COME LET US LIVE WITH OUR INNER CHILDREN is a collaborative interactive sculpture created by artists Feyishara Adelekan, Rebecca Bersohn, Erica Garber, Casey Glover, Catharine Maloney, Adena Stevens and Liz Zacharia. The title is an adaptation of an original mistranslation of Froebel's philosophy. The following visual diary is the result of the artists' research of Frederick Froebel, the inventor of Kindergarten, and his 20 gifts that combine learning, art and play. As they have, the artists invite the viewers to connect with their own INNER children through play.
Froebel's 3rd gift, blocks, is the simple yet elegant first in a series of lessons using blocks. This gift presents a larger cube made from a symmetrical stack of 8 smaller wooden cube blocks. With these 8 cube blocks a child is supposed to gain an understanding of part and whole and fractions, and also explore symmetric patterns. As I pondered this gift, I thought a lot about how to further convey a part of a whole. I also thought about asymmetrical patterns that I am more drawn to as an adult and about early childhood drawings. I felt that if this set of 8 blocks had one colored one, then that might focus a child in on the part of the whole concept and perhaps he could use this block to influence form of compositions created with the blocks. After making one set of the colored blocks I considered how a change in color would possibly affect a change in composition. So I created 3 more. Here is my Gift 3, "Eighth Chromes."- Rebecca
When researching Froebel's 10th Gift, drawing, I discovered similar images from parquetry only these images were drawn on graph paper and were described as a tool to develop vocational skills. Children would fill in the sections of graph paper in combination to form images. In my experience with Froebel, I found that at times I grew frustrated with the rigidness of some of the tasks as wondered what effect that might have on creativity. So for this I piece I wanted to take an image that already existed that I had no creative impulses over and translate in on to graph paper with filled in sections. In my research I found myself drawn to portraits Froebel. I thought 'what better way to convey Froebel, than with a portrait of him drawn in his own vernacular.' This was no easy task as I had to reduce complex curvilinear parts into smaller rectilinear parts and I found myself failing to complete the task to perfection. However, in its whole I feel that this is a portrait Froebel would have appreciated. Rebecca Bersohn's Gift 10, "Froebelgraph."
- Rebecca
When researching Froebel's Gift #16 I found that this was a sort of nebulous gift in the community of Froebel investigators and enthusiasts. Clumped in with the other 4 sticks, rings, slats, jointed slats and interlacing gifts. All definitions for Gift 16 seemed to be intentionally vague explanations of the group as a whole. What I was able to glean from everything was: that some of the forms were intentionally stiff to create geometric shape, some of the sticks/slats could be used to convey images from life, within this group was an introduction of curved line. When discussing this with Catharine Maloney she suggested that I make a question mark with the materials, which I thought was the best possible summation of my experience with gift 16; it has curved lines, stiff lines, slats and rings and it deals with my overall confusion. This is my Gift #16, "Froebel's Question Mark."
- Rebecca
