SUSIE MALLETT

My visitors today

Thursday 27 August 2009

What does a conductor need to know?





"Petö workshop" August 2009

This was the question set for me a couple of days ago by one of my young clients:

We have not had much of a chance to discuss it since then, although he has made a few more practical suggestions such as knowing how to stop young children cry and being very brave.

Today I found a lovely long list on the comments of this recent posting from a conductor called just "Ági".

Thanks Ági.

There is one item that was particularly appropriate fitting well to my work today and is about a topic that I think strongly about.
Àgi writes:”there is no conductive equipment, only lack of resourcefulness“

I mentioned in an earlier posting that in November I shill be at a conference in Nürnberg and that I shill make a point of listening to a presentation there all about the wonder of a plinth! It will not, may I add, be presented by a conductor.

Furniture with a difference

I called in a bit of parental assistance today. Life was proving just a bit difficult so Dad and I decided it was time for teamwork. Dad has a garage full of wonderful “furniture” resources.

I am unsure of all the English names for the things that Dad prepared for us, but the names are not important, we worked hard, we got really dirty and we very nearly had fun.

The platform that lifts the cars up for an inspection underneath makes a brilliant table, as it can be set at any height at the press of a button. Dad loaded this with huge nuts and bolts and levers, and "nameless" heavy metal bits and pieces that fit inside each other. We sculpted with them to our heart's content for what seemed like hours.

Dad had also prepared a heavy metal ladder on the floor for us. It had just enough space between the rungs for size-45 feet to walk sideways in it. Dad had tipped all sorts of metal objects on the floor and gave us a bowl with a magnet on the bottom to collect everything in.

The bowl was lifted and “stuck”on the next rung of the ladder with each step, then by crouching down all Dad’s nuts and bolts were collected. Thus the next half an hour also disappeared, as if by magic.

What was in store for us next?

Hanging from the ceiling of the workshop there is a contraption with a flexible hose and a trigger which shoots out air under pressure. Dad had given us a board and three cans of car paint to be creative with. He also gave us permission to be as messy as we liked! It is wonderful to watch how the paint moves through the air if you hit it with the air-gun as it drops out of the jar, or to observe how as a skin starts to form it makes all sorts of interesting waves and ripples and mixing of colours.

We printed off our art works on to paper and hung them up to dry, just like in a proper studio!

Now that really was nearly fun!

Tomorrow we are going to put the paint board on a turntable that has a foot control for the motor. I think this has something to do with removing tyres from their rims.

My client can have a paint brush in one hand, hold tight with the other and power the motor with his foot himself. Almost like driving a car, I imagine! We will learn standing on one foot, holding a paint brush and a handhold, and also how to be creative. All at the same time.
Now that will make an interesting Petö "art-in-action" photo!

We hope that Dad’s and my enthusiasm for our new Petö workshop is rubbing off.

The best bit of all for me was donning my overalls and getting really dirty, as I usually wear white for work even when I am painting!

Note

Plinth presentation -

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