Collaborative play at the heart of Ryan Gander's Liverpool Biennale project

For Liverpool Biennial 2018, Ryan Gander has devised a project called Time Moves Quickly. The artist is working collaboratively with five children from Knotty Ash Primary School in Liverpool, aged between six and ten, to produce a series of artworks for a group exhibition at Bluecoat, as well as a series of five bench-like sculptures at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, and artistic film exploring the activities carried out in the workshops. In addition, a family programme and digital curriculum resource for primary and secondary schools will be made available.

For the public artworks, Gander will dissect the cathedral into a series of simple ‘building blocks’ that will be reassembled into different configurations by the children. These maquettes will be reproduced on a larger scale as public seating situated within the cathedral grounds. Taken as a whole, the workshops, public artworks and exhibitions will demonstrate how children can expand their imagination and realise their potential and agency through art. This project was inspired by the Montessori methodology, a method of education that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play.