And They Are Up

The caretaker at the School has done a wonderful job and now the tiles are up on the fence, for all to see.

Soundscape QR Code

The QR Code is up on the fence, so now people can listen to, if they have a qr code scanner and a smartphone, the soundscape that is connected to the artworks.

Tiles

The tile project for the fence is slowly moving on and the letters have been cut, these will be the support for the tiles and each one will be hung on the fence, probably towards the school office.

Fence Artwork

The first artworks are up on the fence, there is still some more work to be done on them and the qr code, that links to the student's soundscape, will be up soon. Further artworks will go up soon to cover the rest of the front fence. The tiles are still under development and it is now planned to make a set of tiles, using the students designs, to form the word Otari and be placed on the fence near the school office, more news soon.

2014

Welcome back after the holidays. Plans for the year include finishing the tiles and getting the fence sculptures put in place. The plan was to get them up over the school holiday but the bad weather and a number of other factors meant that they will have to go up in the next couple of weeks, weather permitting.

Magnets

For the last art group session of the year, there were only a few of us, I can't compete with end of term treats and films, but we did make some 'fridge magnets' using various pieces of wood and sticks. From making these test pieces the students have come up with some ideas for how we can develop the ideas further using magnets and a range of other objects. These will be used on various parts of the fence to fit in with the marble run and other elements.

Marble Run

The main parts of the marble run have been put up along the fence, much to the surprise of the students and parents who were wondering what was going on. How it all works will still be a bit of mystery until the marble run parts are finished and the Art Group test out the marble run to make sure it all works and how we mange its use by students and stop the staff spending all their time playing on it.
I am going to get the Art Group to think of some ideas for developing the marble run and we might think about having a marble run construction day later in the year, we will keep you posted on ideas they come up with.
So thanks to the Art Group both this years and last years students for all the ideas and Wellington Makerspace for the fabrication and installation of the marble run.

Sounds of Otari School

As soon as I finished the students soundscape and worked out how to include a sound file in blogger, you can the listen to the sounds they recorded. We might have a go later in the year with a more detailed sound map and try out making a composition from the recorded sounds.

Vertical Pallet Gardens

There's loads of information on the web showing different styles of vertical gardens using old wooden pallets as the base for growing plants. I have included some images but just search and you can find numerous ways to grow your plants vertically.

Image Via Snapguide

Image Via Upcycle That

Living Fence

The Living Fence students have been working out their ideas for the fence and the plan is to build some test vertical gardens to try out various options and see what works best for the fence. This will help them plan how to grow the plants but also look at watering, weeding and other maintenance issues needed to keep the plants thriving and panels looking good. The test gardens will be made using old wood pallets and weed mat material, there are lots of variations people have tried using old pallets and I will post some details soon.
Being in Wellington and growing plants on a fence will be a challenge but it will be fun trying and we will keep you updated on progress so you can see how we get on.
The images below show different recycled material that we plan to try when growing the plants, we also plan to try out a gutter garden, by using old gutters attached to the fence.

Tile Project

The tile project will involve the whole school and local community in designing a series of images to be used to make clay tiles, which will be placed on the 60 or so posts along the fence. (Each tile will be 10cm wide and 15 cm high.)
I visited Aimee McLeod, a potter who has worked with staff at Otari School, she is going to support the project and help with turning designs into tiles and handily she has her own kiln at home, which is not to far from the school.
The intention is to get the students in the art group to run the project and help chose the designs to be made in to the tiles. They will also be working on involving the wider community in the project by letting everyone know what is going on and how to get involved. More information about the tile project will be out soon.
Ideas for the designs will be based on anything that has a connection with the School, local community, local history, Maori settlement in the area and  flora and fauna found in the area. As we are lucky enough to have the Otari Native Reserve next door. which on it's own would provide a wealth of material to use, we shouldn't be short of ideas.
The next few posts will be on tiles and different ways of decorating them, Aimee said that there are many different ways to make and decorate the tiles, so most ideas should be able to be turned into a tile.

Living Fence

Next week the students working on the garden and living fence ideas will be looking at some other ideas to incorporate on the fence such as growing kanuka, which is used for many different purposes from fences to firewood. Our plan will be to look at whether we can grow kanuka on the fence and if we can what is the best way, then we can start growing them and when mature enough give the young trees to people in the community. 

Other ideas we will be looking include developing an insect fence, just like a insect hotel but on a fence, images to come soon.

Kanuka fence around Te Manukanuka o Hoturoa Marae

Wind Fence

Another idea the art group has been working on is to use part of the fence as a resource for the school and community to use to study the wind, as part of this years school theme of physical phenomena. We have looked at how various artists have visualised wind as a starting point for developing ideas for the fence, I have included some of the work we looked at and some early ideas the students have come up with.

Tim Knowles

Jeff Wall

Living Fence

Huia, Tania, Luna and Natasha are working on a living fence. Over the next few weeks they are developing plans for the things they want to plant, best places for the plants to grow, where to collect water and all the other aspects they need for their vertical garden.

Otari School Fence

I have been working with students at Otari School in Wellington on developing ideas for their fence. The fence stops children wandering on to the entrance road to the School, but it means that it also provides a visual barrier to their neighbours Otari Bush Reserve. So we will be look at ideas to reconnect with the bush as well as using the fence for play, learning, growing, music and a number of other ideas.

The ideas will be developed and refined over the next term and we hope to start raising funds as the project grows, to implement the student's plans.

iCart

This a Prezi presentation showing development ideas for the iCart. The iCart project is looking at providing the tools for artists and communities in Wellington to produce creative projects.

Mobile Arts Lab on Prezi

Images of Otari Wilton's Bush

These are a selection of images from Otari showing a small selection of the many plants and trees found there.