Project 2 - String Lamps

The craft club is certainly generating interest among the students and staff, academic and administrative alike) - and this week a few young men stopped by my office wanting to join the craft club.  So to keep the project more gender neutral project and ensure it be fun and challenging, I planned the advent of the great string lamp making marathon.  Who can resist a gorgeous lampshade in earthy textures and natural colours. The organic shape and texture is hypnotically drawing. They have the look and feel of luxury. 

Instructables.com

There were a few problems right from the outset.  I could afford to make one string lamp - but the supplies needed for a group of 15 - was a little out of my range. 

At this stage, the running costs of the project fall entirely upon my shoulders - this might be a problem in the future.  Anyway I had to come up with a plan to bring the costs down, which has had implications for the overall projected success of the project as you will find out later on.

But onto the project itself.  Once more we met in the Boardroom, generously lent to us by the Department of Philosophy.  Students were asked a week earlier to bring with them various items needed for the project if they could.  They arrived eager and curious to find out how they were going to create a string lamp from the odd assortment of things they were asked to bring - which included among other things - a balloon, petroleum jelly, string and glue.

I had a feeling that they were not going to bring either right glue or not be able to find the right type of string.  So I decided to bring along half rolls of string, the half container of white glue that I had lying around the house and wallpaper paste.  My rationale was that wallpaper paste holds heavy wallpaper to a wall so it should be able to hold together string nicely right?  WRONG!

The students however were excited and loved that we got to get really messy squishing glue and string and blowing up balloons in one go.  It couldnt get any more childishy joyous than that.  We must have generated a lot of happy noise, because as we working, various members of staff came in t have a look at what was going on.

 All was going well, the instructions were so basic that it didnt take long to explain the method. The students began their projects - everyone was rather happy until they started running out of glue, and we needed lots of it. So my idea was to mix up the wallpaper paste with water and use that as the glue. It seemed to work well. I left the students to themselves - and went to do some admin work with the other staff members in our department.

There was a soft knock on the door - the students had come to call me to have a look at what they had come up with so far.  One of the best things I love about teaching craft is that you never know what creative idea will arise from the original technique.  I entered the room and was bowled over by the variations of string patterns and designs that they had independently come up with.

Anyway, we wrapped up the project with string lamps in the raw form, wet and squishy-like.  They left them in my office to dry - I assured them that the lamp would be rock solid like the example I had made before the class to show them.  A week and a half later - what we have are still very wet and squishy strings.....apparently the wallpaper paste did not work as intended.  But being the great sports the students are - they all reckon - it is not such a big deal because they main thing was that they learned how to make a cool lamp and they learned what NOT to use as the glue!  What a great bunch of people they are!

It was a rewarding and succesful meeting - a few students stayed behind later to tell me that it was the most amount of fun they had since arriving on campus.  For me that was a huge boost of confidence - the craft club beats out the wild parties on campus - YEAY for the craft club. 

Since I began work at the University, I have been wanting to do something meaningful with the students, something different and something that I am passionate about.  My colleague who watched me get ready for the club on Monday remarked on how "lit up" about it I was.  I have to admit, that this project has been the most rewarding thing that I have undertaken since beginning work here.   I have such a great vision for where we can take this - and I hope that we will be able to inspire other students and staff to initiate similar initiatives on campus.

Candice

Project 1 - 2012: Paper Beads

Artistic creativity knows no limits. Even with a non-existent budget, art can be borne out of the simplest of things. When reflecting on the direction of the craft club one of the goals I felt passionate about was to encourage the spirit of an environmentally aware ethic - The vision was to impart the idea that art and craft was not necessarily the luxury of those who could afford expensive art supplies but to be aware of the fact that art most often is the repurposing of everyday items into expressions of creativity. 

different patterns yield different bead shapes

So for the first project of the first meeting of Unizulu's very own students Craft Club, we hit on a way to reuse paper waste created by printing of magazines, newspapers, advertisement flyers and even regular documents.   

Cutting out the bead pattern

The students were introduced to the art of paper-bead rolling. They were taught very basic bead-rolling techniques to create various bead shapes.

Comparing the bead to the desired shape

hard at work

The students seemed to grasp the concept very quickly and set to work rolling and creating their own paper beads.

a skewer helps with uniformity

Once they got the basic technique down, within no time at all they began experimenting with designs of their own.  

blog.craftzine.com (bracelet)

  I then asked the students to find ways to incorporate their paper beads into an everyday item, the idea behind this was to encourage them to be creative - to actively find new and creative ways to apply the skill they just acquired.

 

makerfaire.com

I helped them out a little bit by suggesting that it could be a piece of art, an accessory or even a home decor item.

Of course the students looked at me horrified -
this I believe is the is the result of a generation raised on X-Box, TV and instant apps that predict your text for you - we may have inadvertently trained our children to not think outside the box - literally.   
At this point I sneakily introduce a little bit of Computer skill and Internet research training. I show them how to do an Internet search on various search engines to find inspiration.

cutoutandkeep.net (paperbead curtain)

A quick search yielded some fascinating projects created out of paper beads including incredible fashion accessories, a divider screen, a beaded curtain, decorative napkin rings, designer cards and even pieces of abstract art. 

textiles4you.blogspot.com (bags and purses) 

The sheer volume of amazing things people have done with paper beads was enough to get the students buzzing and they began to talk to each other about ideas they had.  I smiled smugly to myself - this is exactly what I was hoping for....

brooch pin

 Prior to the class I created a quick mini art project using various scrap pieces of wire, paper rolled up tight to make a kind of ribbon, corrugated packaging board, popsicle sticks, hat pins and a white-out pen to write a simple sentiment. I was hoping that it would demonstrate how simple items can be repurposed and recycled into a useful or fun new item. 

As of now - I am still waiting for the students to show me their completed projects.  They are little perfectionists though and want more time to get it just right.  I also think the threat of having their work showcased in the display cabinet is forcing a level of attention to detail with their projects that didn't occur to me.

Well I happily conclude my first report on this exciting new project.  Until next time be gone with our wasteful selves and hello to our creative wasteless selves! 





 

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WE ARE ONLINE!

It is my great pleasure to write the first blog post of Hands On Craft Club.  This is a project of my heart that I have been wanting to initiate for the last couple of years here at the University of Zululand.  I am incredibly moved and challenged by the interest that the project has generated so far. I will endeavour to facilitate the craft club to the best of my creative ability and sincerely look forward to maintaining this digital arm of the Hands On Craft Club.