Second workshop

The second workshop went really well! At first I was nervous because not as many people showed up (especially at 4pm as instructed) but since many of them have work or school commitments, we had a lot more arrive around 6 or 6:30. What was nice is that I got a chance to talk to some of them more individually at the beginning--in some cases with the help of their English teacher. I am learning a few very important Russian words: "trafayeta:" "stencil," and "kraska:" "paint." I think I will still have to double check with Ira & Slava for the Russian alphabet spellings of those words, to make sure I get it right for my next entry.  The word "graffiti" seems to be a universal one, in many senses!

Quite a few students brought in full designs for the mural wall, many of which, as I had expected, were too complex for the time and resources we have. I had to explain some practical things to them like for example, we only have one ladder, and not a lot of money to buy paint colors, so we probably can't put a lot of complex shapes and colors in the high-up background, or have children from the school paint up there. We also have to account for the immovable chairs that line the wall. We ended up agreeing on having a contemporary Krasnoyark skyline in the background, in two solid colors, a river below it, and if time allows, some more free-form abstract (futuristic?) designs behind the skyline that suggest the future. This is one aspect of the mural that I may have to limit if it seems like it will not look good with the rest of the wall. There will be an open book in the intersection between the 2 walls, with white pages coming out in rows over both walls, with a different stencil on each page that represents Krasnoyark's past. We figured out the total number of stencils we could include based on how many 12" X 16"  pages will fit on the wall. We solved the problem of having to re-paint the entire green walls by choosing colors for the skyline that would look good with the existing pallette of the room: green and brown. I explained that in the United States right now, green buildings have a special symbolism, of striving towards more environmentally sustainable architecture. This idea, according to my hosts, has not really taken hold in Russia yet, or at least not in Krasnoyarsk. One student had also brought in some graffiti words that could go in the "river," such as the words "Ideal Krasnoyarsk." 

Alex, one of the participants, brought in some photos of buildings in Krasnoyarsk that were torn down or destroyed by fire, and we discussed including a certain number of these old buildings to send a message about preserving Krasnoyark's past. Sasha and Vanya, two girls, also showed up with more such photos. The group decided that they also want to include two stencils of iconic NYC buildings (such as the Brooklyn Bridge facing in the opposite direction from the Krasnoyarsk bridge) to symbolize the global exchange in this project, and leave two blank "book pages" that children at the school could decorate (suggesting that children have a say in the future). Alex wound up teaching everyone else a very simple stencil technique involving coloring in the black parts of the photo with permanent marker to separate negative and positive space in each stencil, and then using a photocopier to blow up the stencils into the appropriate size for the mural. I will still have to modify some of these drawings before they can be cut out as stencils, but this photographic technique is much quicker and simpler than hand-drawing each stencil. 

One thing that has really struck me so far in these workshops is the collaborative nature of the work. According to Slava, this is a very Russian characteristic, in contrast to the more individualistic view of the American artist. When I asked the participants if they would prefer to make individual stencils or work in pairs, they actually reminded me of the fact that Russians like to work together! The actual skill of collaboration on an art piece is something that often has to be taught to American students, or accomplished through clear-cut games (e.g., "everyone draw part of a drawing, then pass the drawing to someone else to add on to," and so forth). It was wonderful to see these Krasnoyarsk students' ability to work as a team so naturally.

It will definitely take a lot of work, careful planning, and continued group enthusiasm to get this mural up by the end of Saturday. But I do think we are up to the challenge! (today, the group barely noticed when it was almost 8:00, time to leave!).