Human and animal on the yard
I take a group of 7-8-year-olds out to do a natureculture exercise.
Out on the yard, between blocks of flats
the instruction is: look at the environment and take photos
using these two iPads.
What kinds of traces have been left there
either by a human?
or an animal?
It is freezing and everything is covered by a thick layer of snow.
Hard, frozen snow: hankikanto in Finnish
This time of the year,
the colors have disappeared
the photos look like being black and white even if they are not.
We walk over the snow
“Take a photo of that there!”
“Why did you take a photo of this?”
Back in the room, looking at the photos, we see what we have:
poo
poo
a little bit of rabbit poo, but mainly dog poo
and pee
But somebody photographed humans
explaining “because they were made by …” - laughter
some of the kids took pictures of bushes – the others questioned that
but yes, they explain: the big plants on the yard are all planted by humans
they get planted and after that they start to live lives of their own.
After watching the pics through
we write words inspired by the photos
on little pieces of paper
then everybody takes 4-5 pieces
and arranges them into a poem.
I ask them to sit and listen
and I read the poems out loud
a peculiar weight and seriousness on the words
kakka kakka kakka …