Tape Art has been gaining its popularity since the 1960s in the midst of explosion of Urban Art with spray painting due to its easy access and low cost. It was primarily used as an aide to add effects and create stencils. As part of a series of workshops that aims to equipe young learners (aged 11-15) with critical thinking skills, I have designed this workshop that focus on the concept and methods of artist Aakash Nihalani (http://www.aakashnihalani.com/) while introducing other artists and disciplines of relevance. Students get to learn and practise isometric drawing, and apply the maths of measurements and geometry into the creation of their own artworks. The following resource can be used as a mini-workshop for provocation, or can be broken into sections to be developed into an inquiry-based learning experience.




Nihalani (http://www.streetartbio.com/aakash-nihalani) takes advantage of the
non-permanent nature of tape, and creates street artworks that are ephemeral, yet engaging and interactive that make a lasting impact on how we view and interact with space. Is it something that can be manipulated? And if so, what are the different means of creating that dialogue and facilitate an on-going conversation? The idea of an urban space that is multi-layered, multi-faceted, and multi-functional that is able to host these conversations is something that can be further inquired into for the learners.

When I hosted this workshop it ran for 90 minutes. I had about 30 students signed up and they were introduced to the concept and effect of using tape in art. I wanted the workshop to be practical as I only had one session with them, so I focussed on the interactive aspect of Nihalani's work. The videos in the Sway presentation above are excellent as inspirations. It took about 20 minutes to go through the presentation and discussions with the learners art terms such as site-specific installation, in-situ, and sculpture, then the students are broken into groups of 3-4 to generate ideas for their own quick Tape Art experiments.

Students were asked to create one or more pieces of tape art installations that manipulate the site in some ways. They needed to start with an on-site survey by taking photographs of a location at school and use ExplainEverything on their iPad to annotate their thinking and planning. Then they need to use the isometric papers provided and show their planning on paper. A good starting point would be to look up '3D geometric shapes' and learn to copy or translate them onto the isometric paper.

Once the planning was promising, learners were required to scale up the design and apply it onto their selected sight. A short demonstration was helpful as I was able to point out some features of the tape so the learners would feel more confident in going ahead with it. For example, the stretchy nature of the tape means that the measurements need to be taken when the tape is relaxed, otherwise the tape is not going to stay in place due to the pressure. Also, they would realise it is better to do this as a team because of the scale and precision required. I found using the 3M vinyl tapes most effective. They are great in quality and has a very smooth finish. Also it is very gentle on the surface they adhere to so they can be removed without leaving any trace. However, any electrical or insulation plastic tapes are suitable for these artworks and they are more cost effective.