A workshop for kids by Rudi Cotroneo, Anna Rateniek, and Antonia Stangl, artists and students from the Institute for Education in the Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
In times of corona, we notice just how much our surroundings affect the way we live, and we change our behavior to adapt to something we have little influence over. Something similar can be observed with the weather and climate, too: in very warm areas, for example, people live quite differently than in a region with a cooler climate. It’s great that humans are so resourceful! Because there are brilliant ways to adapt our homes to external circumstances.
Imagine living in a place with extreme climatic conditions – for instance, in the desert, in a jungle, on the North Pole, in outer space, under water, close to a volcano, on a distant planet – and the house you live in has to be able to withstand these environmental influences. Which place would you choose? And what would your house look like? Become an architect, and build a model house together with us!
• Watch our video to get in the mood and for inspiration.
• Before you start building your model house, print out the PDF and answer the questions listed in it – you can answer it in writing or with drawings and sketches. The questions and answers should help you think through your model step by step. Now make a sketch of your house. It can show it from the front, above, or the side, the whole house or just certain parts. If you need more space for your sketch, just go and get more paper – the more space the merrier!
• When you are finished with the plans for your house, you can now begin making a model. Use recycled materials that you find at home, such as: cardboard, old packaging, plastic bottles, paper, toilet paper rolls, strings, bubble wrap, wood, shoe boxes, old textiles, and much more …
• You are going to need all-purpose glue, adhesive tape, a hot glue gun, or use paper clips or staples …
• We’d be really happy when you send us photos of your finished house or upload them to Instagram with the hashtags listed below. You can also bring your model to us in Kunsthalle Wien, and we will present it in the exhibition … of bread, wine, cars, security and peace till the end of June. In this case, your house needs to be stable, easy to transport, and be no larger than 40 cm (L) x 30 cm (W) x 35 cm (H). To make an appointment with us, drop an email to: vermittlung@kunsthallewien.at
Pro Tip!
In case you do not have good glue at home, here are three recipes with which you can make your own (non-toxic) glue:
No. 1: Glue made out of flour: Put one or two tablespoons of fine wheat flour in a small bowl and slowly add water with a teaspoon, while stirring it continuously. After a few minutes you will have a top-class glue!
No. 2: Glue made out of starch: You need one tablespoon of vinegar, 55 g starch, 500 ml water, and one teaspoon of salt. Heat the water in a pot till it boils. Then stir in the rest of the remaining ingredients until you have a homogenous, yogurt-like mixture.
No. 3: Glue made out of sugar and flour: With equal amounts of sugar and flour, stirred together with a bit of water, you can make an even stronger glue, which you can keep in your refrigerator for two to three months.
The workshop project Extreme Living by Rudi Cotroneo, Anna Rateniek, and Antonia Stangl was developed in the framework of the art and cultural education course Die Ausstellung als Lernort, a cooperation between Akademie geht in die Schule, the Institute for Education in the Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and Kunsthalle Wien.
Please send a photo of your model to vermittlung@kunsthallewien.at
… or post it on Instagram #ofbread #kunsthallewien #ClosedButActive #AtMuseumsAnywhere #digitalmuseum #workshop #wienxtra #kinderaktive #spaceforkids #AkademieGehtInDieSchule
… or post it in our Facebook group /KunsthalleWienKinderworkshop