Fiona Hall: Force Field Education Kit - Museum of Contemporary Art

MCA Education KitPage21POST-VISIT PRACTICAL ACTIVITY FORSECONDARY LEVELDarkroom Photography Exercise: Text andNature PhotogramsLength: 2-3 hoursAge group: Year 9-12Drawing on Fiona Hall’s themes of trade,currency and geographical history and herphotographic practice, students will createtheir own unique artworks that express afeeling of place.Students will develop these ideas through aseries of photogram images. They willdesign a personal motif based on abotanical specimen they locate within theschool or museum grounds, and use this asthe basis of their thematic investigation intoidentity, place and formal composition.• Students to contribute up to three otherobjects which have personalsignificance to them.• In the darkroom, under a safe light,Students to layer objects and plantmaterials onto 5x7 photographic paper.Students must use at least one sourceof text or Letraset for each composition.• Once a composition is developed,students can put the glass plate over thetop to keep their arrangement flat.• Students to make photograms of theircompositions using the enlarger as alight source, and develop these in theprovided chemicals.• Students to produce at least tenphotograms each. These can bedisplayed around the classroom in aseries, or overlaid onto each other in asimilar composition to Fiona Hall’sWhen my boat comes in (2002–)Materials:• Letraset or other text (you canphotocopy text, letters or headlines ontoclear plastic if you cannot find Letraset)• Plants and flowers collected outside.• Other objects such as jewellery or coinswhich have personal significance for thestudents.• Glass plates to keep the objects flat.Method:• Students to participate in a viewing ofFiona Hall: Force Field. A particularfocus is the works in the ‘Paradise’,‘Territory’ and ‘Trade’ zones, looking atHall’s composition and weaving togetherof materials and ideas.• Students to collect a range of plants andflowers from your garden or the schoolgrounds (make sure you are allowed todo this).Student examples of photograms, MCA Bella Workshop April 2008.