#belgiansolutions

                                      “Belgian Solutions - Session 001”

What inspired us: As a group, we decided to create a dragon. We all agreed on this as a dragon symbolised different things to each of the group members. Coming from the United Kingdom, a dragon is part of our heritage through the story of St George. “In the village of Wormingford, they were plagued by a dragon. They offered the dragon maidens to appease its appetite until finally the only maiden left was a princess. The village brought her out to where the dragon was and tied her up as they had done with the others. One version says that before the dragon could attack her, a knight riding by saw her plight and slew the dragon to rescue her. Another says that St. George was able to subdue the dragon and told the village that he would slay it if they gave up their pagan ways and became Christians” (Owens, 2013). The flames the dragon breaths were inspired by the rampant lion Scottish flag. In Scotland, we have two flags this one, and the Saltire flag (Rampant lion flag, 2019).  

How it was made: This piece was made of recycled rubbish and minimum 30cm tape. This was a task our lecturer gave us, based on the ideas behind Belgian Solutions, a collection of funny, fast fixes (Helbich, 2016), And Ugly houses (Coudenys, 2011). To create this piece we used the moon boot as a core structure and to pad out our dragon, stuffed it with newspaper. Using bottle caps for eyes, pre-used card for the wings and flames, sticks and leaves for its scales and ears and over 30cm of tape t hold it all together.

How it would work in a school setting: This is a highly engaging and enjoyable task for children as, it can be taught alongside eco-friendly lessons, such as recycling. By showing basic inspiration of ‘Belgian solutions’ (quick fixes to problems) and showing ‘ugly Belgian houses’ along with the instructions of “your creation cannot be pretty,” opens the children’s creativity and does not hold them back trying to make a pretty piece of work from the given materials.

This exercise also reminds me of the Japanese culture, as in Japan, broken objects are often repaired with gold. The see the flaw as it being unique and part of the history of the object adding to its appeal and beauty (Bloom, 2001). This also shows this task can teach children that there is beauty in everything, helping them learn about self-confidence. 

Reference List:

Bloom, B. (2001). Broken. Newyork, NY: Gorney Bravin & Lee Gallery, 2001.  

Coudenys, H. (2011). Ugly Belgian houses (1st ed.). Belgium.

Helbich, D. (n.d.). Not every solution is the answer to a problem. Retrieved from http://www.belgian-solutions.be

Owens, K. (2013). Dragons in Celtic Mythology - Draconika. Retrieved from http://www.draconika.com/cultures/dragons-in-celtic-mythology.php