Who’s Water?—Cyanotype on Fabric
SCHOOL PROGRAM LESSON PLAN – 4 to 6
Who’s Water?—Cyanotype on Fabric
Final Project Description:
6”x6” cyanotype fabric square illustrating the student’s perspective on water’s sovereignty.
Description:
Is water a commodity to be traded and sold like shoes or is it a human right like air? Artists often use their work to speak out about issues they feel strongly about. Students will engage in a discussion about Canada’s water and think about how they think our water resources should be managed. They will then create a cyanotype fabric patch that illustrates their view.
Theory (taken from the BC Curriculum PLOs)
Students will:
· Create images that use elements and principles of design such as form, contrast and emphasis
· Create images that communicate ideas and express beliefs and values
· Use speaking and listening to interact with others for the purpose of sharing ideas and opinions.
Workshop Duration: 60 minutes
In Gallery: 5 minutes of discussion about a particular photograph (specify after reviewing app) using the iPad’s Water app as a learning tool.
In Studio: 5 minutes of focused discussion about Canada’s water, 5 mins demo explaining the materials and technique, 40 mins on project, 5 mins for wrap up and possible discussion or look at other’s work to end class.
Prep:
· Stuff light-proof envelopes with 6x6” squares of cyanotype fabric
· Set up each child’s station with the necessary materials (listed below)
· Set up a demo station in the centre of the room
· Test light-table to ensure it is working properly
· Set up the projector or computer with Watermark video from Vice website: http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/discussing-watermark-on-the-georgian-bay-with-jennifer-baichwal-nick-pencier-and-ed-burtynsky
· Get iPad out of the Resource Room and open “Water” app to [insert detail here after reviewing the app]
Materials:
· 6x6” square of cyanotype fabric in light-proof envelope
· Coloured tag and safety pin to label work
· Plexiglass plate
· India ink
· 6x6” square of scrap paper
· Pencil
· Paint brush
· Water cups
· Buckets with 2” water
Before students begin, make sure they write their name on a small label. Attach the label to their completed patch with a safety pin.
Discussion:
· Teachers have been asked to show their class the video Water on the Table (http://tvo.org/video/164593/water-table) before their visit. Ask the teacher if they have had a chance to do this yet – whether or not the children have seen this will change how much context you need to provide for the discussion.
· Help the children gain perspective on how much water is being taken from BC groundwater every year by groups such as Nestle.
• Nestle withdraws an estimated 265 million litres of fresh water from Hope, BC every year: what does this look like?
§ A 1L bottle of water measures 10” tall, Nestle extracts 265 million litres a year. If you stacked the 1L bottles, they would make a stack 67,310km tall. The Earth is 40,075km in circumference; the Moon is 10,917km in circumference. The stack of water bottles Nestle extracts from the Hope well in one year could wrap around the Earth once and around the Moon 2.5 times. The distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,472km. It would take 5.7 years for the water bottle stack to reach from the Earth to the Moon. Nestle has been operating the well in Hope, BC for 15 years: they have already reached the moon 2.6 times.
• Under the 1909 Water Act (still in effect), there are no regulations to protect BC’s groundwater. This means that Nestle is able to extract as much groundwater as it wants without paying anything for it: what does this look like?
§ A 1.5L bottle of Nestle water is $1.19 at the grocery store. If they extract 265 million litres per year, they would create 176,666,666 1.5L bottles per year. At $1.19 apiece, Nestle would earn $210,233,333 every year from a resource that they did not pay for.
§ The new Water Sustainability Act is expected to come into effect in 2015. Under the new Act, companies will be charged 0.85$ for every 1,000 cubic meters of water the extract. 1,000 cubic meters = 1,000,000 litres, therefore Nestle will pay $225.25 for what earns them +$210M
· It is important to be clear that you are not providing an answer to this question: you are discussing different viewpoints and asking the class to question the material and come to their own conclusions. The aim of these discussions is to encourage the children to be questioning and involved in the world around them, not to propagate a particular view.
· There is way more to discuss than you have time for, pick and choose as suits you and the class – remember that the important thing is that the children think about water and how it is used.
Demonstration:
Introduce students to the cyanotype process with a brief bit of history:
(quoted from http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/history/cyanotype-history-john-herschels-invention)
The cyanotype process, also known as the blueprint process, was first introduced by John Herschel in 1842. Sir John was an astronomer, trying to find a way of copying his notes. Herschel managed to fix pictures using hyposulphite of soda as early as 1839. In the early days the paper was coated with iron salts and then used in contact printing. The paper was then washed in water and resulted in a white image on a deep blue background. (Apart from the cyanotype process, Herschel also gave us the words photography, negative, positive and snapshot.)
Show students your demo materials: scrap paper with image sketch, plexi plate with image drawn on in black ink and completed cyanotype patch.
Explain the process:
· Use the scrap paper to sketch our your idea
· Place the plexi square over the paper and trace out your design with the black ink, refining the image as you go
· Expose the cyanotype fabric on the light table
· Rinse the fabric in water buckets
· Attach name tag, place on drying rack
Creation & Analysis:
Ask children to begin by writing their names on their coloured tags, and then to begin sketching out their ideas. Encourage discussion as they draw – what are they trying to convey? Will they choose to use text as well as images? Only text? Only images?
As students are working, use the projector or computer to play the Watermark video from Vice’s website http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/discussing-watermark-on-the-georgian-bay-with-jennifer-baichwal-nick-pencier-and-ed-burtynsky
Review:
Ask students to look at each other’s work at the end of class to see how other students approached their project. How are they similar? How are they different? Has this activity made them aware of how artists can communicate their ideas and beliefs through their work?
Where do the students want to display their patch? On a backpack? Talk about how people often use patches and buttons to display their views.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS:
http://tvo.org/video/164593/water-table
http://o.canada.com/news/nestle-bottled-water-cost
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/new-rules-forcing-nestle-other-bottlers-to-pay-for-b-c-water-1.1503536