Wearable Art – Te Papa and Beyond
Level: Year 13
School: Wellington High School
Teacher: Kylie Merrick
Category: Teaching strategy
Year 13 Fashion and Textiles Technology students developed wearable art to display in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and local stores, as part of the 2010 World of WearableArt™ (WOW®) events in Wellington.
Student pages
The Te Papa project
Wellington High School students first developed wearable art for the Te Papa store windows in 2008, when they joined students from Queen Margaret College (involved since 2006). The two schools have continued working in partnership on the Te Papa wearable art project each year since then.
Student interest in the Te Papa project is high. Teacher Kylie Merrick notes that students who had dropped Fashion and Textiles Technology at Year 12 ask to take the Year 13 class, "Because I really want to do the wearable art project". Those who commit to the extra effort involved in picking up the knowledge and skills they missed are allowed to join the class. Despite being asked numerous times "Who's doing the Te Papa project next year?" Kylie simply answers "I don't know". Students who work in such a high-profile location must be capable of successfully completing a high-quality outcome and meeting a strict deadline. During Term 1 she identifies students with the knowledge, skills and commitment to work with Te Papa by setting "little tasks" to determine their suitability.
Extending the wearable art project
Given the enthusiasm for this project, Kylie decided in 2010 to extend it to involve more students. WOW® and local businesses run a retail window dressing competition in conjunction with the shows. This attracts both visitors and locals who follow a 'trail' to view the wearable art in shop windows. Kylie suggested students might like to develop wearable art for local stores and five in the class decided to do this. Others opted to work on their own project and some, such as international students who weren't being assessed for NCEA, worked on different things.
The 15-week wearable art unit followed a Shakespeare project in which the class worked on fashion illustration, research and communication skills, page presentation and screen printing. Kylie titled the new unit 'Liberation' – students could do whatever they wanted because they, with their client, were driving the project.
Curriculum links
The unit focused on two components from the Technology curriculum. During their research on wearable art the students looked at the Characteristics of Technological Outcomes component and discussed how it relates to this genre, considering aspects such as: What can be considered wearable art? What have people done in the past? Is a window display a technological outcome or not? Students had to consider the properties of materials as they designed and developed their garments, and look at which materials they could modify, manipulate or transform. This provided a good base to discuss the Technological Products component of the Technological Knowledge strand.
Students had to find their own client, and were encouraged to think about who they would like to work with. Approaching and then working with a stranger can be an intimidating prospect, so the class discussed how to work with a client and composed an introductory letter together. Students went downtown and photographed examples of good window displays (regardless of whether or not they included textiles) and analysed why they were so effective. They each sent their letter to four businesses and followed this up with a visit, and all reported that most people were receptive to the idea of working with them. At this stage, Kylie invited students Paloma Davis and Ruby Hanfling to work with Te Papa, while Maddy Brown and Rosie Quinn developed wearable art for a shop window display (a fifth student left school before finishing).
Project development
Kylie gives Year 13 students more independence, backing them up with support where needed. Her "overseeing" included ensuring students kept in contact with their clients and that they were able to communicate their ideas through their design. "It was just an ongoing dialogue on an individual basis, depending on what they were doing. 'This is your drawing, how are you going to approach it?' 'What equipment will you need?' 'So you're going to drape today, get started and I'll come and talk to you'". She also emphasised the need to document each stage of their process with photographs. The class would gather for demonstrations of techniques, some of these in the form of peer teaching. When one student was dyeing fabrics, for example, the rest of the class watched and discussed the method she had used.
Students worked on individual, innovative designs, following a similar process:
- Making concept sketches, developing preferred designs and then a final design
- Communicating with their client and reacting to feedback
- Trialling techniques, including making samples
- Testing to ensure construction methods would work
- Drafting or modifying a pattern (students keep a copy of their modified pattern for the class collection).
Rosie developed a costume for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Museum, although her work wasn't eligible for the WOW® window display competition because it was for a museum. Maddy's client, The Met Shop, missed getting the paperwork done so didn't enter. However, all displays were put up, and people wandering around the city looking at the official entries also saw the girls' creations, and they received positive feedback on their work.
Te Papa Store gave Ruby and Paloma a 'Glitz and Glamour' theme. Although they collaborated with two Queen Margaret College students on the project, each student developed an individual response to the brief. Their work attracted much attention, even as they were installing it, and passers-by were very impressed with what they had achieved.
The Te Papa project is one of only a few that Kylie repeats – she prefers to take advantage of current exhibitions or issues as they arise, and it also keeps things interesting for her. However, she finds the wearable art unit doesn't get boring because the outcomes are never the same, there are always different solutions. In 2011, students were again offered the opportunity to create wearable art for display in shop windows. Three students worked on the Te Papa project and four had a shop as their client. Renee Andrew, who developed a costume for the window of the Trelisse Cooper Wellington store, was thrilled when the presenter for the WOW® show asked to wear her garment.
- The Dominion Post newspaper in Wellington featured Renee's dress:
Pupil's WOW design picked by MC - Read about the first Te Papa wearable arts partnership:
- Read Stories of Creativity from the World of WearableArt™
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