Learning by doing

Last week after 18 month’s planning a delightful group of 14 students from Bowling Green University Ohio arrived at our studio in Wanaka for a three-day experiential workshop in environmental land art. It was one of the hottest days this year as we all gathered for a talk and video presentation about how Philippa and I came to work together around the world, sharing our art practice, publishing and exhibiting our many land art projects. They expressed intense interest in our work and there was good discussion.The students were aged between 19 and 22 and had chosen this trip to New Zealand because they wanted to learn about our culture and environment - particularly our approach to ecological and social sustainability. They also spent some days on environmental conservation projects with scientists in the mountains. 

We walked to a beautiful spring and wetland where they set about creating their own environmental sculptures from natural materials. The variety of materials and forms they chose was diverse. Each of them expressed their ideas and point of view creating a wide range of ephemeral sculptures, photographs and video.

Some of the group chose to work with us on a sculpture made from raupo stems and flax thread which we floated on the lake and photographed from above. Rain put an end to the proceedings but Philippa and I returned later to complete two versions of the work quickly to photograph in golden light just before the sun dropped behind the mountains.

We met at the wetland the following day to witness any changes to the sculptures and to photograph them in morning sunlight. The students were all pleased and happy with what they had achieved and experienced - one was so keen on her piece she carried it off to take home to America.