Rowley blog

Shell installation

Mon, 6 Jun 2011 17:39:17 +0100

The Shell artwork was installed today and the letters given a final polish! On the same day the new Rowley Campus was handed over to the authority. It'll be good to see the building once all the students and staff settle in.

Manifestation installation

Wed, 18 May 2011 17:32:58 +0100

The manifestation design for the Dining Hall has now been installed. Its over 10m high and 15m wide and is located in the Dining Hall where it casts dramatic reflections onto other parts of the room.

Manifestation designs installation

Thu, 12 May 2011 14:11:43 +0100

There's an exciting week ahead - the manifestation design for the Dining Hall is being readied for installation in the final weeks of the build programme.

Pupils worked on ideas for the manifestation in the DT Department many months ago. One of them, a design by Alice and Shelby, shown here formed the basis for the final design. The glazing screen measures over 15 metres wide by 10 metres high so it should be fairly visible ( !) especially at night when its backlit.

Spiral Sculpture update

Thu, 5 May 2011 14:50:52 +0100

Work is progressing now at pace to develop the construction drawings for the Spiral sculpture design. Last month Stair Fabrications were successful in their tender and have been appointed as the fabricators of the artwork.

The proposed artwork stands just over 2 metres high and will be constructed in mild steel. It will have a spray painted finish with polished stainless steel lettering declaring 'Rowley Learning Campus'.

Completion and installation is anticipated by end July 2011.

Westminster workshop Three

Tue, 18 May 2010 13:00:53 +0100

Sadly the session began with the terrible news that Paul Yuen passed away last week. It's a terrible shock for students and staff.

For myself i'd like to pay tribute to the enthusiasm and care that Paul showed towards me in developing the workshops. We had several planning meetings and his boundless enthusiasm was motivating and gave the work a clear direction. We shall all miss him.

This was our final workshop with the aim to work in clay to make mazes which could be starting points for the final artwork at the new school. Having explored techniques the pupils rolled out the clay and drew their maze patterns. Creating the walls was fiddly work but as we went on students got really interested in the story behind each of their creations. Patrick even made a queue of people as well as a seating area for people waiting whilst others went around his maze design. Ryan got a little carried away with modelling boulders which, whilst reminiscent of megalithic sites, would if implemented hamper movement through the maze.

The clay mazes will be fired and, as with all the work, used as source material for the design concepts.

Westminster workshop Two

Tue, 11 May 2010 13:00:29 +0100

In our second session we reviewed the work from the first session and looked at the printing plates that we had prepared. After a demo from myself about how to print - get the roller properly inked up and wetting the paper - we began to experiment with the plates.

The students thought this was a really exciting process and the 'reveal' moment makes it even more so.

It's possible that we might use some of this artwork for manifestations or other elements of design for the new building.

Unfortunately the art teacher, Paul Yuen, wasn't in school today so we had to make do without his enthusiasm and 'brain training' exercises!

Westminster workshop One

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:00:10 +0100

This was our first session at Westminster so it was partly about getting to know the students and department as well as starting the creative journey. From previous discussions with the art teacher Paul Yuen we had already planned work around mazes. The big vision is that perhaps the public art piece could be something that is visible on Google Earth - in other words pretty big!

We began by talking about mazes, looking at photographs and then trying to plot our way through some existing maze examples. We then scanned our hands and looked closely at the finger prints whorls and lines. This was our starting point for drawing mazes onto card which we then traced with glue to create a raised line. These maze patterns are going to be used next week as printing plates using special inks and rollers onto soaked paper to create intaglio prints. We also made some string mazes using the same technique.

Aside from the possibility of using the maze pattersn as a plan for earthworks or paving designs : we're also investugating whether the designs could be used for manifestations, cut into the carpet and laser cut onto steel for seating. There is a possible link here that we will explore with the Whiteheath school seat designs.

Whiteheath workshop Three

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:45:54 +0000

Today we worked on designs for seating and sculptures. We used the clay shell shapes as a starting point to consider the form of the structures. We also talked about enclosure and how the shapes we made could create a sense of safety. We were joined by Aldemar, a colombian furniture designer, who worked with us to realise the ideas in foam board - a lightweight model making material.

A variety of designs were made; some flowing and suitable for a group of people, whilst other designs were for people to sit singly. Some of the designs could be converted into very impressive sculptural forms. One particular design based on a spiral shows promise in this regard.

This was our last session - i will be sorting through the ideas and creating a set of concepts for playback to the school.

Whiteheath workshop Two

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:45:50 +0000

Another great session - this time working with clay to investigate ideas about space, enclosure, safety using shells and seeds as starting points. We had even more pupils today; an additional three so the room is now bursting with teenagers.

We began with a demonstration by me of some basic claywork techniques; pinch pots and coiling to show how you can hand build with clay. we then moved on to looking at shells : both the outside and the inside of the shells. Using porcelain we then tried to model some of teh shapes. From initial copies of shells we then started flattening out clay and then rolling it to create interesting curved planes - possible shelter roofs or seating maybe.

St Michael's workshop Three

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:45:51 +0000

Today was the last session; a chance to finish off design ideas for the stained glass as well as investigate colour palettes and how colours could be used to affect different areas of the school such as in the social and learning spaces.

We began by creating colour palettes; choosing a favourite colour and then building up a palette of additional colours. We talked about how each palette could be seen to represent a particular mood such as 'energetic' or 'calm'.

We then mapped out the school using a body outline as a starting point to help us define the various spaces such as classrooms, toilets and the dining hall. Using the palettes we discussed how the colours could be distributed throughout the building to assist in wayfinding - say from one curriculum area to another; or to create an appropriate mood for a specific space. Pupils said that they wanted their dining hall space to be lively and fresh whilst they felt that the classrooms should be calm. They definitely expressed a wish for the school not to be a white interior.

For the remainder of the session we continued to work up the stained glass designs. These will be further detailed by myself and then submitted to the school for consideration.

Whiteheath workshop One

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 17:59:10 +0000

This was the first session with Whiteheath working in the art department with Sharon Siddal, the art teacher. It’s a really lively space with lots of visual stimuli and plastic bags hanging from the ceiling!

The most surprising thing was the amount of pupils who took part – about 15 in total – all crammed in around the table. We began by looking and talking about colour. The thinking here is that an important contribution that this engagement might bring to the build is some work on colour preferences for social and learning spaces. General observations are that we had a group who expressed a preference for colours in the green spectrum - calming and eco friendly, a group of boys who chose blues - fresh and clean, and a group who liked natural colours. Next week we’ll be starting to explore concepts about safety and enclosure.

The pupils at this school are concerned about being in big noisy environments. We’re thinking of developing external landscape concepts as a way to positively address these concerns – devising small ‘seedlike’ or shell enclosures that are part sculptural part functional. These ideas could link really well with the earthwork concepts that we're discussing with Westminster school. Paul Yuen, the art teacher at the school, has been collecting lots of examples of mid 80s landscape art as well photos of the 'roundabout' sculptures on the Black Country route.

St Michael's workshop Two

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 09:45:09 +0000

We spent this workshop continuing with the good work begun in the first session. The mid morning break deserves a special mention – bacon butties and shortbread courtesy of the kitchens – lovely!

The designs are progressing well. We’ve got a range of ideas including references to St Michael, the archangel, as well as more modern abstract ideas. The pupils are working in small groups, usually two together, to work up their ideas. We had a visit from the headteacher again today who seems really impressed by the progress we’re making. He is keen for the design to be in stained glass and not an applied vinyl.

Kerry, a school governor and Art Strategy group member, has been attending the workshops and thinks that it might be worth us talking to contacts at Wolverhampton University Glass department who may be able to assist with some of the specialist glass production. We’re putting out feelers to investigate this as part of the design process.

St Michael's workshop One

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:45:21 +0000

We met in the technology department for our first session. Sarah While represents the school and is a technology teacher in the department.

It’s a great space to be working in – lots of tools and workbenches – just the right atmosphere for producing some interesting ideas and designs. We’ve begun by looking at opportunities to create stained glass designs. Shelby and Alice, pupils on the Arts Strategy group, showed us their mood boards with a lots of ideas and visual references. Some of the possible locations include the main entrance and the dining hall.

Of the two we think the dining hall is the best option. The space will be a three storey high glazed area facing West so ideal for catching the afternoon sun. It’s early days but we’ve talked about whether the final outcome should be in glass or applied vinyl. This of course depends greatly on the costs and building programme constraints.

Arts Strategy Group meeting One

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:00:34 +0000

This was the inaugural meeting of the Arts Strategy group. The purpose of the Arts Strategy group is not to design the actual artwork/s but to be the forum within which the proposals will be presented and evaluated. The actual development of the proposals will be the role of the artist working with the pupils and staff in the workshop sessions.

It’s been a long time in the planning and so it’s a relief to finally get started and meet the schools for the first time. Steve Bull opened the proceedings followed by a presentation by Cantoo about the areas of design opportunity within the building schemes. Each campus site then split off into smaller groups to explore some of the possible projects that will form the direction for the engagement workshops.

Some of the pupils were commissioned to take photographs of the meeting – one of them, from Westminster school, produced a powerpoint afterwards which we’ll put on the website later.