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This was a somewhat abstract brief. As an artist and a person unfamiliar with the community of Willaston, I initially felt that installing a piece of my work upon this site was somehow inappropriate. So it was proposed that through a series of workshops we would design a sculpture with the input of the pupils. Since September 2007 pupils of Willaston School have been making valuable contributions towards the design for their sculpture.
Year 6 have been steadily progressing their thoughts through the challenges of scale, possibility, limitations, symbolism, colour and representation. We have worked in a team to create a scale model and plan of the site and we have built an exhibition and worked towards collectively presenting our dream sculpture.
We have considered what it is they want to symbolise in their sculpture. A sense of good community was a recurring theme in that discussion. Anti bullying and anti-racism were also hot subjects during our discourse. We have examined what it is that makes a good community and decided being helpful and friendly and respectful towards each other is a good place to start. The pyramid was a popular shape and Homer Simpson a popular role
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model. In the words of one of our pupils 'we want our sculpture to say, Wow? How?' We have discussed what we want to call it, some of the suggestions were, DKI - Denominational Katastrophic Imagination, The Willastonator and The Mighty One. We have adopted 'DKI' as our working title but the absolute decision will be made during the final workshops planned for the summer term.
We have investigated democracy and have taken votes to help us make decisions along the way. The whole school voted on a final selection with Year 6 retaining the right of a 'veto'. The sculpture concept that received the most votes was a very colourful series of cubes piled upon each other in a pyramid shape. This was popular because the pupils imagined they could climb all over it. When it was explained that this would have to be constructed to a scale that prevented it from being climbable for health and safety reasons, the appeal was less and the final choice was the one that came second in the vote. So our conclusion was truly democratic. Whilst all of the ideas that came up during our workshops were equally brilliant and viable, it is also considered by the school community and particularly Mr Hardisty, the head teacher, that the chosen one best fitted the brief.
Taking the pyramid as an inspiration helped us to decide that lime render was an appropriate material to use since the pyramids were originally clad with cut limestone blocks giving them a flush finish. To further our pyramid development we plan to plot the placement of the ligatures to a constellation, possibly Cassiopeia as it is shaped like a "W" for Willaston. And, to use some of the cavity space to place objects of our time, selected by the community of Willaston and the school's pupils, inside the sculpture making the sculpture a giant lime capsule, just like the pyramids.
We feel that the multiplicity of the ligature shape perfectly represents a community. That these ligatures will each be unique further emphasises humanity. That they support each other and exist harmoniously illustrates the requirements discussed for a good community.
Exercising the imagination and playing are important elements in the development of healthy, bright children. All ages will be able to interact with this sculpture. Games will naturally be developed around it. We will make the base of these ligatures into seats. It was suggested by a pupil that one of these seats will be known within the school community as the 'Buddy Bench', where children will make friends, resolve issues and share stories. We hope that outside of school hours the general public will want to explore the sculpture and get amongst it.
Lime is a very environmentally sound material. It has qualities that make it seem like it is a living material. Algae will grow upon it after time and it will continue to change and evolve like communities do. Changing weather conditions will give this sculpture a diverse appearance giving the individual a different experience every time they see it. Using pigmented lime render for the topcoat means the colour will not deteriorate, flake or chip like paint can. When it rains the colour will be darker and richer and it will dry at varying rates making the view different everyday. High summer and low winter sunlight will cast extreme shadows all year round. It could be used for lessons on natural sciences and the basic physics of our world. Mapping the heavens onto the playing
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field immediately brings the wider universe to an easy to understand level for the pupils of this school and might inspire some of them to become astronauts or quantum physicists!
This sculpture offers a wide variety of elements to our community, not just Willaston but the whole island.
Comments
Isle of Man Government Senior Health and Safety Inspector, Tim Pain, has been consulted, please see attached email correspondence.
The Isle of Man Arts Council have approved the sculpture, please see attached press release.
Our presentation to the public has been a success. There is a visitors' book to sign at the exhibition and all comments are positive, please see the attached photographs and our exhibition at Ronaldsway Airport.
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