a cross-mediaworkshop using very personal subject matter to build a small installation meant to be photographed. By taking the pictures we zoom in and isolate the scene from reality, making it ‘bigger than life’.

We start the workshop with a personal subject, something you were personally emotionally involved in ( a situation you were in where things went completely wrong). It doesn’t have to be of big importance, as the title of the workshop says we're going to make it ‘bigger than life’ in the work. the small installations are about 2m3 and are built while looking through the lens of the camera. We will pay extra attention to the use of common sources of light as an integral part of the installation. We will be using anything from food to furniture, clothing , rubbish, stones, books etc. as well as sculptures, drawings, paper cuttings etc. you make yourself.

The installations as well as the pictures will be part of the exhibition.


Report on the workshop

Making small things big

by Sylvie Zijlmans

The workshop ‘Making small things big’ dealt with photography and installation. I asked everybody to make a translation of a situation they had been part of, and where things went completely wrong. The aim was a translation in images. I wanted them to make something personal, or political, but in a personal way.

The first day we spent some time on and around the campus to start working and get to know each other . Everybody directed one photograph using the rest of the group as actors. We had a lot of fun and some interesting works were made.

The next day we discussed the results and made a selection. That afternoon and the next day the installations that would be the setting for the next series of photographs were built. Everybody had a really different approach, which was interesting to see and it also revealed a different way of looking at and using images to tell a story. The chinese students had an approach that was more based on symbols while the western students had a more direct approach. Fortunately both were very open for discussion.

The last day we went to the market to continue the work there. Some students made installations with the stuff they found in the market, others directed each other in the situation as they found it. In the afternoon we did some photoshopping to make the pictures ready for printing.

The names of the students in my workshop are:
from NAI: Yue Jie, Wu Qinghui, Li Xueyan, Zhu Jing, Gao Peng.
And from DAI: Li Min, Margit Driehuis and Sverre Bjertnaes.




























Website Sylvie Zijlmans: www.xs4all.nl/~sylviez/