This website was created to inform viewers about how the brain works; it shows this by combining art and science. Ironically the website gives your brain practical exercises as you view it.
Working with young people from Jubilee and Holmleigh primary schools, artists from the Campbell Arts centre created a massive labyrinth which the young people could explore. Workshops were designed to stimulate different bits of the brain in order to teach people how the brain works.
The material that was produced from these workshops e.g. videos, drawings, quotes, photographs, have been used to create the website www.mindmine.net. We took a look at the website – here is what we think.
The front page is colour coordinated. The colours are a bit bland but the moving images and animations liven it up and make it seem more child friendly. However the other pages have a lot of information and the text is not very child friendly because of the vocabulary used e.g. cross-disciplinary and neurological, but the imagery gives children a chance to have an idea of what is happening on the page.
The pages are accessible to every one with “Flash player 9”, but if you have a slow connection it can be very frustrating to use because of the amount of different formats and plug-ins.
The installation page contains good quality videos showing young people exploring the labyrinth and is useful and easily accessible. The brain shown in the installation section is interesting, but needs more explanation as to what some of the drawings are. It is very easy to navigate the website and the different pages are labelled accordingly to make it easier to find the information you need, but sometimes there is just too much to read.
We asked two young people to check out the website. Ziyad, 9, said, “It might be difficult for some people to understand, but it’s good because it tells you lots about the project and it’s very educational.” Daniel, 11, thought the design of the website was good: “I like the look of the website because it’s white and simple and looks homemade, so it’s very clear. This makes it appealing to people. Brains are an interesting subject and the website is good because it includes children and relates to them.”
About this story
This story was produced by Gloire Ammany, 18, Sarra Said-Wardell, 12, Odaka Olugu, 14, Nyasha McLean, 14 and Dowa Okarike, 18. It was published in Hackney Today.
