplin? In those days he didn't come to terms well with the introduction of sound in films, as the pupils learned during the workshop. 

"I thought it was a good idea because it contained action. I liked what happened at the end because that's how I imagined it would be." 

     

 

 

   

Crazy Break

In the video «Crazy Break» the crazy chicks make a lot of noise on their crazy drums and create a cheerful atmosphere with loads of crazy steps – until the gong ends the crazy break.

"We danced and did a lot of other crazy things. We were like chickens on the roost. We used the table tennis table or the rope completely different to how it should be used and had great fun!" 

     

 

 


Workshop documentation:

You can see and download a description of the workshop with the important details regarding schedule and numerous pictures in colour here . On request we will be happy to send you the file in printed form. Please send us your enquiry by email.


 


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