Mind Bridges
An investigation into attention as a ritual for age-old connections.
Follow the education project of Amsterdam Light Festival Edition 13 here! This year the students will work with artist Jeroen Alexander Meijer and Stichting Aandacht voor Aandacht. The theme of Edition 13 is Rituals. That is why we will investigate in an experience-oriented workshop what attention is, how we can focus it on the things we find important and we will create a ritual for one of the oldest connections in the city.
''There is a similarity between the stone bridges of Amsterdam, and the invisible bridges of attention between people. When I was young I noticed how difficult it was for me to keep my attention, it kept crumbling. I have slowly but surely restored this with the attention ritual meditation. Now the bridges of Amsterdam are crumbling, so we are creating a attention ritual for the bridge to restore both the physical and spiritual bridges that connect us.'' - Jeroen Alexander Meijer
GOLDEN LIGHT TOUR
Because of Blue Monday, we organize a boat trip together with Stichting Gouden Dagen in which we connect kids and elderly. On board the children guide to more than 100 elderly people. They tell them everything about this year's theme, the light artworks and of course how they created their own educational artwork. It is a magical evening full of light, art and connection!
TOGETHER ON THE BOAT
All children that participated in the project make a canal cruise, together with their classmates and a parent/guardian. On board they tell the story about the festival and, of course, about their 'own' artwork. Along the way they can draw the artworks in their workbook.
A SNEAK PEEK OF THE EDUCATION ARTWORK MIND BRIDGES
Amsterdam Light Festival has been open since November 28 and our artwork has been shining on the Kaasmarktsluis (Bridge 32) near Thorbeckeplein. Every evening there are about 200 different Mind Bridges from 47 classes from all over Amsterdam! Tip: you have the best view from the Utrechtsestraat.
ART IN THE CITY: ATTENTION TO THE ARTWORKS ON THE ROUTE
In preparation for the boat trip in which the children visit the festival with their class and view their own work of art, they have a workshop in which they learn everything about the light artworks on the route. That is important, because the children themselves are the guide for their parents. And so they must be informed of all the ins and outs! This way they learn everything about the theme of the festival and how the theme is correlated to each work of art. But also about the selection process of the works of art. For example, did you know that around 500 artists submitted their ideas last year, but only 24 works were selected? And what does the jury actually pay attention to when selecting a work? It is also very interesting to know how the artworks are created. In class, we show the artworks, as well as photos and videos of how the works are made. This way the children learn about the creation process. The children can also draw during the lesson. This helps them to remember which works of art have been told about. Here is an impression of some works of art on the route! Do you see the similarities?
THE CITY IN THE CLASS: ATTENTION TO CENTURY-OLD CONNECTIONS
In the second workshop ‘City in the classroom’ we pay attention to building bridges. Because just as our own attention is increasingly crumbling, the real bridges in Amsterdam are also crumbling if they don't get enough attention. So that's why there's so much work being done on the old bridges in the city. Because how often do you have to walk or cycle across a bridge to get to school? Or to the supermarket? In class we do several quiz rounds with facts and fables about rituals in construction. For example, do you have to buy cake for all your colleagues if you put your helmet on the table in the construction hut? Or do you think it is true that all fish are taken out of the water with a net when work is being done on the canal? And is there a real tree campsite where trees can stay while work is being done on the bridges and quays? To give the right answers, a real water worker comes into the classroom to help the quiz master give the right answers. We end the lesson with a challenge: building an arch bridge. Whichever group completes the bridge first and can place their workbooks on it without the bridge collapsing... that one wins! This creates a lot of concentration, tension and cheering! Take a look!
PROFESSOR STEFAN EXPLAINS
The main topic of the workshops is attention. Attention? Yes attention! It's something we need throughout the day to... well, actually to do everything! Listen to each other, buy something, have fun, learn and connect. Yet we live in a time of a lot of distractions. Our attention is sometimes not quite where we want it, especially because we spend a lot of time on our phone. Professor Stefan is conducting research into how we can keep our wits about us and has recorded a small lesson especially for this project. What exactly is attention, why is it so important that we pay more attention to it and how can you train attention? Watch the lesson here.
WE HAVE STARTED
The lights of the festival are not yet on, but we have already started. The first workshop in the series is Artist in the Classroom. An art teacher from Amsterdam Light Festival comes to the classroom with artist Jeroen or someone from iii to create the artwork Mind Bridges together. We are actually only in the classroom for a short time to explain what we are going to do. Then we take all the children to the gym or playroom, which we have temporarily converted into a special recording studio. See how the children are working here. They create connection rituals with their bodies, which are recorded with a special 3D camera that works with infrared light. That promises to be a special work of art...
TRY OUTS
A successful workshop program requires a lot of research and testing in advance. Various try-outs with children and teachers are used to determine whether the teaching material is educational and of course fun enough. Below are some snapshots of the tryouts.
SNEAK PEEK
Another important part of creating a work of art is trying out your ideas. You do this by sketching, testing, sketching again and testing again, and so on. See whether your ideas on paper or on the computer remain as beautiful when you implement them. Jeroen has sketches in special digital programs that look as if they are projected onto bridges in real life. To ensure that the artwork is clearly visible at night and can survive 53 days in all weather conditions, he has also tested them in real life. The work of art became something different each time, but can you already imagine what the entire work of art will look like?
WHO ARE JOINING?
The Education Project is intended for groups 6 to 8 from upper primary education in Amsterdam. New schools join the project every year. Very nice, because we want to involve as many children from as many different schools as possible in our festival! On the map below you can see how many schools from the different districts are participating.
OVER AMSTERDAM LIGHT FESTIVAL EN EDUCATIE
With our education project we introduce primary school students from all over Amsterdam to (light) art and the city. In a series of workshops at school they learn about the festival, the theme and the project topic of that year. In the meantime, they make a physical contribution to light artwork, which can be seen for 53 days during the festival.
Het project is onderdeel van een vierjarige samenwerking tussen het festival en de Gemeente Amsterdam. Met dit kunstwerk en het workshopprogramma verbinden we het festivalthema met de geschiedenis van de stad, het ontstaan van de grachten en het herstel van de bruggen en kademuren.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EDUCATION PROJECT
PROJECT PARTNERS
Gemeente Amsterdam
Juf op Straat
Super Chill
Hot Mama Hot
Beens Groep
Dura Vermeer
H.v. Steenwijk BV
Arcadis
Mocca Expertisecentrum
Stromma Nederland
Rederij Lovers
Rederij 't Smidtje
Blue Boat Company