Yesterday a small female preschool student brought a piece of sandpaper to class to rub. Over the years my students have brought many security blanket/loveys to class--Toofie the Dinosaur, a washcloth, a wallet with family photos, mermaid figures with "real" hair, pirate treasure maps, naked Barbies, superhero capes, live bugs, gravel, pretty fall leaves, and plastic sharks. These are all good things, and help kids make the transition into class without tears most of the time. My own sons hauled around The Special Bunny, and the shredded remnant of a blanket known as The White One. Kids also bring things to class that cause major problems, such as rubber bands, Silly Putty, and a popsicle in a Power Ranger lunchbox, but that is a different story. I have never had a child bring sandpaper to class before. What does this mean? What are the tactile stimulation issues here? Does she have a crush on the daddy with the scratchy face in the Pat the Bunny book?
On a different note, I attended the Romare Bearden exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. It exceeded my wildest collage dreams. I will have to go back several times to take it all in. Bearden used surface abrasion in many works. I'm not sure that he did the abrasion with sandpaper, but it's possible. The effect is like distressed furniture. He also used bleach to remove color from some papers and paints. I use bleach to discharge color from fabrics before or after dying them, but I have not used it on paper works.
After the exhibit leaves Dallas it will travel to:
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 14, 2004 - January 9, 2005
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, January 29 - April 24, 2005
The exhibit was organized by the National Gallery of Art, and you can learn more about it at:
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/beardeninfo.htm
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