So This will be my last post of my blog.
I Cant believe that my time on Erasmus is up already, I have had such a wonderful time and learned many new things from Art class that i cannot wait to use in Ireland. Here is my video for my assessment.
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra
In Northern Ireland there one of my favourite Museums that I love to visit both as a school child and now I am a little older is the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. It is a part of the four main Museums in the North of Ireland and is one which I have many happy memories about when I think back to the numerous times I have visited it.
Personally I feel that the most interesting part of the Museum is the Titanic exhibition, documenting the construction, voyage, and eventual sinking of the ill-fated vessel. The ship has long been associated with Northern Ireland, as it was constructed in the Harland and Wolff shipyards, just a few miles from the museum. The newly refurbished Titanic exhibition, tying in with the Folk museum's 'Titanic Trail' is titled TITANICa.
It comprises two separate museums, the Folk Museum and the
Transport Museum. The Folk Museum shows us the way of life and
traditions of the people in Northern Ireland, past and present, while the
Transport Museum explores and exhibits methods of transport by land, sea and
air, past and present.
The Folk Museum houses a variety of old buildings and dwellings which have been collected from various parts of Ireland and rebuilt in the grounds of the museum, brick by brick. 170 acres are devoted to illustrating the rural way of life in the early 20th century, and visitors can stroll through a recreation of the period's countryside complete with farms, cottages, crops, livestock, and visit a typical Ulster town of the time called "Ballycultra", featuring shops, churches, and both terraced and larger housing and a Tea room.
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| This is a street in the Museum that shows how life used to be in Ireland |
The Transport Part of the Museum
The Transport Museum houses an extensive transport collection, and endeavours to tell the story of transport in Ireland, from its early history to the modern era. It is the largest railway collection in Ireland. Attractions in the grounds themselves include a model railway operated by the Model Engineers Society of Northern Ireland, and the 120 ton steel schooner Result.
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| The famous steel schooner 'Result' |
Personally I feel that the most interesting part of the Museum is the Titanic exhibition, documenting the construction, voyage, and eventual sinking of the ill-fated vessel. The ship has long been associated with Northern Ireland, as it was constructed in the Harland and Wolff shipyards, just a few miles from the museum. The newly refurbished Titanic exhibition, tying in with the Folk museum's 'Titanic Trail' is titled TITANICa.
The Museum is the holder of Northern Ireland's main film, photographic, television and sound archives. The Museum holds the BBC Northern Ireland archive of radio and television programmes, and also possesses over 2,000 hours of sound material broadcast between 1972 and 2002 by the Irish language radio station RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, from its studios in Derrybeg, County Donegal. The museum also maintains an archive of Ulster dialects, and a large library containing over 15,000 books and periodicals.
This shows a typical scene from the Museum.
As i have visited this Museum many times myself I feel that it would be a really good museum to visit with my pupils. I feel it would tie in with a lot of the curriculum that is taught in Ireland and also it is a really fun way for the children to find out a lot about how their ancestors lives and the type of lifestyle that they might have had.
Design Museum Gent Visit
So in our final few weeks in Gent we decided as a group that Ciara, Jorge and myself would visit the Design Museum together. We didn't really know what to expect before we went to the Museum so it was a new experience for us all and we were really looking forward to it. When we got to the museum there were no guides for us in English so this made it a little harder to understand everything but it did not stop us from enjoying it.
The first room that we entered had a mixture of new and old furniture in it. My favourite piece from it was the table which was made form bright coloured books.
At the end of the corridor we then entered the part of the museum which was dedicated to James Dyson and his wonderful designs. James Dyson is a British Inventor, Industrial Designer and the most famously known inventor of the Duel Cyclone first bag less Vacuum Cleaner.
The exhibition on show explores how Dyson and his employees develop new technology and machines and what approach and methods they use when designing.
We were able to see many of the Dyson products that are already in use today's modern world. Being able to see this exhibition was very beneficial to me as I am studying back in Ireland to be a Teacher of Technology and Design. Being able to see how the people who design the Dyson products go through the same design process as I do in University when making a product was really interesting and also inspiring as I feel that this experience has enabled me to come up with many new ideas through seeing the sketches and models that the Dyson products go through before becoming a famous piece of equipment. I have a few pictures from my University product last year which i feel reflect and cooperate well with the Dyson Process and I will let you have a look to see for yourself.
Dyson Model and Final Piece My Model and Final Piece
We then moved on to the part of the Museum which was called brilliant by design. It was an exhibition of Czech Glass and Porcelain, there were many beautiful pieces of glassware and porcelain on show here and they were really lovely to see. Although I could see this part of the Museum being a hazard with younger children as they would love to touch all the exquisite pieces.
The next part of the Museum we visited was called the 'Old Museum' it contained collections mainly from 17th and 18th Century Furnishings. We also got to see collections containing different types of Art. There were Art Nouvea and also Art Deco throughout the Museum. These types of Art collections particularly caught my eye. These collections are from the 70's and 80's and they are from a mixture of Belgian and Italian Designers. There were a lot of chairs and tables in these collections and all of these were very interesting and different.
I feel if i were to bring a class to this Museum I would visit it myself first to familarise myself with it and to ensure that I will know exactly what I am showing the children around.
I would have booklets printed out for the children to follow and also for them to fill in throughout their journey through the museum.
The booklets would begin with instructions to the Activity that will be completed by the end of the trip.
Firstly the children will be asked as they go along to pick out 5 different pieces throughout the whole museum that they like the design of, the colours in and also a piece maybe they would like to have this in their house e.g lamp, table, chair or even a dyson hoover.
Then the children will also be advised to look out for the Play Mobil characters in the Museum as at the end they will have to place one like they have seen in their own drawings.
The children will then get to fill in on the worksheet what their favourite object was, Where they found this object and what type of material the object is made out of.
The final task on the worksheet would be the the children are required to come up with a variation of their favourite object, and in creating this they will be required to use paints to add in the colours from the collections which they feel are suitable for their object. Using all the information they have gathered in the booklet so far this object could be a lamp, table, chair etc. Then the children will also be required to add in a little playmobil-esq type character to their design this is just a fun way of keeping the theme of the characters from the museum in the children's work.
The first room that we entered had a mixture of new and old furniture in it. My favourite piece from it was the table which was made form bright coloured books.
The next part of the Museum that we visited was a corridor leading up to one of the exhibitions. On this corridor there were about 8 boxes on the wall and if you looked carefully into each of them you could see different parts of which looked to me like a Dyson product just by the design and shape of the parts I could tell it was a Dyson. And I was right by guessing this as they were the lead up to the James Dyson Exhibition of the Museum.
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| This is what could be seen through the hole |
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| The boxes can be seen on the right side here |
At the end of the corridor we then entered the part of the museum which was dedicated to James Dyson and his wonderful designs. James Dyson is a British Inventor, Industrial Designer and the most famously known inventor of the Duel Cyclone first bag less Vacuum Cleaner.
The exhibition on show explores how Dyson and his employees develop new technology and machines and what approach and methods they use when designing.
We were able to see many of the Dyson products that are already in use today's modern world. Being able to see this exhibition was very beneficial to me as I am studying back in Ireland to be a Teacher of Technology and Design. Being able to see how the people who design the Dyson products go through the same design process as I do in University when making a product was really interesting and also inspiring as I feel that this experience has enabled me to come up with many new ideas through seeing the sketches and models that the Dyson products go through before becoming a famous piece of equipment. I have a few pictures from my University product last year which i feel reflect and cooperate well with the Dyson Process and I will let you have a look to see for yourself.
Dyson Model and Final Piece My Model and Final Piece
This is a video of a Dyson product being tested in the exhibition.
We then moved on to the part of the Museum which was called brilliant by design. It was an exhibition of Czech Glass and Porcelain, there were many beautiful pieces of glassware and porcelain on show here and they were really lovely to see. Although I could see this part of the Museum being a hazard with younger children as they would love to touch all the exquisite pieces.
The next part of the Museum we visited was called the 'Old Museum' it contained collections mainly from 17th and 18th Century Furnishings. We also got to see collections containing different types of Art. There were Art Nouvea and also Art Deco throughout the Museum. These types of Art collections particularly caught my eye. These collections are from the 70's and 80's and they are from a mixture of Belgian and Italian Designers. There were a lot of chairs and tables in these collections and all of these were very interesting and different.
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These are some pieces which I really liked in the Museum.
I have noticed in the museum from the first room I entered that there are miniature playmobil characters placed on a lot of the pieces in the collections throughout the museum. I found this a very interesting thing to have in a Museum and i feel that this could be used in coordination with an activity for children. Children will find these straightaway i feel even before an adult so they are placed with a purpose in the Museum to entertain the children. Here is a few pictures with some characters journeys.
When I first entered the Museum I didn't think that children would be able to learn and gain as much from this Museum as adults but after my visit I feel there are many opportunities in this great museum to do so.
An amazing piece just as we were leaving the Museum!
An Activity for Primary School Children
When we entered the museum we asked the lady at reception for any information on activities we could carry out with young people but she told us that there was none available in English and that all the information was online. So i had a look online but i was still unable to find anything that was of great use for myself so i decided to create my own activity based on the knowledge that i have learned so far in this Art Course.I feel if i were to bring a class to this Museum I would visit it myself first to familarise myself with it and to ensure that I will know exactly what I am showing the children around.
I would have booklets printed out for the children to follow and also for them to fill in throughout their journey through the museum.
The booklets would begin with instructions to the Activity that will be completed by the end of the trip.
Firstly the children will be asked as they go along to pick out 5 different pieces throughout the whole museum that they like the design of, the colours in and also a piece maybe they would like to have this in their house e.g lamp, table, chair or even a dyson hoover.
Then the children will also be advised to look out for the Play Mobil characters in the Museum as at the end they will have to place one like they have seen in their own drawings.
The children will then get to fill in on the worksheet what their favourite object was, Where they found this object and what type of material the object is made out of.
The final task on the worksheet would be the the children are required to come up with a variation of their favourite object, and in creating this they will be required to use paints to add in the colours from the collections which they feel are suitable for their object. Using all the information they have gathered in the booklet so far this object could be a lamp, table, chair etc. Then the children will also be required to add in a little playmobil-esq type character to their design this is just a fun way of keeping the theme of the characters from the museum in the children's work.
Friday, 23 May 2014
Lesson 4
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| An artists image of Nello and Patrasche |
Although when i was younger i would never have found myself a big fan of Comic Books, I was always familiar with them because of my brother. The Character called Denis The Menace from the Beano Comic Book was always a popular one in Ireland and one which I can see links with the Belgium Comics which i have been given the change to see in Art Class.
After we learned a little bit about the background of Comic Books we moved on to do a practical activity. I really enjoyed the activity as it allowed me to do a task that I have never did before.. but I will definitely do it with a class some time. We got to pick a figurine and then we got into group and began to make our own comic strips on a large piece of paper using newspapers and crayons which were set our for us. We had the freedom to choose what we wanted which was great. Then we moved around the classroom in our groups to add our own ideas to everyone's Comic Strips. So by the time we got back round to our original table we had a totally new comic strip set our for us.
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| Some of the materials we used for the lesson |
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| Our Group Comic Strip and My Individual Comic Strip |
We then picked some characters and some ideas of what happened in the big comic strip to make our own individual ones. This was a really good exercise I feel because the children if they carry out the first exercise will have a good idea of the characters in their comic strip and then they just have to use these to imagine their own comic strip.
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| My Individual Comic Strip |
Lesson 3
In today's class we were introduced to a lot of new concepts of using technology in Art class with the pupils. We were show different websites and applications like;
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com
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http://www.screencast-o-matic.com
Flixel (IPad), fotodanz (android)
Color splash
Stop motion
I had already used the screencast-o-matic programme before but until this class I was unaware of how many other programme and apps that could be used. As in the world now a days there is more and more emphasis being put on the use of technology and ICT these are perfect opportunities to showcase this. As I will be a teacher of Technology and Design when I graduate I am delighted to learn about new applications all the time.
Previously before the class we were told to choose an Artist from our home country and find out a little bit of information about him and his paintings. I have chosen the artist called Terry Bradley from Northern Ireland. He is a famous artist who lives close to where I am from and his artwork is very popular in Ireland and many of his paintings are a real collector’s items.
We then had to use some of the applications that we have learned about today in relation to some of the paintings from our chosen painter. We would then come up with some activities that children could use in relation to the new applications and the chosen paintings.
Lesson 1 on Terry Bradley Paintings
The children will look at the different paintings and they will recognise some trends and also they will be asked these questions;
- What stands out in the paintings/ what is similar with them
- What does he use in his paintings- what type of effects? types of colours- bold colours.
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| 'Showgirls' |
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| 'Rock' |
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| 'Always' |
The next stage of the first lesson would be to print out a copy for each child of the painting called 'Woman'
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| 'Woman' |
The children will then be able to create their own Terry Bradley inspired painting. They can do this using colouring pencils to start of with. Then the children will be introduced to the programmes called Tony B and Incredibox to create background music to show their interpertation of the 'womans' feelings.
Lesson 2
Using the Picture called Titanic and get the children to try and think of how they think the people working on the Titanic would have felt. Then using Voice Thread discuss with the children what we know about the Titanic already and also what we know the men who built the Titanic were like. This is a great way to gather new information for the students.
At the end of the lesson we finished off painting our puppets from the last class and when I returned home I was able to dress my puppet up so it looked like the Irish Dancer I had planned for it to look like.
Hope you enjoyed this weeks post!
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Lesson 2
In today's Art Class we were looking at different Artistic Techniques and also we took a look at what different types of materials could be used in the classroom. I have found that the types of materials used here in Gent are quite similar in a way to those used back at home in Ireland.
Firstly we learnt a little bit about Puppetry, something which I did not know a lot about before i entered the classroom but I have came out with a greater knowledge on this type of Art. We learnt about Pierke Pierlala and the Puppet Buskers in the Ghent Festival. I could relate these puppets to some that I watched as a child in Ireland they were called Zig and Zag and were famous in Ireland.
In the class as the main theme was Artistic Techniques we then carried out some different activities using different materials. All the activities we have done so far in Art Class have opened a new way of teaching Art to children that before i would have found quite hard.
Firstly we carried out an activity called Clay Dictation. This was when we were each given a piece of clay and we listened to the teacher and started to work with the clay straight away. This left it that you didn't have much time to think about it and in a way I thought this was great. Everyone worked on their own piece and had their own ideas and found it very fun. It allowed everyone to show their creative sides.
We also got to produce a drawing which we used only charcoal, a twig from a tree and some pink paint. We used the inspiration from the twig for the shape and structure which we would then draw with the charcoal.
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We then moved on to start a puppet making activity using paper mache. I have used this method before many times and i have also during my time in secondary school made a clay puppet before so i was delighted to have the opportunity to do this again. Along with the guidance I have been given I began to make my own puppet.
I am going to make a puppet with links to my home Country of Ireland. The puppet I am going to create is going to be an Irish dancer who will wear a green dress and have red hair. This would be a typical view of an Irish dancer I will show you in the picture below.
Firstly we learnt a little bit about Puppetry, something which I did not know a lot about before i entered the classroom but I have came out with a greater knowledge on this type of Art. We learnt about Pierke Pierlala and the Puppet Buskers in the Ghent Festival. I could relate these puppets to some that I watched as a child in Ireland they were called Zig and Zag and were famous in Ireland.
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| Here is Zig and Zag |
Firstly we carried out an activity called Clay Dictation. This was when we were each given a piece of clay and we listened to the teacher and started to work with the clay straight away. This left it that you didn't have much time to think about it and in a way I thought this was great. Everyone worked on their own piece and had their own ideas and found it very fun. It allowed everyone to show their creative sides.
We also got to produce a drawing which we used only charcoal, a twig from a tree and some pink paint. We used the inspiration from the twig for the shape and structure which we would then draw with the charcoal.
We then moved on to start a puppet making activity using paper mache. I have used this method before many times and i have also during my time in secondary school made a clay puppet before so i was delighted to have the opportunity to do this again. Along with the guidance I have been given I began to make my own puppet.
I am going to make a puppet with links to my home Country of Ireland. The puppet I am going to create is going to be an Irish dancer who will wear a green dress and have red hair. This would be a typical view of an Irish dancer I will show you in the picture below.
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