Short Life Commission with workshops
The Ark will be stand in the school courtyard for at least a year. This is the 8th annual project for the Latymer School, replacing work from last year. This large scale semi-permanent piece engages pupils in the fabrication process rather than the design of the work and includes time for Alistair to complete the construction during ter time. The hope is that next year we might make the animals.
The Latymer Secondary School, Edmonton, London. 2017
How to build an Ark
You will need:
- Sixty year seven pupils (thirty at a time).
- A stack of 2x1" timber
- A pile of feather edge shed boarding
- Some sheets of OSB plywood
- Various wood working tools: hammers, saws, nails and screws
- A plan (see below)
- Ear defenders!
““ With Alistair I know it’s always going to be brilliant””
How the pupils made the Ark...
Constructing the panels
Groups of three to four pupils constructed two panels that would be joined to make the sides and roof of the Ark.
Measuring and sawing
Hammering and nailing
Using cordless drills and screwdrivers
Cutting out circles and arches using a jigsaw
The second panels were more complex and required a jigsaw to cut out the portholes and arches.
Assembling the parts
Group one on day 1 took their panels down to the courtyard and bolted them together. We then raised and joined the sides of the hull.
Group 2 on day 2
Joined their roof and wall panels together and
Bravo!
references, plans and sketches
How the project developed:
The project developed an environmental theme that I have worked on with the Latymer school for the past three years.
I looked at images of the curvaceous Ark and how the old children's toys used a simplified construction with flat sides but curved bows. With this approach I then broke the structure down into sections that could be constructed and assembled by sixty pupils working in small groups over two days. I finalised the work in the courtyard in the last week of term.
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