paint is one of the materials we are most familiar with since we were children. We usually can use our creativity more confidently when we meet our familiar materials and the fluidity and rich colour of paints provide more possibilities for the combination. Therefore, it couldn’t be more appropriate to use painting as a starting point to understand the concept of assemblage.

 

When it comes to painting and assemblage, perhaps the first thing we can think of is mixing the colours on the palette, and drawing what we want to express on paper through the brush in our hands. However, painting is far more than human beings, paints, paper and brush, and we are not the only ones who dominate the painting. “Melting away these boundaries, paint assembled human and nonhuman bodies and became an assemblage in itself.” (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind and Kocher 2016) To truly understand the concept of assemblage, we need to understand that non-humans also have agency as humans. When we paint, leave the result aside and focus on any potential possibilities to combine different elements of the environment together.

 

With this idea in mind, the materials and I created this painting together. I didn’t set any purpose, each stroke follows the blending situation of the colour and the state of the whole drawing. I used different materials to paint, such as plastic paper, sponge, sticks, fingers, and so on. I see myself as a medium, conveying the collision and fusion between materials. Therefore, the artefact is not the result of painting, but the process of exploration of combining painting and various materials.

 

This process-focused painting can also be used in early childhood practice. Children can have a further understanding of the features of other materials while feeling the paint, and more importantly, this kind of exploration that does not care about the results can develop and improve children's creativity and imagination. From these unexpected combinations they create, children will acquire knowledge and skills that traditional painting cannot provide.

 

When implementing this kind of painting, we have to get rid of the constraint of tradition from material choices to painting techniques. Use leaves, tissues, water bottles, bodies, and all available items in daily life instead brushes; Encourage children to try different methods to draw: flick, wipe, wave, drip, stamp, blow, step on, etc. The table doesn't have to be the only place to paint because different environments can also promote different combinations. For example, children can paint on the wall, on the floor, on the window, on their bodies... Allow the surrounding materials, elements, factors and environments fully participate in the painting, let children feel the surrounding, explore new collisions, generate different understandings, and participate in the assemblage.

Compared to paint, clay is not that familiar to most of us. But we must know play dough, and clay is the prototype of it. Unlike play dough, clay comes from nature. This material affects the surrounding environment and the people who want to shape it with its strong natural atmosphere. Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind and Kocher (2016, p.28) claimed ‘We think about clay's demands... when it responds to our movements as we work with it, when it refuses to stay still in one shape, when it flows through the studio in rhythm with children's movements, when it is cured through intense high heat.’ The high malleability and the feature of getting hard when it dries allow it to transform into many forms and enrich the combinations with other materials.

 

When making this artefect, I still followed the concept of assemblage, listening to the “instructions” of the material for shaping and adding other material into it. First I wanted to flatten the clay, but when I picked it up it started to bend, so I imagined it as a bracer. Possibly infected by the natural atmosphere, I chose some matching natural materials for decoration. Then, I accidentally left marks on the clay with my nails which become a pattern that can also as a special decoration. In the end, I saw it as a small piece of land, so I added some pine needles to pretend trees on it. I don’t have a particular shape in my mind all the time, the making process is not I’m shaping the clay, but I’m communicating and interacting with the clay.

 

Clay has a strong connection to nature which is definitely a better choice for children than play dough. Taking the sense of smell as an example, unlike artificial scents, clay has a fragrance of the earth, which influence children to have different reactions than most artificial materials and toys. Clay can bring more uncertainty to the hand-craft table. Although children may make a mess, the addition of clay will bring more unexpected combinations and creations.

 

We shouldn’t set goals for children, we only need to encourage them to join in the movement with clay. The interaction with clay is not limited to shaping, we can also feel the different forms of clay by controlling its humidity. For example, put the clay into a container and add water to it, let the children feel the process of it slowly turning into muddy water; Or wait for the clay to dry out, and use tools such as scrapers or even fingers to experience the clay in this form. These rich experiences are beyond what play dough can’t give to children.

 

Clay doesn't have to be the core of children's exploration, it can also be an additional material as a part of the creation. For example, take a plastic bottle or can as a base, then add clay and other materials to it. This can better guide children who are not familiar with clay to know about clay.

Music is everywhere, it carries emotions and memories. Music is a medium to express feelings, a document to record the world, and a way to communicate with others. There are many ways for us to contact with music, and children are no exception. Not only in the classroom, but also during the time with their family. Hanna (2016, p.3) mentioned 'The Reggio studio ... is based on the philosophical assumption that all children have a natural capacity to develop musical skills and abilities therefore, these talents can be developed naturally while practicing and refining the art.' Children will be influenced by music just like adult and they are capable enough to create their own music.

 

Usually, we use instruments to create music, but it doesn't have to be a formal instrument like the piano or violin. When common materials meet, they collide and combine with each other and create different tones and timbres of the sounds, they all mixed together to form the melody and rhythm, who can say that this is not an instrument that can make music? That's how this instrument artefact was created. I put some rocks in the can, and collected egg boxes and wood chips as percussion parts. Then I picked a stick and started my music making. The knocking sound of different materials and the colliding sound of the stones and can, these sounds become music as the result of I assembling with these non humans

 

Guitar, drum and xylophone... are some common instruments in kindergarten, but as mentioned above, it is not only formal instruments that can make music. Encourage children to integrate their understanding of music into the production of instruments, and then create music with the instruments which have mixed with children’s consciousness and emotion. This can not only develop children's creativity, but also allow children to better express their understanding and feelings of music, and explore more combinations. At the same time, children also become a part of this assemblage.

 

The materials for making instruments can be common objects or loose parts in nature. Although as adults, we already know that some combinations can make sounds and music, and we may also have our own sound preferences, we shouldn’t interfere too much with children's exploration. We have to believe that children are capable, what we need to care about is whether we providing them with a rich environment for exploring.

Creating music is a form of expression , and all expression cannot be separated from listening. “The capacity for reciprocal listening and expectation, which enables communication and dialogue, is a quality of the human mind and intelligence that is clearly present in young children.” (Rinaldi 2011) Listening is not simply means use ear to listen, it requires you to feel with the whole body and mind. Oliveros (1999) claimed 'Deep Listening is exploring the relationships among any and all sounds ... expanding the boundaries of perception.' Inspired by Deep Listening, I filmed this video as an artefact.

 

I came to the park near my home, took a deep breath, and tried my best to feel the surroundings. I can hear the wind blowing, and if I listen more carefully, I can hear the rubbing of the leaves, which reminds me of the smell of herbs; I can hear the birds singing, and feel them flying from the treetops to them the nest; I can hear the playful sounds of children as if I saw their happy faces affecting people around them... My ears, eyes, nose, skin, and the surrounding elements combined together at this moment, I can feel nature and the connection with the environment much more than ever before.

 

In early childhood education, Deep Listening is a good way to guide children to feel natural. When children play outdoors, lead them to listen carefully, ask what they can see, and what they hear. Even deep listening to some normal sounds can bring new experiences to children. For example, when seeing a bird resting on a branch, except asking children if they can hear birds singing, we can extend the question: Can you hear the bird's claws rubbing on the branch? Can you hear the bird’s wings flapping? Where did it come from? Is the bird looking for food?...to find answers to these questions, children will listen with more than their ears but feel with other senses, and even add some imagination. Through the assemblage of the sense and all the perceptions, children can gain a richer and more profound experience than only listening with ears.

Our modern life can’t be without light. Except for illumination, light can also be used to create art. This is an assemblage around light. Light is constantly changing when meets light-transmitting and reflective materials, and each refraction and reflection is a new combination.

At the beginning of making this artefact, I was a little confused. I’m not familiar with light which is truly existed but can't be touched. The good thing is, the more I played with light the more I understand how to assemble light with other materials and produce art. Let the light pass through the glass ball, and the bubbles in the ball are covered with a beautiful layer of light and refracted on the table; surround the light with reflective paper, and the space has been lighted up by scattered reflections; let the light pass through the bubble wrap, The outline of the bubble can be seen clearly. This series of photos is the assemblage of material and light, of course, I am also involved in it.

 

Mahshulah, Syaodih & Rachmawati (2020 p.4)stated 'Learning activities using light is an innovation in early childhood learning activities that can attract children's attention to explore, think creatively and critical thinking early on.' Preparing a light studio is easy. Torch, lightbox, and decorative lights string... can be used as light sources. Both light-transmitting and reflective materials can produce wonderful reflection and refractions with light, for the materials that can’t transmit light, children can also study their shapes on the lightbox. Encourage children to feel and explore light and welcome them to bring other materials to the light studio.

When there is light, there will be shadows. When we use light to create art, the shadow is also expressing art in its own way. Unlike the multiple changes of light, shadows have only a single color and emphasize the figure and shapes. By changing the distance between the object and the light source, the size of the shadow also changes, and the shadows can also be overlapped, which provides the basis for stories and dramas.

 

For making this artefact, I put different things under the light, captured how their shadows change, and imagined them as various items. The combination of the bubble wrap and the cup makes the shadow looks like an eagle; The cup hanging on a rope like a huge bell, I stretched out my hand to pretend to grab it, the shadow looked like a giant trying to take the bell away. The features of materials are not important anymore and become the parts of the shadows, these shapes are combined together and created new shapes. My imagination was also influenced by them, and according to the story I imagined, the shadows entered a new round of assembling...

 

In early childhood education, shadow play is also an opportunity for children to learn about shadows, and develop their imagination and creation. Topal and Gandini (1999, p.50) said 'don't mind the specific way to do it, the more important this what you think about the materials and how to create with these materials'. It may be difficult for some children to start the shadow play or create a story from these abstract shapes, and it doesn't matter. We can still encourage children to explore these materials and their shadows, guiding them to adjust the brightness of the light or adjust the distance between objects and light. Children won’t all learn the same thing, each child joins the assemblage as a unique individual and creates different things.

 

Hanna, W 2016, The children’s music studio: a Reggio-inspired approach, Oxford University Press.

 

Edwards, C, Gandini, L & Forman, G 2011, The hundred languages of children: the Reggio Emilia experience in transformation, 3rd edn, ABC-CLIO, LLC.

 

Oliveros, P 1999, Quantum Listening: From Practice to Theory (To Practice Practice), SoundArtArchive, viewed 20 August 2022,<https://www.deeplistening.rpi.edu/deep-listening/>.

 

Mahshulah, ZA, Syaodih, E & Rachmawati, Y 2020, ‘The ray of light: an activity approach of Reggio Emilia’, The 2nd International Conference on Elementary Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, pp. 1–6, viewed 20 August 2022, <http://proceedings.upi.edu/index.php/icee/article/view/687/603>.

 

Topal, CW & Gandini, L 1999, ‘Connections’, Beautiful stuff: learning with found materials, Davis Publications, Worcester, pp. 49–66.