Kunsthalle Wien is participating in the Austrian Ecolabel Day under this year’s motto: “Stop Plastic Waste – Recycle Instead of Throwing Away.” With the instructions for a do-it-yourself mobile workshop, we aim to promote a mindful use of resources and inspire children and young people to engage in creative upcycling projects. The workshop is part of a collaboration between Kunsthalle Wien and the Institute for Art Education at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Inspired by the Kunsthalle Wien exhibition Genossin Sonne, students developed educational units within the seminar “An Exhibition as a Learning Space”, which they implemented in a multi-week project with pupils from the Modular Middle School (MMS) Aspern.
As an introduction to the topic of waste, the pupils explored their school grounds, collecting carelessly discarded everyday items. These found objects were creatively upcycled and transformed into components of a mobile. The pupils recorded their ideas and associations in hand-folded sketchbooks before starting the design process. They used old plastic bottles and cans to create rockets, suns, garlands, and leaf chains. Collected leaves were pressed, laminated, cut out, and also turned into decorative elements. In the end, all the individual pieces were assembled into a collective mobile – a colourful, imaginative solar system that reflects the students’ visions.
Everything you need for the Celestial Body Mobile Workshop and a step-by-step guide to recreate it can be found here:
All things needed:
- Old plastic bottles, cans, paper rolls, egg cartons, fruit nets, etc.
- Threads, strings, wires for attaching and connecting the individual parts
- Dried leaves, adhesive film, hole punch
How it is done:
- Collect objects and leaves.
- Sketch the idea for your mobile on a sheet of paper or in your sketchbook.
- Use paper rolls, old cans, plastic bottles, etc., to create rockets and planets.
- For leaf garlands, collect leaves, press them, and stick them between two layers of adhesive film. Cut out the laminated leaves.
- Punch a hole at the top of the shaped and cut-out leaves with a hole punch.
- Thread the leaves onto a string to form a garland.
- Paint Styrofoam balls and add more suns and planets to your planetary system.
- Attach the finished objects to a wooden rod or ring using wire or string.
- Now you can hang up your mobile.
- Your celestial body mobile is complete!
The workshop Celestial Bodies Mobile/Sun Mobile was developed by Assunta Abdel Azim Mohamed und Seza Enengl and implemented together with the pupils Besir-Eymen Altintas, Nora Knotzinger, Michelle Minarik, Elias Mroczkowski and Helena Pollak.