:: AIR CAMP ::
An other-worldly installation for conversation between adults and children.
A circle of colourful interconnected tents sits in a large open space. Each tent is filled with air and has inflatable sculptures sprouting from its roof. Apparently random, they are in fact conversation starters.
If you are the child, your job is to decide on a subject you care about, create a message sculpture to represent it, zip the sculpture onto a tent of your choice, watch it inflate, and then crawl inside. If you are the audience member on the outside, your job is to be the ‘conversationalist’ – to talk to the tents, ask questions about what those sculpture might be about, and begin a dialogue of any length. Invisible to you, the child inside has a voice altering microphone and a whole lot of uninhibited stuff to say.
Air Camp is a new way to create a public ‘conversation circle’ where children are unseen and empowered to speak their mind to strangers from the comfort of the anonymity provided by their own tent. As visitors walk through the camp of tents, with their magically lit-up ideas attached, they can literally see what kids’ thought are.
Originally created with children and for children through the ArtPlay’s New Ideas Lab program, the Air Camp project is highly customizable and seamlessly adapts to the Creative Learning Partnership program. Click here to find out how the Air Camp multifaceted experience can be tailored to best match your school’s learning programs.
Air Camp in schools :: Unlimited possibilities
The Air Camp project offers a dynamic blend of visual art exhibitions, live performances, and creative workshops, all designed to align with and enhance the school curriculum. Students engage in hands-on art-making, performing, and content creation, fostering critical thinking and research skills. Additionally, the project delves into the physics behind inflatable constructions, the technical art of sewing, and the crafting of visually striking sculptural forms.
By tailoring the content to fit their learning objectives, students can experience Air Camp in ways that seamlessly integrate with various subjects, creating rich, cross-curricular connections that extend beyond The Arts. The possibilities are vast, with suggested areas including, but not limited to…
In Air Camp children are encouraged to bring up for discussion ‘things’ they feel passionate about and deem worthy of greater attention. By intentionally using the not-specific term ‘things,’ Memetica encourages children to explore any subject that sparks their interest, without being constrained by societal perceptions of importance.
The process is designed to promote independent thinking, minimizing adult and peer group influence.
Each child’s shortlist of dear ‘things’ is discussed with them until one is selected to be developed into a topic of conversation. Children are prompted to take notes on their chosen topic during the two-day workshop as they create the ‘conversation hooks’ sculptures, enhancing their understanding and ability to articulate their ideas for the incoming exhibition. This process equips children with well-formed arguments to engage with the audience.
Students adopt a fantasy or fictional identity and participate in Air Camp as a character of their choosing. The possibilities are limitless, allowing teachers and students to select characters that serve as performance exercises or as creative avenues to explore and engage with curriculum learning. Some potential character options include:
- A character from a fictional book or comic
- A real-life celebrity
- An animal, plant, or geographical feature
- A made-up persona
- A country
- A curriculum subject or topic (e.g., history, math, an equation)
- And more…
Air Camp offers a unique opportunity to explore cultural diversity through language, showcasing how different languages and perspectives enrich Australian society.
Building on Memetica’s work in highlighting words from other languages that have no direct English translation, Air Camp Language features these words as inflatable sculptures, sparking educational discussions about how language shapes our understanding of the world and human experience.
This experience is particularly well-suited for schools with a high diversity of languages or bilingual programs, where the focus can be tailored to explore the connections and contrasts between the two languages. By emphasizing this linguistic richness, Air Camp not only celebrates cultural diversity but also deepens students’ appreciation of the worldviews embedded in different languages.
Matching grant’s criteria, aims and objectives
The Air Camp project aligns with numerous criteria outlined in the Creative Learning Partnership guidelines (external link). Additionally, it complements the STEAM approach to curriculum and plays a significant role in promoting environmental awareness and education. The interview for Melbourne Magazine provides more insight of the project’s concept, its processes and outcomes.
Air Camp seamlessly aligns with the STEAM curriculum by integrating science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics into a cohesive and engaging project.
Through hands-on activities that involve both creative expression and technical problem-solving, students explore core STEAM concepts in a real-world context. The project encourages students to think critically about physical principles, such as air pressure and energy, while also developing practical skills in design, construction, and electronics.
This blend of artistic creativity with scientific inquiry fosters a holistic learning experience, making Air Camp an ideal program for schools looking to enhance their STEAM offerings.
All fabric material used in Air Camp has been sourced from abandoned camping tents collected by Memetica at music festival around the country.
Furthermore, the installation’s structure—comprising individual yet interconnected inflatable tents—is designed to foster an understanding and awareness of active and responsible resource sharing.
Please click the following to read an interview about the concept, creation and reflections on the first installation of Ari Camp: Interview with Daniele Poidomani
References
Memetica’s work spans a diverse spectrum of cultures, ages, languages, genders, and abilities. A brief yet comprehensive introduction to Memetica’s work and practice can be found further down this page. Below is a list of links to selected projects Daniele has done with or for children.
- A Monkey Tale (Wearable cardboard puppet shows created with Yunlin Storyhouse – Yunlin, TAIWAN)
- Reeflings Memeries (one week creative deelopment show making – Brimbank, AUSTRALIA))
- Student and Teddy (two-week school residency’s workshop for the making and performing of giant puppets Colegio Diocesano de San Jose – Macau, MACAU)
- Reeflings: Explorations (roaming performing program with schools and The Village Festival – Melton, AUSTRALIA)
- The Spoonbill Travels (two-weeks with Macau Anglican College residency for the creation of a cardboard puppets for a short movie – Macau, MACAU)
memetica.art@gmail.com
IG: memeticapuppets
Fb: memetica
Memetica has extensive and international expertise in delivering captivating roving shows featuring giant puppets, designed to entertain and astonish audiences of diverse cultures. It also specializes in community-based workshops, offering immersive experiences for all generations or specifically tailored for children, that foster their creative and performative abilities.
The impact of the Memetica’s experience extends beyond the public presentation of the artwork created during the workshops, and leaves a lasting social and cultural resonance within the community.
The memetic’s process of culture making through replication, inheritance, and variation, inspires Memetica accessible approach to art for all. Memetica’s community projects actively promote and encourage spontaneity, even among those unfamiliar with art production, facilitatiing intentional expressivity reagrdless of levels of experience in creating. Through this approach, the ordinary is transformed into evocative and impactful artwork.
:: Giant puppets Community Workshops ::
:: The Naming
Memetica’s cultural intervention by means of giant puppetry is epitomized by The Naming, a collaboration with Australian First Nation Elder Laurie Padmore of the Dulgubarra Ydinji clan. This project seamlessly blends visually striking performance, linguistic proficiency, and cultural wisdom.
The Naming Project has effectively raised awareness about traditional culture and its importance to Yungaburra and beyond. This demonstrates how large-scale spectacles with meaningful content can attract significant attention through the playful, non-confrontational presence of giants. In this instance, the project has garnered national attention through television broadcasting.
:: Deadly Totems
The following video clip illustrates the process of Memetica’s community-based workshops. Deadly Totems has been realized in collaboration with the Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association in Hastings, Victoria. The show portrays the inspiring tale of how the association rescued their land from industrial destruction, transforming it into a revitalized natural area that now thrives with native plants and animals.
:: Street Roving and Performance Training ::
Memetica’s roving street performances bring surrealism and unexpected laughter to outdoor events, entertaining and amazing people of all ages. With mischievous Wild Birds and snooping Street Skeeters, these performances offer a delightful experience. Festivals and events can also opt for training workshops, providing a life-changing opportunity for their audience and community. Memetica can conduct training sessions for individuals selected by the festival, teaching them how to operate its giant creatures. These trainees will then enjoy the thrilling experience to perform in roving gigs at the festival.
Such experience is also available for manual wheelchair users with the uniquely designed Street Skeeters, and for children 9yo+ with the inflatable puppet Reeflings.
:: Wild Birds
:: Street Skeeters
Created in collaboration with Wheelchair Rugby Paralympic Champion Matt Lewis, the Street Skeeters have been designed for full and comfortable access for manual wheelchair user. The Skeeters are also available for the training and perform session with community members.
Find out more about Street Skeeters
:: The Reeflings
The Reeflings emerge as a mutated species, originating from reefs across the world’s oceans. Among them are those who are newly acquainted with land, while others are born here, carrying on their legacy in the wake of the reefs’ decline. These resilient creatures embody optimism as they navigate a life devoid of a familiar home or seek refuge from their original habitats. Their ultimate quest is to find a place to call home, establish thriving communities, and coexist harmoniously with other living organisms. Their narrative weaves a tale of escape, survival, arrival, transformation, joy, hope, and the remarkable ability to adapt to new environments.
:: The Reeflings Explorations!
Children can now enjoy the excitement of performing in public spaces with the Reeflings puppets. Under Memetica’s guidance, they can train for one hour, don the costumes, and mingle among the festival crowd, bringing joy to the the onlooking audience and more importantly to the young first time performers of giant puppets.
Age 9-12 years old
:: SCRAPS – Art Making with a Sprinkle of Culture
Scraps is a playful take on art-making workshops with a sprinkle of language trimmings on top.
You will create mesmerizing puppet costumes, with a little cultural twist…
Participants to Scraps will create inflatable costume puppets from salvaged materials.
The unique twist: they do so under the guidance of mother toungue Italian (and English) speaking artists and facilitators, who will mostly use Italian instruction only! Are you game?
:: Participatory Inflatable Installations ::
Participatory
:: Lac Long Quan
:: Tendon
