Toy Hacking

Saturday the 28th of March

TOY HACKING

It was a cold and rainy day so quite quiet on the market and not much passing traffic. So once we were set up we were pleased to be visited by David Wheeler from IOU ( IOU were in town with Fulcrum http://www.ioutheatre.org/events/fulcrum-new-picture-house-dewsbury-483). He got the ball rolling by accepting our challenge to create a new toy or creature from the assembled chaos of old toys, meccano and airfix kits.

 David's enthusiastic sawing generated lots of interest and attracted interest in the stall. he had soon made our first exhibit - Tyrannosaurus GTX.

His sawing gave Liz a great idea. She decided to chop the toys up and set about the task with gusto. With hacksaw in hand Liz created toy carnage.

Once the process had begun we soon had our first customers and we were busy all day without even time to stop for lunch. There were endless creative reconstructions as body parts from disparate toys were reconfigured and reattached with wire, cable ties and hot glue.Siblings collaborated and parents couldn't help getting involved. We couldn't resist contributing our own constructions. The Museum now has it's very own Bestiary.

 

 

FLORA FANTASTICA

 So, if you wanted to find something in Dewsbury Market to make prints with, what would you use....?


Potatoes, of course!!

Ashley had heard about our project via the web and came down to join in. 

In the photos on the right she ably demonstrates the art of potato printing, and adds her exhibit to the Museum, starting our 'Flora Fantastica' collection.










Another passer-by demonstrates effective technique.

                                               Is this one of Dewsbury's hidden creatures?

Liz helps one of our younger visitors, while Rob proves it's not just the kids who can have all the fun.

 The potatoes themselves will provide interesting exhibits.

 And, so, after another day of lively creativity, we have the second collection to add to our growing museum. 

Next week, we'll use TOY HACKING to discover more of the hidden delightful creatures of Dewsbury Market.

Saturday 14th March

Saturday 14th March 2015
The first public workshops - 'The Insect Imaginarium' or 'Stick & Build'.

In the bitterish cold of the morning Ben (donated to us for the day by Creative Scene) and Liz prepared the 'plates' for the workshop.
Gluing squares of tissue paper onto cardboard with pritt stick sounds easy, but cold fingers, a slight breeze and not being able to find the scissors from one second to the next, made this task trickier than anticipated.
Jim arrived with lots of wood, started to saw, drill and screw and during the day, nose to the grindstone, made the framework for our display boxes.  He had lots of chats with curious passer-byes and was given advice on how to handle his drill properly.
Rozi went in search for frames and decorative treasures from the market. Her task, to build up our display cases, in those spare moments between documenting the activity, discussing the museum, talking to interested members of the public and directing buyers for teeshirts to the correct stall holder.

At 10.30am Ben and Liz had their first workshop participant, and didn't look up again until 3pm. (Apart from a cup of tea and some chips whilst preparing more plates)
 Plasticene, tissue paper and beads were the materials used and were rolled, pressed, shaped, felt-penned and glued into marvelous beasts. Insects with goggly eyes, insects with 6, 4 or 2 legs, multi-coloured creatures, flattened ones, bulky ones, grimacing ones and smiling ones.  The exhibits finished were given names such as 'Spotus Bugus' and 'Sparkly Winged Thing', donated to the museum, and pegged up to dry.
Families worked together, shoppers stopped and watched, an art worker came for ideas, all talked about their creations, what we were doing and what they liked to do. Children said that they wanted to come back and join in on other workshops and one family said they would make some insects at home to give to the museum the following Saturday.

By the end of the day the 'Dewsbury Museum of Delights' had its first fantastic exhibits on display, two gloriously framed posters, a wall of papier-mached exhibition cases, and some very happy, if slightly hyperthermic, participants and artists.

The next Saturday workshop on the 21st March will be 'Ink & Stamp'.  Liz & Jim will be there on Wednesday to prepare for this and make more objects for the collection.

TAKING UP RESIDENCE

Our first day of the 6 week residency and we’ve got sunshine! Exciting to see our 2 empty stalls, ready and waiting for us. This was our test-day, to help folk get used to us being here, and also for us to find out more about the market. The weather seemed the main issue, and as the day progressed the wind picked up, and the rain began. It helped to see what impact the weather will have on our stall, before we build too much. So glad the market has provided the tarp roofing!

Jim and Liz had a good look around the market, and started buying the things we’ll need for our workshop on Saturday. This first one, we’ve called  ‘Stick and Build’. Our Museum would need display cabinets, so making these was a good place to start. Jim came back from the Veg Man, with loads of fruit boxes. He’d also found a couple of useful books on the bookstall.  It was good to start meeting the stallholders, although some were too busy to talk – obviously – as they needed to keep an eye out for their customers.

We started constructing the cabinets by adding shelves, and then covering them in the torn up books. A welcome cup of tea also had its uses, with the cup becoming a pot to mix the pva and water in, and the tea bag providing staining to give an aged effect. It was great working on the stall, despite the rain, although Jim got distracted reading paragraphs out to us.

Jim's letters for our sign. More to make on Saturday.

As the day went on, and the stall holders had a moments break, they came over to see what we were doing. The lady I’d bought some net from, came over to donate some more scrap pieces. I was told some intriguing ghost stories. The Perfume Man came up with some great ideas for exhibits that will stimulate the mind, through smell. He then created ‘The Perfume Flower’, our first exhibit and we’ve barely started!

ARTISTS AT WORK

As part of CREATIVE SCENE's Artist at Work project , 3 artists, Jim Bond (Kinetic Sculptor), Liz Walker (Puppeteer) and Rozi Fuller (Animator) have taken up residency in Dewsbury Market, with the aim to build a pop-up museum with help from shoppers and stall holders. The Museum will be inspired by stories gathered from shoppers and stall holders, and filled with exhibits created during the Saturday Workshops.