Finding Patterns
Adventures of an artist travelling obliquely through science
Magnets Workshop
“The Embrace” of Attraction and” Invisible Wind” of Repulsion
The explosive magnetic Sun and magnetic shield of our Earth, taking inspiration from artist Hilma af Klint.
The components of our world - magnetism, particles, flowers, butterflies and Sun.
about
In early 2022 we created a new workshop about magnets. Our aim was to help children and families think about magnetism and its vital role in our lives through playful discussion, experimentation, and art.
Each two-hour session begins by asking, ‘What is a magnet?’ and ‘Where are they in our world?’.
Everyone has magnets, and we spend time discussing how it feels when two like poles repel and two different poles attract. Participants find new forms of expression for these sensations like ‘Invisible Wind’ and ‘Embrace’.
Magnetic field viewer.
We take iron filing magnetic field viewers and investigate and discuss the mesmerising forms the magnetic field takes when we have a single magnet, two like poles that repel, and then two different poles that attract.
Our magnetic Sun. NASA.
We zoom up close to the surface of the Sun and explore its complex magnetism and how the dynamical and dangerous explosions originating from it travel to Earth. We discover that our lives are saved every day by the Earth’s relatively modest magnetic field, and that this magnetic action brings to life the Aurora Borealis.
Hilma af Klint and her work. HAF Foundation..
We switch gear to introduce the intriguing and inspiring artist Hilma af Klint and take her work as inspiration to make expressive artworks of our own that capture aspects of what we have learnt.
Many lovely paintings and collages have been created and a small selection are shown.
pilot
We have piloted the Magnets workshop four times at:
Chris Hatton Primary School, in Camden. 30 children ages 7-8, 28th March 2022.
De Beauvoir School, in Hackney. 30 children ages 7-9, 23rd May 2022.
‘Magnetic Art’ two workshops at Imperial College Inventions Rooms, White City with 20 families on 31st May 2022.
A selection of magnets and their fields – made from collage and glitter. Prepared by De Beauvoir School for an exhibit in Dalston library.
what people say
Students
1. I wish you can come again and can answer my 50 questions. I will be very happy to see you again!
2. I like that we all did painting and lots of different thinks. Also to change is that if we learned about planets and make our own. I would be so HAPPY!!! I LOVE ART!!! ART IS AMAZING!!! YAY!!!
3. I really enjoyed this, so please can you come and visit again.
4. I enjoyed drawing about the Sun and Earth and magnets. I also liked experimenting with magnets, however, I think it would be better if we had more time to enjoy it and have fun.
5. My notes: 1. Thanks for coming; 2. Come again; 3. Loved today; 4. Do something different next time; 5. It was interesting.
6. The workshop was interesting. If you return can you please learn Space or Electricity? I felt quite curious about how you got all the data.
7. I had so much fun and hope you come again. And thank you for the art.
8. I felt great about this lesson. It was amazing. And it was maybe the best experience of my life.
9. It was lovely. Come back.
10. It was good when I got to draw. Please come back.
11. Learn more about the Sun and come back again.
12. I loved the teaching of the magnets. Please come back here again. Please, please, please.
13. I get happy and bored at the same time and I want to learn about who discovered magnets.
14. I have enjoyed with you and it was fun exploring the Sun and magnets. I wish you could stay. I hope you come now I know all about magnets and how they work and how the Sun is a big star and how it works. Now I have experienced a lot.
15. It was amazing. I loved the Art. I liked to do the experiment of magnets where we see the insides of magnets. I’d love to see and do it again. I wish that you ca come back.
16. I really enjoyed this and it was a big opportunity. It was so much fun.
17. I enjoyed learning about magnets and this time I really enjoyed the lesson today. I liked when we were learning about the Sun and the earth as magnets.
18. I wish you could come again! You are really artistic and smart! I’ve had a really nice time with you and learned something new.
19. I am happy that you came today to teach us about the Sun. I enjoyed learning about everything and I hope you come back soon.
20. I am happy.
21. I like about our workshop the part where we did art and the magnet. I like the art the most because it has glitter and powder because I like making things AND IT IS SO COOL!?! Thank you for the best workshop ever!
22. I LOVED THIS WORKSHOP because we get to do stuff we have never DONE BEFORE!!! It was a blast I hope we can do this again. THANK YOU!!!
23. I loved this lesson so much. We want you to come do this again and also I loved the experiments and also the arts. We love you.
24. I had no idea the Sun was a magnet and seeing the videos was amazing because I've never seen anything like that.
TEACHERS
It was a fantastic workshop and the children really enjoyed themselves as well as learn so much about the Sun being a huge magnet :). I always think interactive teaching on subjects such as magnets is always a positive way to allow children to explore and engage with the task and have their own questions in their heads to be answered by adults or their own research. Some of them mentioned going home and checking on 'YouTube' videos on magnets and the Sun, which is lovely to hear. I feel like the flow of the lesson and different tasks worked really well, and the timing, before they had the chance to be bored, they then had a next task to tackle and keep them engaged which was lovely to see. We used the pictures and artwork to create a project for Dalston library and I’ll send a picture of that through to you too. I do feel you catered for all learning needs in the classroom and all the children were able to access all the tasks. Once again thank you so much for all your hard work and lovely workshop.
Beri Kurban, De Beauvoir School, Hackney.
…Children being given an opportunity to 'play' and find things out for themselves was great to do alongside teaching of concepts. The incorporation of an artist work used to inspire their own outcomes was lovely too.
Lucy Trickett, Chris Hatton School, Camden.
team
The Magnets workshop was created by Geraldine Cox funded by Imperial College’s Centre for Cold Matter via a research award from EPSRC. The project is supported by Dr Helen Mason of Cambridge University and the SunSpaceArt Project with funding from the STFC. Scientists delivering the sessions were Dr’s Isabel Rabey and Rhys Jenkins of Imperial College London and Dr Stephanie Yardley of University College London.
BOOK A WORKSHOP
Please contact Geraldine Cox at geraldine.cox@imperial.ac.uk