Reflection: Kate Clark S00170567

My name is Kate Clark and I will be reflecting on my involvement in our arts

installation project titled ‘The stolen Generation’. This unit has allowed me to gain
further understanding about art and develop my ability to implement it into the
classroom.
We explored the idea of making the invisible, visible. This was through implementing
arts practices, which helped us to develop ideas in our groups for our art installation
project. We explored how children were removed from their mothers and the
negative impact it had, we initially where going to motion a child being removed from
their mothers arms to re-enact what had previously happened. Our ideas left us
wanting to discover the consequences of these actions and left us wanting to
broaden our focus and portray a broader concept yet still demonstrate the
devastation “The stolen generation” has caused. We decided to draw attention to the
eradication of indigenous culture that occurred in Australia that is referred to as the
stolen generation.
The creation of a performance art piece during this unit was a highlight. We based
ours, on a journey through the week. This included a kinaesthetic lesson structure,
which allowed our ideas to develop throughout, and we could express them in an
effective way. I enjoyed watching everyone’s performances and seeing the
differentiation in our ideas between the groups. No two performances were remotely
similar because we were given free range and the time to express and develop our
own ideas. It showed how teachers could scaffold during the class but each child or
student will arrive at their own thought destination.
Multiple curriculum domains was integrated through the stop motion activity.
Literacy, history and other domains can be incorporated into the arts domain and I
feel passionately about achieving this to allow my students to develop and learn to
their full potential. Creating the sound track for the video was interesting. We started
off experimenting the different sounds we could make with the instruments on hand.
Then we started to identify particular sounds that we felt would assist our videos
focus. We used clapping sticks and a guitar as our base and added to it as we
developed our ideas further. Learning about Indigenous artefacts was a significant
focus of our group this week and lead to the revision of historical contexts of “The
stolen generation”. Susan Phillipsz demonstrated the possibilities and impact music
could have in altering how a person perceives and interprets a space (Phillipsz,
2013). We considered playing our own piece during our installation, however, we
decided not too as we did not want to detract from our installation and we wanted it
to capture all possible attention that it deserves. “They took the children away” was
our song choice as it incorporated our focus and touched on the way social justice
can be achieved through music. ( Byrd & Levy (2010).
Installation art can be site specific or transferable and is increasing in popularity.
Installation art as research can be presented in different forms including
contemplative, reflective (Cole & McIntyre, 2008), humorous, story like, or
challenging which was a significant focus of ours. My parents deeply value
indigenous culture, and from a very young age my parents opened my eyes to the
devastating events that took place in Australia’s history. My appreciation for their
culture is immense, and I thoroughly have enjoyed revisiting and reconnecting with
their culture. Although it was a devastating time, I was glad that our project was
demonstrating how damaging the impact of the colonisation was on indigenous
tradition and culture. Our installation helped us portray our message and aim through
a non-explicit way. We incorporated symbols and artwork to portray our direction and
supported this with the motion of painting over and the cover up of tradition and
beauty of indigenous culture (artwork) caused by white colonisation (white paint) and
eradication to tell the story in a profound and confronting manner. Our installation
was not site specific and could be moved to any space allowing it to reach a broader
audience.
I am envious of Terry. I think he is inspiring, and had arrived at this idea prior to our
session with him due to past encounters. He has the ability to draw in and
encapsulate any and every audience. His charisma and approach of inclusion is
something I dream to create in the classroom. His session particularly focused on
the social interaction that can be achieved through dance. “Love remembers” was
and a concept I am happy to have walked away with. He also helped me to put aside
my perceived fear in front of the classroom and really just be free spirited and give it
a go. If the students are moving, creating anything or connecting with each other it is
a success. Terry is inspirational, and when I have my very own class, I will seek him
out to come and help me implement arts into my classroom which I will develop
further from and implement it into all my future classrooms to benefit my students
lives.
Our installation, I feel truly made the invisible, visible and demonstrated what art
practices are capable of.
Bibliography and References
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//www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/exploring-social-justice-through-music.

Cole, A., & McIntyre, M. (2008). Installation art-as-research. In J. G. Knowles & A. L. Cole (Eds.),
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Heron, J., & Reason, P. (1997). A participatory inquiry paradigm. Qualitative Inquiry, 3(3), 274-294.
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Phillipsz, S. (2013). ‘Public Art Fund Talks at The New School: Susan Phillipsz’. Retrieved From:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTSmg4wnU4g

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