The work that I intend to do in the classroom represents an attempt to bring children away from consumer culture, and to present them with an opportunity to act as producers. Of course, I realize that we are using commercially produced, imported glass beads, thread and beading needles, but I see these materials as media for the students to use to create their own original art. So far, I have seen an interesting mix of influences on students’ artwork. Many works contain students’ original design ideas, while a few works contain elements of popular culture icons, like the New York Yankees’ logo. Another student has a plan to make a beaded hacky sack by weaving beads into a warp of embroidery floss, because he wants to have his own hacky sack. I have yet to see fully (if there is ever a possibility to see anything fully!) how consumption of advertised products affects students’ creativity in production.
What does discretionary consumption, or teaching children to want something that parents or teachers want for them, have to do with my work? How are the tasks that I am asking students to do affecting their autonomy over their own ideas for their projects? How does the presentation of materials affect what ideas they conceive? How does this project facilitate, or not facilitate learning, socialization, self-expression or natural pleasure in the classroom?
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