The Wanderer

I'm in an art class called "The Wanderer". It may seem like a bit of a stretch to call wandering art, but it's been very interesting and has actually gotten me to enjoy this side of the art world (social practice art). We were able to go on 3 field trips: urban hike, orienteering, and canoeing; all of which were super fun.

For my final project I was able to pick anything that I would like to further wander with. I was thinking that I would love to incorporate the boys into a wander. I had been realizing during the class that kids are natural wanderers, with no time frame and no place to be; they are able to really focus on small things around them. I realize that Van is already getting past this, so I took Weston several locations and let him wander while I followed.

Here are some pictures of our wander:

My thought of how this would turn out and the actuality of the wander were totally different. I was thinking that I would be spending my time waiting while Wes explored a rock for a half hour, but nope; it was like he knew that I was opening the boundaries. He kept trying to do naughty things that he knows he shouldn't (or maybe he doesn't); for example, walking straight for a busy street, touching an outlet, trying to go up an escalator, etc. Of course I didn't let him do any of these things, but he really pushed the boundaries. Lesson learned-- Thank goodness for strollers and shopping carts with seat belts!

For the class, I had to come up with some way to display the wander. Here's what I came up with. I made a mobile with pics and items from our journey.