What is transient art?
Transient art is a term used for creative work that is not fixed. This is a type of art created using movable pieces, which can be easily changed, adapted, and added to, but most importantly is not permanent. This offers children the opportunity to focus on the process of the artwork, rather than the finished product itself. This encourages children to build skills such as choosing resources for a purpose, thinking critically, and understanding why they are making certain choices.
What are the benefits?
There are many advantages of transient art in the early years. It develops curiosity, imagination, and problem-solving skills. Children are required to seek resources for intent and explore with the way they look and feel. There is opportunity to understand more about the way different materials can be manipulated, and the permutations are endless! This really is the meaning of open-ended play and learning without limits. One other benefit to consider is the use of repurposing and reusing materials, which supports an eco-friendly ethos in the setting.
Where is the learning?
As with many activities in the early years, curriculum links cross and learning is happening through the characteristics of effective teaching and learning. Children learn key skills and practise through transient art, such as maths; moveable resources allow children to play with pattern, symmetry, counting, subitising, shape, size, and position to name a few! There are also many strong links to communication and language. Children can explain their thinking and reasoning, use descriptive language to talk about the resources, and even tell their own stories through what they are creating. Physical development is also being practised, with hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. For settings that use themes, topics, or texts to support their curriculum offer, transient art can easily be adapted to enhance this, e.g., minibeasts, special people pebble art, creating our own faces, exploring emotions and expressions. Children really get to understand that objects can be used to represent meaning.
Links to inspiring artists
There are many famous artists that have been motivated by transient art, such as Andy Goldsworthy and Richard Shilling. They often make use of what they have around them in the environment to capture and create art.
Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves, and to explore what is possible.
MaryAnn F. Kohl, Art Educator
How do we get started?
Collect resources of different shapes, sizes, and textures. Include natural resources and encourage children to collect things to add too. Start off with a few resources and build them up over time, as this may be new, and children can become overwhelmed with too much choice. Remember to risk assess small parts and ensure what you offer is age appropriate. Consider how you can make this appealing to children, by providing items to use as a ‘work area’, such as real photo frames, chalk frames on the ground, coloured paper, mirrors, placemats, and trays. Consider where children might access this – indoors, outside, on the floor, at a table. Think about the adult’s role. Could children’s transient art be recorded? Photos could be taken throughout the process to look back and reflect on the journey. Enhance the area with photos of inspiring transient art created by other children alongside more famous pieces. The possibilities really are endless!
