Education
Kids breathe new life into old rubbish
By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-26 08:03
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A fly, constructed from plastic forks, a piece of Duplo, the front of a speaker and some buttons. |
Caricaturist shows students at an international school that trash can be recycled into art, Wang Wei finds out
Over the past month, the place with the greatest appeal for Annie Chen, an 11th grader at Beijing BISS International School, was the rubbish bin at her home.
Her plan was simple - to collect a stack of junk and rebuild it into something beautiful.
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An owl made using old CDs, a piece of wood, an ice cream lid and the top of a fan. |
Using paper, chunks of wood, knotted knitting wool and other expired materials, Chen created the face of popular US TV host, Oprah Winfrey.
"It was fun," she said. "I never thought I could make a person's face with junk. I learned to think out of the box and be creative."
Chen's masterpiece was part of a workshop, called "Creativity Development Through Art and Junk", from lecturer and artist Hanoch Piven.
Piven, an Israeli born in Uruguay who is best known for his celebrity caricatures, gave the workshop to primary and secondary students at Beijing BISS International School last week.
He worked with students on how to turn "found materials", which are more commonly known as "junk", into magnificent and meaningful pieces of art.
Piven said when participants look at objects in a different way, by forgetting their names and their use and instead concentrating on their shapes, they can expand their capabilities.
"Art teaches us to look at the world with fresh eyes," he said. "It teaches us to do the same thing again and again, but differently."
Scientific research has shown that studying art can develop a student's right brain and ignite imagination and creativity, which can then energize learning in all subject areas.
But while students at the international school are enjoying a chance to amplify creativity under the guidance of the professional artist, most local students are in the midst of intense academic pressure.
According to the curriculum plan for China's compulsory education, primary and middle schools have between 857 and 1,470 class hours in all - subjects relating to art account for only 9-11 percent of the total.
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Lecturer and artist Hanoch Piven explains to a student how to get the most out of waste. Photos provided to China Daily |
But Wang Siyi, a senior high school student, has access to even less time to practice her hobby after entering her final year of high school.
Wang said she had about 35 classes each week, of which one was reserved for drawing. Even this though was often replaced by math or English.
Over the past three years, Wang's drawing time, which she describes as a "happy hour", has been dominated by endless examinations and homework. Worse still, she has one more year to go before the dreaded gaokao (university entrance examination).
"When I told my parents that I wanted drawing to be my future, they frowned and said the chance for success as an artist was like winning the lottery," said the student of No 57 Middle School.
"They told me that the best path was to get a university degree and then find a government job."
For many other parents and educators in Beijing, a good student is all about the grades.
Art and music, which are not tested under the gaokao system, give way to subjects such as mathematics and English.
Chen Yanfei, president of the Sports and Arts College at the Beijing Institute of Education, said there are many loopholes in China's system of art education.
Chen said schools don't put enough emphasis on art. Subsequently, the subject faces a shortage of teachers and a lack of facilities.
"Art education is an important criterion when it comes to evaluating the quality of a country's education," she said.
But for most students, academic goals are much simpler to understand.
"I just wish my parents could pay for me to study abroad so I wouldn't need to worry about these endless exams," Wang said.
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Boxes of rubbish were collected by pupils at Beijing BISS International School for the creative workshop. Photos provided to China Daily |
