The busiest of busy weeks so far this semester, so I hope you’ll forgive this newsletter arriving a little later than usual.
I’m sure you’ll stop feeling sorry for me when you read through this week’s reflections, most of the chaos has been self-inflicted, and I leaned into it, so much so that the rainbows and confetti of last nights’ Flaming Lips show seemed to perfectly encapsulate the feelings of running from one thing to another, chasing myself trying to keep up.
It is beautiful today and it feels like we’re reaching a peak of fall colors, leaves shedding from the trees. The temperature is dropping rapidly, but I’m hoping I’ll be brave and wear an extra pair of tights and find my winter gloves so that I might go for a bike ride tomorrow.
I’ll catch you up on some of the things that happened this week and share a few interesting articles and links that caught my eye.
Stephan
Teaching & Learning
We took our Everyday Learning class to MuseumLab, the sister venue of The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, launched in 2019 and although closed during the pandemic now opening to visitors, albeit just a couple of days a week. The last 18 months and more have been tough on MuseumLab which was conceived to facilitate learning for 11-14 year-olds, a group sometimes underserved and marginalized, too old for activities designed for younger learners, and not old enough yet to manage their learning and find clubs, organizations and importantly spaces where they can try things, play and explore.
It’s always fun to introduce students to a place they may not have previously visited and always a thrill to force them off-campus. I hired a big yellow bus, a secret thrill of mine to go on one. Although only twenty minutes away, a couple of our parties let me know that this was the furthest they had ventured away from campus to explore. I can understand it to a certain extent, study areas, classrooms, shops, and recreation facilities are all close by dorms and houses; weekends are mostly filled with time catching up with assignments or getting ahead of tests and preparing presentations. It’s hard to take time out, much less the desire to escape and explore.
We were warmly welcomed by our friends at MuseumLab, who gave us a quick tour, sat down with us to answer a few questions, and offer advice about our projects. Later, we had time to walk around and try some of the exhibits for ourselves.
MuseumLab is a wonderful space, part gallery, maker-space, learning center. I love that those that work there are comfortable with how it is difficult to define and evade the usual labels, this is why it is perfect for tweens and teens. The staff here are pure facilitators, their number drawn from different disciplines, some in art practice, maker culture, textiles, metalwork, technology, and many with a background in teaching and experience of community work. This is interdisciplinary work in motion.
No doubt that I’ll return to this visit in the next few newsletters to reflect further, as there was so much to take in and so many interesting subjects that we talked about, including exploring the intersection of making and social justice, how teens need less facilitation and support, but still a little bit and how to be comfortable with quietness. It is an inspirational space and kindled the small fire burning within me that I might run a space like this myself, somewhere, sometime in the future.
Life Lessons
It’s been almost two years since I last went to a rock concert, but it was good to be back at a venue. The crowd showed proof of vaccination at the door, and although only a few people seemed to be wearing masks, it didn’t feel unsafe. I kept my mask on when I felt surrounded, at the bar and heading in and out of the venue, but the place was so enormous and I found it annoying to slip the mask on and off my chin when I was having a drink that eventually it felt okay to leave it off. I’m going to keep a close eye on my temperature over the next few days and won’t follow up with another large gathering, at least not for a little while.
The band, by the way, was amazing, the lead singer protecting himself in a giant plastic zorb while lights dazzled and confetti cannons, balloons, and bubbles rained over us throughout the evening. I know all the songs, it felt good singing along. I know I’m getting older because I kept thinking someone will have a lot of clearing up to do.
As I said last week, I’ve had my booster shot, so I’m on my third covid immunization and this afternoon there is a clinic for children aged 5-11 where they will receive their first jabs. So we’re getting there and we will have to trust that things are getting better.
For a few moments, under the streamers, with the sound of drums and guitars filling my ears and people dancing and singing along, it almost felt normal.
Lost and Found
I took photos of the books on the shelves in MuseumLab and leafed through a couple of them, including Things Organized Neatly (affiliate link) which is based on the Tumblr site of the same name. I loved looking through the copy they had, seeing everything laid out (neatly), and thinking about the relationships between objects, the stories that they tell, and the celebration of color and just…stuff.
Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum Bookstore has published a list of essential translations of 2021 including Elena Knows By Claudia Piñeiro, Frances Riddle (Translator), and Winter in Sokcho By Elisa Shua Dusapin, Aneesa Abbas Higgins (Translator).
Thoroughly enjoyed this American Poetry and Culture Collection on The Poetry Foundation website. There’s a nice mixture of established, widely read, and new poets mixed exploring political, social, and historical issues.
There’s a lot of excitement about VOIR, a series of visual essays on cinema by David Fincher, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see anything as good as Mark Cousins’ The Story of Film: An Odyssey. You can see find a few episodes online, but if you find a good quality copy in the library, or on Kanopy (it isn’t available to everyone) then it is worth waiting. I still remember how it changed my thinking about cinema, seeking out important works from around the world, decolonizing before I knew what that was. There’s also a new version The Story of Film: New Generation that I want to see.
Thank you
I’ll be raking leaves most of the weekend, so I’m busy trying to find a few podcasts to listen to while I’m working. I have a series by Jon Ronson reading an abridged version of his book So, you’ve been publicly shamed and Wind of Change by the brilliant writer Patrick Radden Keefe.
A travel palette of watercolor papers arrived from Peerless Transparent Watercolors and I want to capture some of the fall colors while I can just about see them, some of the trees are bare, I only have a few days.
I know that it’s tough in the UK around this time, the days are short and I know how frustrating it can be sitting at your desk when there is a rare sunny day outside only for it to rain at weekends. I’m full of admiration for those runners, cyclists, walkers, and swimmers who tough it out, see the dark clouds and raindrops on the window but still managed to get out of bed and head outside.
So, that’s me for this week, I hope that you’re well and managing to get out, even for a few minutes. Remember that braving the weather only makes that cup of tea and biscuit taste all the sweeter and feel so good inside.