Metabiosis - ‘In Motion’

Metabiosis saw year five pupils from Shortwood Primary School in Telford embark on a creative journey to explore the theme of transforming space.

Working in collaboration with visual artists, dancers, photographers and filmmakers, the young people involved were given the opportunity to create unique pieces of visual and performance art. The young people then shared their creative outcomes with their peers and the wider community in a celebration event at their school.

The young people created ‘action paintings’ inspired by the work of Jackson Pollock using an authentic approach (replicating Jackson Pollack) using large canvasses on the floor and lots of paint claimed their family sheds! They also created acrylic paintings based on the  ‘Futurism’ arts movement inspired by Giocomo Balla. Working as professional photographers the children produced self portraits and unusual light trail images and as installation artists exploring perspective they produced a 'gallery of mirrors'.

The creative work produced has been installed as permanent features around the school transforming space in artistic ways that help realise the potential of the school environment as a gallery and interactive learning environment enabling all of the pupils to engage with their physical environment in new creative ways.

The project had a positive impact on the whole school community and even had an unforeseen outcome as the young artists had offers from the public to buy their artwork inspiring a future enterprise opportunity for the children to explore how they could operate a sustainable art gallery that generates a revenue stream.

“I thought in ‘In Motion’ was brilliant because we were learning without even knowing it”.

Haroon, Class 11, Year Five.