Ways of Reading – Co:Creation Artist Workshop Series
2022
Workshop
Upon an invitation from Co:Creation Workshop, this workshop was developed for secondary and tertiary students based on my art practice. Initiated while the COVID-19 pandemic was still at its height, this workshop was meant to be partially facilitated online in a socially-distanced world. Using a pre-assembled kit, students could be guided through an experience that would not only teach them a new technique, but also expose them to the approaches of a local contemporary artist.
Ways of Reading is an amalgamation of mark-making and textual interpretation. Through a series of 6 exercises, students annotate a short fairy tale using simple stationery provided in the kit. Instructions such as ‘circle every word related to numbers’ or ‘poke a hole in every letter O’ are executed on tracing paper overlaying the given fairy tale printed on A3-sized paper. This alternative way of ‘reading’ is also an alternative means of ‘drawing’ – by the end, students will have created loose pseudo-diagrammatic analyses that, when removed from the text, form an abstract sketch.
The six exercises are:
Using the coloured pencils, circle every word in the story that is related to a) numbers, and b) places.
Using the pencil, underline every mention of a character in the story.
Using the pushpin, poke a hole in the letter ‘O’ every time you see it.
Find the 7th word of every line. Using a marker, draw a cross on the 1st letter of that word. After you are done, connect all the crosses on the page.
Using correction fluid, hide any word that you consider to have a negative meaning.
Make up a rule of your own that tells you where to place the stickers provided on your drawing.