Junior School visit to the MCA
What is Contemporary Art? This question was asked of our Junior School students at the beginning of our Visual Arts visit to the MCA recently.
During our visit, the Educators at the MCA challenged students to observe, think, listen, and then articulate to the group what they felt and imagined about a variety of artworks installed in different spaces and locations in the gallery.
One of the artworks was on the roof of the MCA, overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The students observed how the artwork moved according to the weather, and created small artworks themselves in response. A large-scale video installation inspired the creation of small sculptures on the gallery floor that reflected how we feel when we are in water.
In the MCA Education Unit, the students came together to discuss time and place.
They were asked to remember an important space and to bring their ideas together collectively to create a large scale mixed-media artwork to finish off their visit.
It was a privilege to watch and listen to the responses from our students who engaged with the MCA Educators and artworks with open minds and curiosity. They left the MCA understanding that no matter the concept, materials or outcome, Contemporary Art is Art created in the ‘now’ and that living in the ‘now’ enabled them to build close connections and understanding with artists who are living and making art in response to the same context.
Belinda Halcrow
Visual Arts Teacher