WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

This project explored how art could contribute to sustainability. The students were encouraged to think of the positive contributions they could make in everyday life. They discussed how to manage resources to meet today’s needs without jeopardizing the future, considering that nature and the environment were not inexhaustible sources. They also analyzed artistic ways of expressing their views and concerns.

After being shown the works of several artists to see how they expressed their ideas, the children were asked to interpret some of the paintings. Reusing the old bed sheets they had cleaned their brushes with, they created a large-size group painting, thus giving a new life to old materials.

Artist Nerea Lekuona showed the students one of her works, made with waste from her trips. Then, the children were asked to analyze and keep their everyday waste, taking pictures of it. The resorted to Mathematics to estimate the amount of waste produced over different periods of time. Finally, they made letter collages to convey positive messages about sustainability and the need to take care of the environment.

As a final activity, the group analyzed AI images and discussed the difference between them and real-life images. This led to a discussion of the purpose of this kind of tools: How can we use AI in artistic creation? How can we create images that raise awareness of the urgency of environmental protection? In addition, they produced shocking AI images based on the collage texts.