Seven secondary schools have used everything from old pool pumps to scrap wood and metal to give rise to their pieces, which will be entered into the Schools Competition at the Castaways Sculpture Awards, from October 22-30 at Rockingham Foreshore.
One of those schools is South Coast Baptist College.
Under the direction of art teacher and director of visual arts Simon Miskin, Year 8 students produced two sculptures, one fuelled by the effects of global warming and the other an environmentally conscious reincarnation of Ned Kelly.
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READ NOW“We simply brainstormed with the kids and you find, particularly the Year 8s, they have such a big imagination and create some fantastic ideas,” he said.
Mr Miskin, a keen artist who also has a passion for sustainability, said recycled materials were some of his and the children’s favourite materials to work with.
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“The cone is made from your standard metal blinds that you’ll find around the house, so we’ve got hundreds and hundreds of those. We’ve laid them down on the table and woven them into sheets and the inside of that is made of a big old broken wooden umbrella… and the bottom part is a big pool pump,” he said.
“The whole of Ned is pretty much made from a mini trampoline… as well as a chimney flue and his body is made out of one of those cable reels.”
“The great thing is in a class like this, every person has a job – it might be very small, it might just be punching holes in cans and threading them or even be the more technical stuff like the painting and cutting the metal.”
Mayor Barry Sammels said he hoped the experience led to solo pieces being submitted by students in the future.
“The Castaways Schools Competition not only aims to encourage creativity and artistic skill, but also aims to have a far-reaching influence on students in their formative years by instilling the ethics of recycling through art,” he said.
“Entries this year are highly inventive and fun.”