National Art Education Association

Sod Blocks, Lodge Poles, and Cornerstones: On Teaching Cultural History and Structurethrough Puppetry ArtsAuthor(s): David WheelerSource: Art Education, Vol. 52, No. 3, The Practice of Art Education (May, 1999), pp. 19-24Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193801 .

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Sod Blocks, Lodge Poles, and Cornerstones:

On Teaching Cultural History and Structure

Through Puppety Art It is conventional knowledge

that puppet theatre has long played host to dramatic dis- course on human events. In

The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, Karl Marx (n.d.) said, "All facts of great importance occur twice; the first time as tragedy, the second as puppet theatre." Over time, puppeteers have been astute observers of humanity. They have almost always enjoyed an unusual exemption from censorship and used their license to speak forth- rightly, to frame events as artworks, both historical and contemporary.

Few understand, however, that puppet theatre contains within it the opportunity for more than commen- tary on single events. It is rarely considered that puppetry offers a chance for sweeping coverage and analysis of long spans of human his- tory and, beyond that, for instruc- tion in the all-important matter of structure analysis. Puppet theatre's full potential as a truly pivotal educa- tional tool became clear to me upon a chance encounter with an educa- tional program in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Figure 1: Aleut Barabara

BY DAVID WHEELER

MAY 1999 / ART EDUCATION

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THE CHUGACH OPTIONAL METHOD

As a participant in the artist-in-the- schools program sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts, I was startled and delighted during my 1996 visit to Chugach Optional in Anchorage. Hardly expecting to be "turned upside down," I found the school (K-6) to be an ongoing revelation in new thinking. The wonder of Chugach is its conception by parents and teachers as an organic cre- ation, an evolving, child-centered process in which first-hand experience is paramount.

The open method of instruction employed at Chugach includes exten- sive use of materials handled directly by the students, student-initiated plans of study, and numerous guest artists and presenters. Of greatest importance, it appears, is the periodic selection of themes for school-wide study. In these instances each subject area fuels the investigation. Whatever the theme-the rain forest, invertebrates, buildings, or Bach-all lessons, exercises, and assemblies animate the study.

To further this holistic learning, emphasis is placed additionally upon the forms and structures indigenous to the central theme. If the topic is "tradition and lore," then time is devoted to the anatomy of customs and stories: the par- ticular steps in Eskimo dance, for instance, or the organization of words, sentences, and paragraphs in tales. Whether the topic is "genetics" or the letter "A," a close look at the structure of inherent and associated forms, such as spirals in nature or the morphology of letters, always keynotes the celebration of the theme.

A VISITOR'S REACTIONS By any measure, Chugach Optional

was a sculptor's paradise. There were

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children assuming the "poses" of build- ings and bridges to better understand forces acting upon such structures; bones, crystals, and shells were placed on display; drinking straw geodesic domes were in progress; architects and engineers addressed classes. As were the children, I was challenged to wonder why things look as they do in their final form, to try and view objects from the inside out.

It had not occurred to me that a study of structures could, and should, be taught to students in the early grades. In action it

Figure 2 (top): Remains of a Haida Indian Communal House

Figure 3 (bottom): Russian Settlement on the Panhandle

was obvious: how better to ground chil- dren in the make-up of their world than by concentrating on a slow and steady unfolding of the inner workings, the form and structure of habitats and the animals and objects found in them?

ADAPTATION OF THE CHUGACH METHOD TO PUPPETRY ARTS

After my refreshment at Chugach, I began to wonder if this finely conceived

ART EDUCATION / MAY 1999

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school could serve as a model for a pup- pet theatre. Could I use my own context for the children's expression-the pup- pet stage-in a similar fashion, as a hub into which all subject areas might feed as the long view was taken of a theme of significant interest? And even more, could the puppet stage become a foun- dation for structures that would render clear the assembly of parts within the topic?

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Figure 4: Assembled Backdrops

In March 1997 I received my oppor- tunity to find out. Teachers at North Star Elementary School in Nikiski, Alaska, requested a 3-week residency for October, and we agreed on a theme: 'The History of Alaska."

THE DESIGN OF THE PROJECT THE BACKDROPS

Looking at the history of Alaska, I saw that most of the profound changes in the area over the past 5,000 years were clearly reflected in the evolution of the architecture. From the earliest

Eskimo sod house to the modem Performing Arts Center in Anchorage, there is very specific documentation of vast change clearly marked in the buildings. With the Arctic and sub- Arctic so much the blank canvas, one building can speak volumes.

I knew that the children at North Star Elementary would be happy to cre- ate historical puppet figures. And so, 9 months before the residency was to

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begin, I placed all my interest in the backdrops, the scenery for the sweep of events. In my mind the pictures emerged: a series of renderings of key buildings, carefully selected to help tell the story.

By placing the weight of my contri- bution on the backdrops, I could accomplish much, yet at the same time I could avoid overshadowing the cre- ative work of the 300 student pup- peteers. And, by rendering the scenes in black and white, how could I ever upstage the puppets' brightly painted heads and colorful costumes? Here indeed was my chance to include with-

in the beehive of puppet activity a sweeping cultural overview, a wealth of material close at hand and yet oddly unobtrusive.

Using a format of 20" x 30" cold- pressed illustration board, I rendered in detail my selected sites, recording the buildings and environments of 13 events that highlighted Alaskan history: the coming of the New England whalers, the Gold Rush, the discovery

of oil, etc. These were ,- :_specific events that forev-

er changed the face of Alaska. Starting with the semi-subterranean earth-

[I-U walled house of the earli- est Eskimo people (c.

J|--- ~ 3,000 B.C.E.), I worked my way to contemporary architecture as reflected in North Star Elementary

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represented the earthen 7y

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- P JIAleuts (Fig. 1), the Haida , 4 1 Indian communal house

(Fig. 2), Russian outposts , on the panhandle (Fig. 3),

trading posts in the interi- or, and Quonset huts erected during World

War II, manifesting a litany of growing settlements, towns, and cities.

Working closely with the historical record or from memories of sites I had visited during earlier trips, I inked in my pencil drawings with a technical drawing pen. From the start I intended the drawings to be placed end to end on tables placed in semi-circle to approxi- mate a theatre in the round (Fig. 4).

THE PUPPETS In their puppetry work the students

would be cast as those Haida Indians, trappers, road builders, mail carriers,

MAY 1999 / ART EDUCATION

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Figure 5: Construction of the Rod Puppet

soldiers, and architects present at each of the pivotal moments depicted in the scenery. K-2 students would be guided in the creation of simple hand puppets (felt bodies and plaster-craft heads); students in grades 3-5 would employ rod puppets of the design seen in Fig. 5.

NARRATION AND SOUND TRACK

Because of time restrictions, I wrote the script for this production titled Iglugruaq: The Evolution of the Sod House. The text would be read by two student narrators and was a straightfor- ward recounting of Alaska's changing face. The puppets would be animated during the narration to illustrate the 13 events and would also move to a sound track which contained indigenous music, various sound effects, speeches, and native conversation.

INTRODUCING A STUDY OF STRUCTURES

Developed to this extent, the show would probably meet reasonable expec- tations of a panoramic look at the many significant eras that make up Alaskan

history. (All well and good, but hardly credible in light of Chugach Optional's fervent interest in having children investigate the inner workings of an event or object.)

How was I to speak of structural con- cerns, architectural fundamentals, the range and limitations of native materi- als, the impact of nails, plumb lines and supply barges, the contrasting spatial needs of clashing cultures, and the vari- ous reasons for changes that were both subtle and thundering? To do all this I had to ask more of my puppet stage. I created 13 additional drawings to pro- vide supplementary information. At the conclusion of each of the puppet enact- ments, one of these drawings would be hoisted to an easel by a student "visual aide," who would use a pointer (aT- square) to underscore information in the drawings as the narrator spoke. To make succinct points about the aesthet- ics, architectonics, reasons for being, or revolution in style of the building last seen, the drawings took the form of board games (Fig. 6), charts, posters, sketchbook entries, and cartoons (Fig. 7). With a lighthearted look at "Russian

Rulers" (Fig.8), for example, I could avoid a lecture by quickly revealing how measuring and leveling tools changed the look of Alaska overnight. These "storyboards" (as I took to call- ing them) were designed as brief coun- terpoints, amusing asides that would tickle, not interfere.

FURTHER REFLECTION Upon completing all drawings, I

breathed a sigh of relief and looked out over the assembled body of work. I was more than surprised to see that, taken together, the backdrops provided something quite unintended. The vari- ous buildings-mirrors of the many social changes-seemed to reflect the other side of the coin: the influence of the buildings themselves on the people of Alaska. In the rendering of the school building I suddenly saw a star- tling presence in bush Alaska forever altering life in the village; in the scene of houses lining new roads (Fig. 9) I perceived new orientations for old- timers; in city scenes I saw rectilinear

Figure 6: "Desirability of the Nail"

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patterns dictating human traffic, tempo, even the very temper of life itself.

As a collection, the images offered me this new realization: just as humans direct the design and appearance of the built environment, so do buildings shape and channel human activity. Simply recording the evolution of the buildings, I exposed a panoply of mutu- al influence, a profound and rhythmic interplay of human beings and their shelters. It was back to the drawing table for another month to redesign some of the storyboards to better address this noteworthy symbiosis.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAY In October I flew to Nikiski, ready at

last to test the hypotheses of Iglugruaq. Three weeks of intense puppet making and rehearsal led us to show time. I had designed the play to report thoroughly on structural concerns and to draw a broad perspective of a living Alaska, with its many migrations and ever- evolving human drama. But would it work as theatre?

By performance time all necessary adjustments had been made, and the play flowed together quite naturally. Through their puppets the children embodied their ancestors and forerun- ners at pivotal sites, personalized histo- ry and revealed the continuum of cultures, migrations, changes in build- ings, and changes in the patterns of life. Native American students delighted in sharing a respectful treatment of their forefathers' ingenious earth-walled houses; boys and girls portrayed the waves of fur traders, whalers, and entrepreneurs erecting new buildings, changing ways of life. Students "became their parts" as their puppets enacted naturalists, public officials, or oil men active at their places of work. 180 K-2 students, themselves costumed

as gold seekers, held aloft their "mining partners"-their hand puppets-and scoured the gymnasium for "yaller" gold. Several students portrayed them- selves with puppets, studying "struc- tures" at North Star Elementary School. The final scene was of museum curators preserving indigenous archi- tecture. From the Athabaskan summer tents to contemporary urban Alaska, the play effectively animated the inter- action of humans and their structures. As planned, the storyboards offered commentary, analysis, and clarification of the many concepts that come togeth-

Figure 7 (top): "The White Man's Need for 'Space': A

Failure to Adapt to Native Ways." Figure 8:

"Russian Rulers"

er within the history of Alaska. After the show the gymnasium was

abuzz with discussion. Grandparents recalled life lived "the old way." An architect wondered if the ancient sod house was not superior to moder homes in its ability to insulate. A men- tion was made of malls and their nega- tive impact on teenagers. Carpenters

MAY 1999 / ART EDUCATION

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Figure 9:"New Roads, New Orientations"

talked of new tools and changes in con- struction. Too, there was a description of the earthquake that floored Anchorage in 1964 and its influence upon the architecture. And someone spoke of the price to be paid in the har- vesting of resources such as timber, oil, and copper. Iglugruaq initiated an impromptu forum on the history of the great land and many of the issues inhabitants are facing. Yes, a look at Alaska's cultural history through the structures that highlighted and influ- enced its eras was a good idea.

In Iglugruaq: The Evolution of the Sod House, I attempted to tie together the fundamental lessons of a child's place in history, in the settings, struc- tures, and events that gave the world its vital atmosphere (Figure 10). By wed- ding form to action and structure to deed, the puppet theatre can draw a broad picture of pulsating life, human creations, and their mutual influence on each other.

AFTERWORDS To those who would attempt anoth-

er such project, I recommend the fol- lowing:

1. In order to teach most clearly its thematic lessons, the project must be

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carefully conceived in the elements of its design-balance, proportion, emphasis, etc.

2. By focusing on the construction of the puppets, there is every chance for a long and slow unfolding of the theme, a leisurely revelation timed to the chil- dren's ability to absorb challenging subject matter.

3. The script best serves as "stitch- ing" for the production, unifying the media with its exposition, clarification, and summary.

4. The scenery, which can illustrate worlds, needs to be subtle in order to best purvey its gentle influence.

5. The storyboards need to be comic

Figure 10: Final rehearsal, North Star Elementary School, Nikiski, Alaska

in nature, and not interfere with the play's dramatic flow.

6. Children, excited by the thought of performing for an audience, are espe- cially receptive to the content of the program. Build on their enthusiasm.

7. The historical panorama of infor- mation and insight into structures can be presented effectively as puppet the- atre as long as there is a "handle" for the students to grasp (buildings, tools, landmarks). It is important to have a common element in the scenes to help connect the various time periods.

8. The action in the play need not be confined to puppetry and the immedi- ate staging area. Live acting sequences can alternate with puppet activity and may take place in front of or well beyond the puppet arena.

9. The rewards are there for those students and teachers who become involved in a sophisticated multi-media project which challenges participants by its long view of life on this planet.

David Wheeler is a sculptor and performing artist. He has conducted over 80 artist-in-the-school residencies in Alaska, New York, Louisiana, and Massachusetts.

REFERENCE Marx, K. (n.d.) The eighteenth brumaire of

Louis Napoleon.

_ ART EDUCATION / MAY 1999

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