Transfer tracing over personal histories of immigration

In Reggio inspired schools the hundred languages are regarded as meaningful ways of engaging with and expanding one's theories. By moving thinking into various media ideas might manifest, or may be challenged, or even disproved- but in ways that are experiential. It is the experience of this learning that studio thinking fosters.

Third grade needed a media to provoke their research on immigration. This would be alongside their classroom research which was to be ongoing. The goal was to connect children with media that mirrored, or helped to scaffold, the kind of investigations and big ideas they would be working on. The media should help them go further and deeper. This is the where the role of an atelierista, or studio teacher, is useful for recommending media with that intent.

A variety of transfer techniques were shared for children to mess about with in an artist's studio setting. The children began to collect images, photos, and writings that were historically connected to their research and brought them to the studio.

The process of making a transfer can, in someways, be a reminder of the process of immigration. Families start in one place, then carefully and with various degrees of success, transfer themselves somewhere new. Parts of their lives are left behind, but the essence carries over. A similar process happens with transfers, therefore the media helps to make connections to the big idea. The artist does their best to preserve the details that are important, yet they edit out the parts that are no longer significant. They make choices about what parts are still relevant. In this way, some features of the original are left behind. However, a new image is born from the old....this is really exciting.

The high level of attention to the details in the documents is key to a successful transfer. It is also a lovely way to bring the small parts of history in focus. As they trace over the words, photos, or images from their research they are metabolizing the minutia hidden in the document. The process is a slow, considered, task that requires a mind to be present and engaged with the transfer. Once they complete a print there is always a moment of anticipation. They take a small peek to scan the artwork with their eyes to find any areas that didn't make it over to the new paper.

taking a peek....

plexi glass transfer

An example of an 'in progress' plexi glass transfer. The child hoped to preserve words from an antique newspaper. She discovered this technique reverses writing- a useful experiment she shared with others.
Plexi glass transfers involve carefully archiving details of a document then 'pulling' the transfer off with damp paper.

oil pastel transfer

To make an oil pastel transfer one must coat the back of a selected image with oil pastel, check that desired area has been covered throughly, and carefully trace the front of the image- pressing the image in oil pastel onto a new paper underneath. As Mauren and Andrea have pointed out- making these transfer prints feels as if the image has passed through you and is somehow now part of you.
An oil pastel transfer of a family photograph. The small child pictured is the student's mother as a young girl in Poland.

ink transfer

Similar to oil pastel transfer, children trace the front of the image while the media underneath is pressed onto the new paper. Here, they used brayers to roll ink onto plexiglass. Then they carefully place the new paper over the ink followed by the image they hope to transfer. After thoughtfully tracing the lines of the images a positive print is made. This process offers the bonus of pulling a negative print as well!

carbon/graphite paper

Tried and true.

Gel Transfer

There was a hesitance among the children to use this method as it is notorious for "leaving behind information". The process involves copying documents onto transparancy first. The ink is peeled from the plastic by way of a gel medium, which transfers the image onto new paper. Some tearing has taken place and so there are only few souls who have tried it out. Then the reputation of the transfer took another hit when it was discovered that only one printer in the school prints with the ink needed make a gel transfer, and there were difficulties using that printer. Suffice it to say, this is the LEAST popular technique so far.

PLanning formats

At this stage there are some children who are beginning to plan how they would like to use their transfers and other research to show their learning. Some interesting proposals have emerged...

1. Book format- pages with transfer images and accompanying text

2. Spread- a collection of curated transfers grouped together on one page with some explanatory text for each image.

3. Sequential panel- series of images in an order from beginning to end, with a caption below each.

4. Comic strip- a series of sequential images with dialogue in the images.

5. Vignettes- a group of related images, either clustered or composed, as final images.

6. Composition- images organized in a composition or collage

The possibilities are really endless! We will follow them where their ideas lead.

Created By
Lauren Bishop
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