Evgenia E. Palla, Angelos Floros, Apostolos Loufopoulos

Presented: May 28-29, Corfu / Online, Ionian University , 2021, link

An experimental workshop for children and young adolescents was realized at the Corfu Archaeological Museum, on May 2019, as part of the research for a master’s degree on audiovisual arts, at Ionian University, Corfu (IU). The workshop was created with supervision by Angelos Floros, professor at IU, for the interactive installations part and advising by Apostolos Loufopoulos, professor at IU, on the elements of sound. 

The workshop was designed within the frames of interdisciplinary learning and participatory art and was based on the practices of Maker culture and STEAM education, willing to highlight the importance of arts and technology in learning. Main purposes were to investigate new ways of creative learning outside the classroom, towards the aim of well-being during learning, as a life-long important element, and to integrate visual and sound art with humanities, in a hands-on experience. 

The participants, children and adolescents 11 to 15 years old, were initially guided to the important archaic find exhibited at the Archaeological museum of Corfu, a pediment depicting ancient Greek goddess Artemis-Gorgo, got acquainted with the myth surrounding it and with its meaning for the archaic people.

After a series of introductory activities for team building and self-connecting to the theme, the children were separated into two groups. The first group made electronic circuits which produced sounds via photocell-photo resistor and conductive paint. The second group created conductive drawings with lines and forms inspired by the archaic pediment imagery. The two groups combined their work to make interactive installations were circuits and sensors were used to “read” the tonal variations and line elements of the pencil drawings. The participants experimented with the devices on the conductive drawings, played and performed improvisations and also presented their experience and feelings to audience.

All participants answered a research form documenting their thoughts and opinions about the workshop. The procedure of designing and realization of the workshop are presented in detail, as an example of an extended discussion concerning the international practices and theories through time, on the relation of image and sound, the integration of art and technology, the participation in creation and its importance for learning in contemporary communities and the opportunities these practices offer for the future.