ABOUT A WORKER X COLLECTION PINAULT @ BOURSE DE COMMERCE
ABOUT A WORKER was invited by Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection to imagine a 2 days workshop, called “Poncho à Gogo” inside the museum, for their kids event : “Le Mini Week-End". More than 250 children ( but also some of their parents :) ) joined this upcycling experience and were able to make their Halloween costume within 20 minutes. Each participant created their own unique funny monster by ironing fabric scraps on a Poncho.
A WORKSHOP INSPIRED BY MIKE KELLEY‘S EXHIBITION @ BOURSE DE COMMERCE
To conceive the workshop, the ABOUT A WORKER team got inspired by Mike Kelley’s installations showcased at Bourse de Commerce for his personal exhibition : Ghost & Spirit.
Mike Kelley (1954-2012) 's work has always been nourished by western culture references. Through his work, Kelley questions the tension between the depth of the critical thinking and the apparent superficiality of a pop aesthetic sometimes playing on seduction, or a trashy aesthetic.
We specifically designed the “Poncho à Gogo” workshop in reaction to “Day is done” ‘s movie, in which vampires, dancing Goths, hillbillies, mimes and demons come together in a kind of subversive musical theater in which trauma, abuse and repressed memory are refracted through personal and mass-cultural experience. The source material is a series of high school yearbook photographs of "extracurricular activities," specifically those that represent what Kelley has termed "socially accepted rituals of deviance." Kelley then stages video narratives around these found images.
For the workshop, our aim was to inspire children to find back and expose their inner identity rather than copying given ones from the mass-media.
A WORKSHOP IMAGINED BY ABOUT A WORKER AND INTEGRATION FACTORY WORKERS
To design and produce the workshop, ABOUT A WORKER collaborated with workers from ESAT de la Bièvre et ESAT de Ménilmontant : two integration garment factories situated in Paris, with the aim of promoting the social and professional reintegration of people in handicap situations. We had the chance to collaborate with 5 of their workers who helped us to prepare and facilitate the public event.
Before the “Mini Week-end”, the talented workers took part in a 3 days design initiation established by ABOUT A WORKER. Based on their inner identity, each worker had to create face components inspired by their personal expression through different medium.
DESIGN INITIATION WITH WORKERS :
STEP 1 : FACE EXPRESSIONS THROUGH DRAWING
STEP 2 : FACE EXPRESSIONS THROUGH PAPER COLLAGES
STEP 3 : FACE EXPRESSIONS THROUGH FABRIC SHAPES
STEP 4 : PRODUCTION OF FACES COMPONENTS PATCHES WITH FABRIC SCRAPS & IRON-ON
poncho à gogo : a COSTUME WORKSHOP FOR KIDS (AND PARENTS ?)
The workshop was conceived for children between 6-14 years old. With the workers and our ABOUT A WORKER team, we imagined a route next to the Bourse de Commerce’s auditorium for the children to create their OWN poncho.
THE PONCHO ROUTE :
AREA 1 : CHOOSE YOUR PONCHO
AREA 2 :CHOOSE 10 FABRIC PATCHES TO CREATE YOUR MONSTER
AREA 3 : IRON THE FABRIC PATCH TO FIX THE MONSTER ON THE PONCHO
AREA 4 : PRESS THE MONSTER WITH A THERMAL PRESS TO FIX IT BETTER.
THE PHOTOSHOOT
Once children created their costume, they could pose within our photoshoot room. The picture was then sent to their family :)
Do you want ABOUT A WORKER to conceive a workshop for your event, shop, cultural institution, factory, company ? We design and produce sustainable and ethical workshop experiences for you!