Operation Reading Corner

“Aesthetics should spread naturally like particles spread in the air.” The art classroom at National Hsinchu Senior High School was the best place on campus for teachers and students to indulge in art and design. Setting up the space, Mrs. Wu expected it could be a hub to stimulate the transport of art and design. Inspired by the idea, a group of students started their exploration on campus to search for any possible changes. They opened their eyes and located the problems, such as the unsuitable fabrics and cuts of their uniforms as well as the confusing signs in the store. Bringing their finding back to the art classroom, the students kept on thinking of solutions. They attempted to make some changes and spread the aesthetic particles to other parts of the school more than just in the classroom.

After the art and design course last semester, Mrs. Chen expected to take the students to sense more beauty in life. She thus came up with a new lesson, The Picnic Lesson in Everyday Life, which brought food and life to the class. The students prepared food by themselves, and during the process, they applied the concepts of art and design to their work. Mrs. Chen invited a Home Economics teacher to interdisciplinary cooperated with her. They translated the compositional design rules: dots, lines and planes into knife skills: dicing, julienning and slicing. With different thinking of making food, the students created amazing dishes which they even couldn’t believe were made by their own hands. The most important part of the lesson was encouraging the students to walk out of the classroom to physically experience things in life with all senses.

An elder from the tribe was invited to give a lecture in Mr. Liu’s class. When he talked about the young and old generations in the tribe, he was sad to tell that there had been a cultural gap between the two. Mr. Liu thus decided to revive the tribal tradition of making tree bark clothes, helping the students to understand their own culture. The lesson led the kids to learn the knowledge of trees and understand why people needed to make tree bark clothes in the old times. They practically experienced how to soften tree bark, and used the local materials and techniques to make items that can fit contemporary needs. To pass on the aboriginal culture, the lesson revealed the lifestyle of the tribes and presented the wisdom of ancestors taking good advantage of natural materials from daily life. And it also encouraged the kids to keep discovering new possibilities within traditional craftsmanship.

There wasn’t any barred window in the house where Mrs. Tsai used to live. When she moved to Hualien, Mrs. Tsai still couldn’t find an ideal window for her own house. She wondered why most of the windows on the market are with similar materials and styles. Why did the traditional wood lattice windows, which are with beautiful patterns and fascinating structures, disappear? Therefore, she embarked on a journey of finding the ideal window with the students. At first, Mrs. Tsai worried it would be too complicated for them to apply the design principles to their design of the structure. To her surprise, after a semester of art and design courses, the students had developed the competence to observe and practice. They already could use cardboard to create a well-structured prototype with the principles. It made her believe that cultivating aesthetic sensibility through practices in life was profound. The children were endowed with infinite potential, and life is the best field to trigger their creative power.