Play spaces trip to the Model

Last Saturday we had  trip to the Model to see their current show, "A hole into the future' by Isabel Nolan. The guys had great tours of the show, and then had a chance to respond to the work by making their own sculptures in the Model which were placed on plinths and photographed. The trip was a great chance to see an important and innovative show and to play around with ideas about sculpture and how it is exhibited inside and outside the gallery.  

The Plan!

The guys at the Northside helped us come up with a plan of where to put the artworks on Saturday... and here it is...

Designs for chairs for Doorly Park finale...

Here are the designs for outdoor chairs the guys at the Northside have created, the artists are going to make them in wood and then they're going to be decorated, and taken to Ballytivnan on Saturday...

Saturdays trip to Doorly park...

Here are some ace photos of the MCR Groups trip to Doorly Park on Saturday. The group designed, built and painted a set of sculptures to go by the river in Doorly park. The group bravely carried them along the river path to the site you can see in the pictures, then they discussed the best possible way of laying them out so they could all be seen and so they complemented the scenery (it was important to get the sculpture wishing tree near the big tree by the river).

After deciding what went where the fun really started; two of the sculptures are special floating sharks, and of course we had to check out if they floated and looked menacing enough....so into the water they went. They looked great, but unfortunately one got free and had to be rescued!

The groups work was admired by a number of passers by and sets the stage for the projects grand finale at the end of the month further along the river.

Amazing sculptures - made from paper

Sinead explains the work her and Tony have been doing at the Northside

'Last week at Northside, the kids showed us the game they had developed 
with the previous artists. As we had no dice, the kids came up with 
new ways to play, using the materials available to them. They decided 
to draw numbers on paper, and pull them out of a bag. They came up 
with many ways of representing the numbers on paper with markers, 
using figures, letters, symbols, colours and patterns.

When we moved onto 3-D work with the paper, we explored stability and 
durability. Aiden made a series of single paper structures that were 
very vulnerable to any slight movement. This triggered a discussion on 
the suitability of materials designed for outdoor works and permanent 
sculptures as well as other considerations when designing for a public 
space. Using paper, tape and scissors, the group shared ideas and 
began creating wearable items, such as masks, watches, hats, 
jewellery, handbags, headbands, banners, boxing gloves and moved onto 
toys, boats, ice creams, kettles, teacups, books, envelopes, flags and 
more.

One goal has been to try and reach a little bean-bag that was stuck on 
the ceiling beam, by only using paper and tape. As we tried to make a 
long and strong paper stick to reach the ceiling, whenever it failed 
or broke, the kids transformed it into something else. Nathan used one 
to make a tail. Grace made a flag-pole. They also made it into a rope 
and they played skipping, limbo and tag. Rebecca gave us all an 
origami lesson where we made boats. Halim brought in a castle made 
from cigarette boxes and we discussed how the design could be 
replicated using paper.

As they were so interested and industrious with paper, we decided not 
to introduce wood or filming yet, so as not to interrupt the flow. 
They enjoyed sharing their designs and ideas and while they were 
mostly interested in working on individual pieces, there was a lot of 
co-operation. They helped each other often, passed on skills and 
information and were very inclusive in their games."

Re-inventing the wheel at the MCR...

Here is a picture from the MCR, taken by one of the group. When we thought about the bike wheels, we thought of them as moving sculptures - but sculptures that were moved by the wind or by hand while attached to something. One of the things that has been great about this project is the way that objects can be transformed - in this this photo one of the coloured wheels is being used to make a game that uses the whole of the gym space in the MCR. The game is about keeping the wheel rolling as long as possible - actually a lot harder than it sounds.
Maybe when we think about sculpture we need to think about it as a moving and moveable thing...

The MCR groups trip to Doorly Park...

Sinead explains what the group from the MCR got up to last Saturday...

"We went to Doorley Park. At first the kids thought we were going to the playground are and some were disappointed when they discovered it was the back Avenue and down by the river. Some asked - what was there to do? They thought they might be bored. 

After the lakeside walk, the first suggestions were they make seats and beds from the wood. After their rest, they became very industrious, designing and building, experimenting with pieces and materials. When we ran out of wood, they improvised and searched for available materials and integrated these into their work in various ways.

We played at the water, racing twigs at the bridge and in the lake. We saw swans and cygnets, gathered acorns, pine cones and leaves, identified trees, made fishing rods from old branches, carved letters in the gravel, built bridges over the water as well as making temporary sculptures from the wood.

Utilising tree stumps that were already in the park - Bryan built a bridge.

Callum and Bradley made a bed from the wood, a pillow from the box we carried the wood in, a headboard from found branches and sticks, decorated it with leaves and added a foot-rest using our empty drink bottles. 

Some of the girls worked together and created a hotel for birds. They built a nest and restaurant from sticks, stones and leaves. They used the wood to make steps up to an elevated hang-out area where the birds can relax and meet."