Stourfield Junior School pupils enhance their Outdoor Classroom with Sphere of Shadows sculpture 
(30/08/2010)
A stunning 'Sphere of Shadows' sculpture, featuring 120 individual schoolchildren's silhouettes cut from recycled plastic, has been unveiled last month at Stourfield Junior School in Bournemouth. The piece, created by artist and graphic designer Nick Sayers, was commissioned by the school in collaboration with Wave Arts Education Agency and Bournemouth Council.
The project was initiated by pupils who wanted an artwork to enhance their Outdoor Classroom. A group of Year 6 children researched and visited public artworks before presenting initial ideas to their classmates. They then wrote a brief and interviewed prospective artists. The school is part of Bournemouth & Poole Cultural Hub, to whom a funding bid for the project was successfully made.
The Brighton-based artist they selected made visits to the school through May to July and shot photos of the final-year children, who were asked to hold their hands and feet in geometrically calculated positions. These photos were then processed to create machine cutting files, the hands and feet of which form the connecting points of the sculpture. The result is a beautiful lattice pattern of children holding hands in a giant 1.5 metre diameter ball.
The sculpture works both as a static artwork on display, and can be taken down to roll around as a plaything. A hidden trapdoor even allows people to get inside.
Nick Sayers said, "I make spherical sculptures, shelters and lighting from recycled materials, so my attention was immediately caught by this project's call for entries. It asked for a sculpture to be sustainably built from 120 components, which is a magic number for making spheres.
"The aim was to create a lasting legacy for the children about to move on to secondary school, and I wanted to do this in a more interesting way than the formal school photo or a tea-towel with children's drawings on it."
Sayers, who uses mass-produced waste products to create artworks (car tyres, plastic bottles, estate agent boards etc) sourced recycled plastic board for the project from a local agricultural supplier. The material the silhouettes were cut from is normally used to line animal pens and horse boxes. "It's marketed as chew-resistant, so I reckon it should withstand handling by primary school children!", says Nick.
Headteacher Emma Rawson commented, "We are extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work alongside such an original artist. The children have been involved in every stage of this project, from interviewing and appointing Nick to helping construct the sculpture. The installation is very much their valediction."
The sculpture will be on show through summer months for years to come. It is also visible from the train between Pokesdown and Christchurch stations.
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