Digital Art: Arts Celebration 2019

Inspired by the work of Semiconductor (the UK duo whose exhibition we viewed at City Gallery), a group of budding digital artists have been exploring ideas from our learning with a range of tools.

See the slideshow below for more of Semiconductor's work and our mahi for Arts Celebration preparation so far.

We have been thinking hard about planning our Art - we want to make sure we are telling a story about Earth's natural environment (te taiao) or outer space (tuarangi). 

"I might use garage band to record natural sounds like birds or wind and water rushing. I would also like to use dark and bright colours and earth tones." - Sabine M

"We think black holes are an interesting subject and are going for a more realistic touch, but we also still want it to make the black hole look like a black hole." - Avery D & Naomi K

"I will be using Silk and Giphy. Silk is a way to make art out of almost coloured light. Giphy is how you make the stop motion video." - Emelia K

"I want to film raindrops falling down onto a flower but the flower doesn't grow. When the rain stops and the sun comes out the flower starts growing rapidly." - Hunter T

"I want to use different digital art programs, and I also want to try and be as creative as i can!" - Raffy K

"The pictures will be like bright, glowing cobwebs and Silk. Wind and explosion audio will accompany my art." - Fülōp N

Here is a sneak peak of what we are creating. This tester was made from a mixture of one group's audio with another artist's visual, created on Silk.

Stargazing with the Stargazers

It's exciting times in Māhutonga/Matariki as we do our own group inquiries into the wonders of the cosmos. We are finding this inquiry sparking our curiosity... and at times making our brains hurt! 

"Wow, it looks like a sticker"

"That was the most beautiful thing I ever saw"

On Tuesday we were lucky enough to be visited by the Wellington Astronomical Society. The students had the opportunity to see Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon. We had an awesome turn out, thank you for braving the cold!

Joakim: Interview by Adam and Mitchell

Joakim Lihman:  Friend to Worser Bay School, native trees and many animals 

Have you ever gone for a walk around Miramar and you look around and see a young man either carrying trays of plants or traps?  That’s most likely to be Joakim Lihman. He's a very good friend of Worser Bay Whetūkairangi School and he is making a huge difference around Miramar Peninsula. We have been able to interview him about the things he has done around Motu Kairangi (Miramar Peninsula).  We asked him some questions and these are some of the things he told us about himself. He grew up in Sweden, a country with moose deer and a lot of other wildlife.  Right from the start Joakim loved nature. When Joakim was little there was a big pond that frogs mated in not far from his house.  It was an amazing ecosystem but one day the council filled the pond in and built a house over it. He was upset about it and that inspired him to dig a big six by four metre hole in his backyard. His dad was so proud of him that they went and bought a pond liner to keep the water in. A couple of years later the frogs  started mating in his pond. He was super excited because he had restored an ecosystem. 
This is the same work he has continued to do in the Miramar area since he arrived here about ten years ago. .Joakim has set up a group of volunteers who are involved with reforestation of the peninsula. They are doing amazing work. Now there is a massive programme to rid the peninsula of all pests.  Who is leading this initiative? Why it’s Joakim! Again! They have set thousands of bait stations and traps and want to try and make Motu Kairangi pest free by 2020. Join Joakim and his friends on planting projects. You can find them on facebook.

By Adam and Mitchell

Sculpture; Arts Celebration

We have been thinking about how to communicate some of the idea which are important to us with sculpture. Alexander Calder liked the idea of expressing joy and playfulness through his artworks.  We think that is a pretty cool thing to express and had a go at using his idea when we made these prototypes.

Arts Taster Day - Matisse and Character Strengths

On Friday in another rotation we looked at the work of Matisse. We liked how he used bright block colour in his art. We found that different people saw different things in his work.

We took our learning about Matisse and created our own art inspired by the VIA character strengths.

Heading into our Arts Celebration this group will continue this work into creating a piece of art to represent our Inquiry learning in Term 1. 

See what we create at our Visual Arts Celebration on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 August from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. 

Art Taster Day- Cubism- Visual Arts Celebration

On Friday we had an "Art Taster" day. We looked at different artist models to get inspiration for our Visual Arts Celebration. 

In one of our rotations we looked at the work of Picasso and Braque who developed Cubism. They had a huge influence on Western Art at the beginning of the 20th Century. 

Here are some of our initial thoughts about Cubism: 

Hunter R- It is like cutting things up and putting them back together.
Nye- Shatter a vase then put it together without all of pieces or instructions. Like an unfinished jigsaw
Georgia- it looks like something being reorganised
Rim- It is layers on layers
Ruby- it looks like expressing yourself in two ways. Two different feelings at the same time.
Isabella- it looks like a picture that has been taken apart then put back together.
Eva- It looks like pictures stuck into pieces then put in random places.
Joni- It is abstract art and does not matter if it looks real. It is imaginative stuff rather than copying from real life.
Naomi- It has been scrambled and does not make sense.
Lily V- Everything is mixed. There is a normal drawing then adding it with something else. It is like a professional artist mixed with a kid drawing.
Lachlan: We are making two faces. One of them is different to the other one in a different way.
Angus: It is like getting a photo of someone’s face and cutting it out and putting it in different places. It is making things look stranger than usual. 

Visual Arts Celebration - 5.30pm to 7.30pm on Wed 21 and Thurs 22 August Our annual Celebration of The Arts and Student Learning is on the horizon. Our spaces will be open to the community on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 August from 5.30pm to 7.00pm.  We would love to see whānau on either of the evenings to view the artworks across the school. Expect to see art in response to our inquiries over the last two terms and hear music inspired by our learning.  To ensure the evening runs smoothly, please read the following: There will be QR codes linked to children’s artwork in order to listen to music, stories and background information relating to their art. A QR reader on your cellphone and headphones will be essential! Bring a torch to navigate the way as the sun sets. Keep an eye out for further information on Class Blogs and in the Newsletter. Parking is always tricky. If possible, walk to school and make it a night out for the family. If you do need to park - please think “will the bus get through regardless of whether you parked legally or not…?!”  or this could be the result!

Te Reo Māori

There's a saying in Te Reo Māori which goes: Ko taku reo taku ohooho, ko taku reo taku mapihi mauria. It means "My language is my awakening, my language is the window to my soul." At WBS we want to make sure that staff and students alike are able to learn and grow in their understanding of Māori language and culture. 

Many of us dream of a future where te reo is used more widely in the lives of all Kiwis. We are working towards that future now, with regular Te Reo Māori lessons as part of our programme. 

Here is a recap of some of our learning so far this year:

We can describe giving and receiving objects

We can express how we are feeling

We can express likes/dislikes

We have adopted kīwaha/sayings

We can have short, informal conversations

We can recite our pepeha

This is a mere snapshot of all our reo. All the while we have also been performing kapa haka, learning about Māori history, celebrating Matariki and carrying out tikanga Māori such as pōwhiri, karakia and kōrero paki (storytelling). Mīharo!

Stay tuned as our Te Reo Māori learning for Term 3 kicks in next week. With Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori coming up, it's going to be a big one. Kia kaha te reo Māori. Korero Māori mai!