This workshop is intended for school groups (grades 1–3 of primary education), inspired by the works of Michal Kern, who in his photography investigates the boundaries between the human being and nature. Within photographic frames, the artist captures ephemeral traces, which are marks of human activity in the world; they include e.g. a path trodden in snow or the imprint of a hand on the ground. The moment of conscious touching and experiencing appears to be treated by the artist as an act of art, which he documents through his works.

Following these lines of inquiry, and drawing on works such as Touch, First Touch, and First Footprint, we will address the motif of the human hand and create sensory works, preceded by a visit to the exhibition and sensory experiments centred on the sense of touch.

During these sensory exercises we will employ such natural materials as moss, slices of wood, pine cones, sticks, feathers, leaves, sand, and stones, as well as hydrogel beads contained within a shatterproof vessel into which the hand may be inserted.

The children will then produce sensory collages in the shape of a hand, filled with natural materials, constituting a summation of our experience.

Patterning ourselves on Kern’s approach, through the experience of encountering nature, we will create a visual record of the moment, producing individual or collective works. The children will get acquainted with the techniques of collage and frottage; they will make imprints and assemble compositions.

moderator: Natalia Adamczyk

1st group 9 am - 10.30 am

2nd group 11 am - 12.30 pm

registration: joanna.tekla@arsenal.art.pl