We love building things with our daughter Ada. Sometimes we use typical crafting materials and sometimes we use whatever we find around the house. Lately, it’s been cold outside and we have been indoors making a lot of things with her. She can learn about tactile materials with simple projects and power tool safety with more complicated projects. It gives us a way to incorporate her into our art making process. Having her along for the ride, has changed both the things we are interested in making and how we approach making those things.
Some simple projects:
The Sparkly Stuff, Neon Tape, and Glue Map
The Found Cork and Some Rubber Bands Flipper (made on old cabinet hinges in the kitchen)
Brett recently made the some more complicated things with Ada as part of a project he is doing with Temporary Services, the arts group he has been working with for almost fifteen years. Taking found materials from around the apartment, he created a group of dolls for an exhibition in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The dolls were inspired by puppets the artist Paul Klee made for his children. Before they could be shown in the exhibition, Ada had to test them out by playing with them.
The Robot Man Doll (made from an old lamp, plastic jug and lid, food cans and other items)
Secret Snake with Riveted Eyes (made from a bunch of found materials)
The exhibition, Beyond the Paint, opens this Thursday in Philadelphia, PA. More information can be found here.
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