Part I: The Junkateria

Yu Yuan Garden is one of the biggest tourist attraction in Shanghai, a 16th century garden that is overrun with tourists all pushing their way across the Bridge of 9 Turns which brings luck for the year - at the expense of 3 minutes without personal space.

Outside of the Gardens are massive expansive of the small items markets: multi-storied buildings filled with tiny stalls selling everything from buttons to night lights to knockoff transformer toys (this kind really isn't anything more than meets the eye). There is something alluring about endless stalls of useless junk- poorly constructed electronic rabbits and fake jade bracelets just beg for meaning.

Out of this idea the 100 Kuai challenge is born. The IB Art Year One students are given this challenge to obtain materials for a mixed media sculpture:

• Spend exactly 100 Kuai (approximately 15 US Dollars). This is tricky because all prices at the market must be negotiated.
• Find all their materials in less than half an hour.
• Find their way in and out of the maze of the junkaterias and back to the meeting point.

The junkaterias cannot be adequately described, they must be experienced. See them here and preview our project. I can't wait to see what the students do with what they've found: