Chandos Primary School Commission

Photographs

2008-08-14T13:10:00.007+01:00

Photography by Chris Keenan

Installation day

2008-07-15T18:05:00.001+01:00

A picture of me installing the work around the tree in the school grounds.

A giant necklace......

2008-07-10T18:19:00.001+01:00

I have started on the main construction of the sculpture and the rest will be put together as it goes around the tree on the 15th. It's rather like stringing a giant necklace! It's all ready to go now....

Forming the thorn shapes

2008-07-09T20:59:00.004+01:00

Today I completed the forming of the flower shapes in the oven. Firstly I had to make some wooden shapes for helping me to mold the shapes, as they are like floppy jelly shapes when they have been heated through enough. It then takes about 4 minutes for the acrylic to cool and harden, plus it was easy to re-heat any areas with a heat gun to adjust any bits. It was a highly satisfying process and it was great to see the finished results piling up on the desk!

Laser cutting

2008-07-01T19:42:00.004+01:00

After finally sorting out the software to design the flowers, I started and completed the laser cutting of the acrylic sheet at Deer Park School in Cirencester today. The staff were very friendly and helpful and were good tutors in mastering the use of this machinery. It essentially works as sort of printer, the line drawn is produced by intense heat from a laser that cuts the acrylic and leaves it with a perfect edge with no need for sanding and finishing. As the shapes came out of the machine I polished them to remove any little marks that had appeared. The shapes are now all ready for bending and adapting after being heated in the oven to 165 degrees. The metal is all ready for picking up tomorrow. Things are really taking good shape now! Very exciting.

Flower shapes and sizes

2008-06-23T18:53:00.000+01:00

After testing many different sorts of shapes and designs today, I have decided to go for this. The petals bend in different ways to create a flower that seems less friendly than your average daisy! Tomorrow (Tuesday) I will be picking up the fluroescent green acrylic and on Wednesday I will be spending most of the day mastering the software at Cirencester college to enable me to laser cut the shapes....all very exciting. I have also sorted out a supplier for some of the other materials I will be using; stainless steel and aluminium.

Testing...

2008-06-20T18:42:00.001+01:00

Please see the photo of Ken and the flower form we have tested in the oven today. Ken is my boss at Cirencester College (and I'm his design technician 2 days a week) but roles have been sort of reversed! Ken is very clever at realising design and making and has been a great help, having the ideal brian to pick.....! Thanks Ken.

The plan...

2008-06-19T15:10:00.006+01:00

Please see this image for the latest plan for my piece of sculpture. It will be permanently fixed to the tree (s) in the front of the school where everyone can see it. It will also be a welcome sight for any visitors. This is just a sketch on photo shop for now to give you an idea of my intentions. It is a large thorn-like structure that feeds or lives off it's host; the tree. The meeting with the head teacher yesterday confirmed it is to go ahead.... so all systems go and materials to be ordered ASAP....Aiming to get all complete and installed for July 15th....!!

kiln and studio

2008-06-19T14:55:00.002+01:00

Here are some pictures of my kiln and the studio in which I work....

porcelain fun!

2008-06-18T20:03:00.001+01:00

Today the children worked very hard on helping me make the shapes out of porcelain. Good messy fun was had by all and at the end of the day, I took the pieces back to my studio to finish them off and mend any broken bits.....hoping to fire them very soon. They can them be hung, attached, displayed anywhere at the school, I'll leave it up to Kellie and the children to decide... this can be a temporary installation....they can be moved anywhere (they are live creatures after all!)

New Ideas

2008-06-17T18:22:00.004+01:00

I have been thinking of some new ideas for the commission for a more 3D piece. The school would like a permanent outdoor piece, so it needs to be secure and weatherproof. The materials that I specialise in, i.e. porcelain, would not be a safe or a secure option for this piece of work. I am recommending the use of stainless steel and acrylic, the acrylic will keep it's colour and is available in many different shades. Steel is flexible, strong and weatherproof....

I have been collecting natural structures, weeds etc, during my walks along the canal in Stroud. I often look to nature to help me build structures..it sounds like a cliche, but nature is the best engineer! My plants at home have helped to visualise an idea, please see the above images....

Making 'til late!

2008-06-13T23:45:00.000+01:00

A busy day for me today.... after doing many other urgent jobs, I have been making the plaster moulds for the clay shapes that I made last week. These will then need to dry suffciently to be used next Weds for the afternoon session with the children...

Shapes to mould

2008-06-10T23:12:00.002+01:00

Today I made some models of shapes that will be used to produce plaster moulds for the children to work from at school next week. The shapes focus on the children's response to seeing a slide show of my work, along the theme of fantasy...the shapes are recognisable but alien, and other-worldly....see images...

I have initially focused my plan to work with the wall in the courtyard form year 6 to the nursery. It is a pretty dull place at the moment! Please see my plans for it.

The project so far...

2008-06-04T11:50:00.011+01:00

Today I visited IKON gallery where I met the year 2 children and their tutor, Kellie Hughes who have been working on this project. The children have been following a number of activities set by Nikki Shaw and James Cangiano from the Education Team at IKON gallery. One of the activities focused on the children exploring what is meant by a 'white space' gallery and what an installation entails. They have been thinking about how artworks can change a space.... which is where I come in!

The children have identified a few sites around their school that they would like to be transformed by installing a permanent work of art. Please see images..... I showed the children a slide show of my work, which received a mixture of wonderful associations, some things being like 'spiders', starfish, worms, even udders and a doctor's stethoscopes! This has got me thinking....