Chocolate or shit aesthetics and cultural poverty in art therapy with children

Abstract

In my employment with social services, I have worked with children from very poor homes; the children often being the third generation of a family that have lived on benefits. Children arrive for their art therapy sessions physically hungry because the benefit cheque has not arrived. What effect does this have on the children coming to therapy?

The art room is a place of great plenty and wealth, described by the children as a treasure trove; many children have no idea how to use such a place or even what is possible. However, a common theme emerged in the work of these children. The children start with mixing all the colours of the paint together wondering how much they can use and what happens if all the colours are mixed. The resulting brown liquid is a fascination.

Does it work like paint? What does it feel like? What does it taste like? What happens if you add other substances to this liquid? The children quickly start making connections about this brown liquid looking like shit or chocolate or both.

This essay describes children I have worked with either individually or in a group setting and what they have made with the brown paint mixtures. It then goes onto look at the work of modern artists and how they have used similar substances in their work. By reading about these artists, the therapist could gain more understanding about what the children were trying to express.