As a librarian I regularly bring interesting and unusual books into the classroom as part of my teaching; for both critical analysis and inspiration. So, when the ASCC (Archives and Special Collections Centre) proposed a joint training session with the LCC Library Team, exploring the use of archival material for object-based learning, it seemed a good way of further developing my skills.
The session situated itself within the theoretical framework of object-based self-enquiry (Barton and Willcocks, 2017) and creative responses to the archive (Chow, 2019), arguing that an encounter with archival material affords the opportunity to reflect on one’s creative practice and in turn be inspired to make.
As a pedagogical approach we were invited to take on the role of learners, and by doing so learn how to facilitate the process ourselves. A range of objects from the archive had been selected to represent a diverse set of intellectual, social and aesthetic stimuli; they were laid out on a table, and we were then given 10-15 minutes to explore the material and choose one as our source of inspiration. At this point we were given no contextual information, instead relying on personal responses.
Once selected a 30-minute period was set for us to make a creative response. We were encouraged to use the pens, paper, glue and card provided, but also to think about written or photographic approaches. I chose the Large Red Weave from the Barbra Sawyer Archive (ND), and decided to focus on translating the woven strata into a formal flat graphic style, which incorporated aspects of my own work’s iconography.
After we had completed our pieces, we initially shared our creative journeys in small groups, explaining personal choices and approaches. Only then in a larger group, led by the teacher, was the contextual information about our inspirational objects shared, allowing us to place our practice in relation to the archive.
Following the session, we discussed the risks required to facilitate creative responses to objects, and the need to withhold contextual information that more traditionally would be used in the scaffolding process. I left feeling inspired to try and include more aspects of creative response to objects in my own teaching.
References
- Barton, G. and Willcocks, J. (2017) ‘Object-based self-enquiry: A multi- and trans- disciplinary pedagogy for transformational learning’, Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, 2(3), pp. 229–245.
- Chow, A. (2019) ‘Uses of archives as creative activity: what does it mean to be creative within the archive and library profession?’, Art Libraries Journal, 44(1), pp. 13–18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2018.37.
- Sawyer, B. (ND) Large Red Weave, University of the Arts London