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Collaging A Skyline

17 April 2015

This week we were involved in a fantastic workshop at the Tate Modern, gathering inspiration from a range of contemporary artists who explore subjects like journeys, words and urban landscapes, all key components of our current project in Bow.

The Core Commissioning Group of boys from Bow School took a journey around the gallery, mark-making as they went – inspired by the movement mapping work of Richard Long, linking back to our very first session where we each took a line for a colourful walk. We gazed down and marvelled at the expanse of the Turbine Hall from the top floor; its scar from the Shibboleth installation still visible during its current building works. We paused, contemplating the permanence of our own subway design.

We looked closely at the collage work of Matisse and I presented our current working designs for the subway and gate to the group, receiving a range of positive responses, all curious and eager to discover what each shape and building resembled.

During the session, the boys created their own responses to selected East London landmarks using card and acetate cutouts and producing an experimental assemblage projected onto the wall.

The activity allowed us to appreciate the sizeable scale we were working with and the process of simplifying the shapes of a place, to realise its unique visual form and character. The group projected their exciting set of compositions, each visually curious, onto the wall.

Since returning from the workshop I’ve been photographing and working on their compositions to feed into the subway design. We are really excited to see it all come together, ready to present the final designs at the end of November for installation in Spring 2014.

– AW

This project was commissioned by Bow Arts for the new Bow School, and generously sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, with thanks to Tate Modern for hosting.