La Rotation Artistique

Of TigaDominique Hudicourt

August 2007 - EECERA

introduction

Jean Claude Garoute (Tiga) was a friend and a teacher.

From 1993 to 2004 I shared many artistic moments and philosophical conversations with him

The life and work of Tiga (1935-2006)

He is a Haitian born artist

He defined himself as being an “animateur” A researcher an artist

He started teaching art to children in 1958

Growing upTiga’s relationship with nature and art started at a

young age His very first creative interest was with the practice of

pottery at the age of 10. He soon also showed interest in drawing and painting As well as theater, music and poetry. In his twenties he became the director of the national

center for ceramic.

The artist

He is mostly known for his “Soleil Brulé” works, in which, by discoloring ink washes, he brings out some effects of light shining through.

The Saint Soleil artistic movementHe is also known as the

initiator of the “Saint Soleil” artistic movement in Haiti .

His actions in the 70s provoked an artistic movement from the peasant community of Soisson-la-Montagne

André Malrauxdescribed the “Saint Soleil”movement in his book“L’intemporel” (The Timeless)as

“The most striking and the onlycontrollable experiment in magicpainting in our century." (1974)

Tiga’s philosophy in art educationA person needs to do art to

find his or her self-balance and gain

psychological well-being.

“Art is a bio-physiological

emanation of the human being”.

When a person is creating, time stops, he is leaving a minute of eternity: “La minute d’éternité”

140 million years

Are embedded in a child’s cells.

The 0 to 4 years old child is re-living this ancient history

Tiga’s art education theory the artistic experiment should

be a creative experience the child (or adult) should feel free

to choose from different media Children are naturally driven to do

art. Adults do not need to show

them how to

“Art – Artisanat – Technicité- Science” Children at different ages will

work their way from art to craft and later to techniques and a scientific approach.

A 4 year old is mostly preoccupied by being creative.

Tiga describes the “Rotation Artistique” as being a moment of artistique preschooling (Le prescolaire de l’art)

La Rotation Artistique The environment is set

up prior to the arrival of the children:

Different kinds of art media are set up on tables around the working space called “The artistic laboratory”:

Colors, ink, clay…

“C’est bien, c’est bon, c’est beau”It is right! It is good! It is beautiful!

Children can choose to work with any of the material.

Children could do as many pieces of artwork they please in the order they choose.

The basic media for the “Rotation Artistique” are: colors in the form of liquid tempera aligned in a

specific order. paint brushes and stock paper of different sizes clay black ink with twigs and swabs at least one drum few chalky stones and chisels.Pencils and crayons are not allowed since they will

remind children of school and academic activities.

Other creative or sensorial activities Guessing smells Guessing taste Beating different rhythms on the

drum Singing along and story telling Inventing words: “words that are

not in the dictionary”

La sculpture vivante (The living sculpture): a pair of children does

this activity. A child is the sculptor

Then matter comes alive

A therapeutic artistic activityTiga says:

“Art reconciles the human being with himself”

: “Whether children are privileged or deprived, the artistic rotation applies as the key to the child equilibrium and cultural blooming”

Tiga vs Vygosky Interaction with the environment and

the animator will bring the child to construct his personal culture

Children are working side by side at the Rotation Artistique and are influenced by each other’s work

We do find Vygostky’s main idea of scaffolding and building oneself and one’s culture through art

Tiga and Lowenfelds Artistic Stages. , Tiga places milestones at ages 4, 8, 12 and 16 years old. Four years old being the age of “Cérébralisation” when

signs appear in children’s artwork. “Cérébralisation” meaning the age of brain readiness for

producing signs. We can here point to Lowenfeld’s pre-schematic stage of artistic development.

For Tiga, at eight years of age the child is preoccupied by putting reality in created images of his own. Lowenfeld identifies the schematic stage at that same age.

Conclusion “La Rotation” meets actual trends in teaching young

children thought, art, free choice and play aArt and culture are a mean to reach psychological

balance and provoke the blooming of creativity The child creates from within and from an inherited

history and ancestral cultures. Tiga was ahead of his time. He never got close to

bringing the “Rotation Artistique” into the schools and preschools of Haiti.