Small Stages was my element of Entry, for The pUBLIC (formerly Jubilee Arts), West Bromwich.

Action research project in Lodge Primary School, Greets Green, investigating lifelong learning in new contexts, leading to an exhibition exploring diverse learning experiences via the media of old school desks. The actual target clients were adults in the community who had lost touch with continuing education; they were reached via daily interaction with their children both during and after school time. As well as creating desks based on the children’s ideas I re-introduced adults to creativity with a number of them creating their own desks featuring their own educational stories and aspirations.

The desk is presented as a stage for performance where the rituals of live are conducted in miniature for an audience of one.

The Magic Desk, a story by Hana Ahmed.

Sam was a lazy boy, he hated to do his homework and his studies.

“Tomorrow we’ve got a mathematics test,” said Sam’s teacher.

“Oh, no, not again!” cried Sam, “I wish I had something magic to get rid of tests and homework.”

Sam went home and fell fast asleep with his dreams. Whilst he slept a magic woman came and woke him up and she said, “I will grant your wishes and I will change your desk to a magic desk, inside it will be a silver thread, when you pull it the time passes quicker, example if you have got a test tomorrow and you want the day to pass very quickly. When you wake up in the morning pull the thread just a little bit then the day will pass very easily without any hard work. But be careful when you pull the thread out you can’t return it back, and beware don’t use it all the time.” And she disappeared.

The next day Sam woke up and hurried to his desk and he found a silver thread dangling from his desk and he wanted to try it. So he pulled the thread just a little bit and the day passed very quickly. He felt very happy because he doesn’t need to do his homework or feel tired from studying or being shouted at from his teacher.

The days passed and Sam pulled and pulled and pulled the silver thread every time he found himself in trouble or if he had a problem until the years passed and Sam carried on pulling and pulling and pulling the silver thread every time he was waiting for a job or marriage or a baby.

He doesn’t know the bad days or feel tired, he only knows the happy days and he got older and older and older until he found himself an old man and his life was very short.

He felt very sorry because he did not work hard for success, he did not feel sadness to feel happiness.

He has to live has life with good and bad things.

He was sorry because he was a lazy boy, after that he wished to be a child to work hard to live his life with all good and bad things.

Then he woke up and went to the mirror and found himself a boy again, and he hurried to his school very happy.

Moral: try very hard to get success in your life even if there is a problem.