24/09/2010

Thursday 23.9.10

We went to Gwithian beach for the day to make sand sculptures, which was pretty fun to be honest…  The brief was to take a famous piece of art and transfer it onto the beach so it could be seen in proportion from the cliffs… Not an easy task as we discovered.

My group chose the intimidating print of the wrestler Andre the Giant with the word OBEY below, by street-artist Shepard Fairey.


The weather was pretty bad at the start of the day, and it was my job (since I had my camera) to stand on top of the cliff and relay instructions to my group below (lucky my phone is on contract) which was surprisingly difficult. Not only did it take a long time to get the proportions right, taking into account foreshortening, but it was pretty wet and miserable with the wind! I found I had to describe the picture in how many steps they needed to take, and once again the measured drawing of this week helped me to work out dimensions and proportions and transfer them onto the sandy canvas.


Well as soon as we’d spent too long drawing out the outlines, we had to rake all the sand inside them, which took quite a long time, with people taking breaks to go for a swim occasionally, as the weather got better and better into the afternoon.



I found this project really enjoyable, and it reinforced in me a desire to explore collaborative work, as everyone in my group seemed to slot into their natural roles, as leaders or otherwise. I’d love to work large-scale with a group again, as everyone brings something of themselves to the piece. I also found I really enjoyed working in and with the natural environment, and it was a bittersweet moment when we watched the tide come in and wash away our day’s work.

Some more of the day:





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