Space Art

When I was much younger I remember sitting and watching the first landing on the moon, as did anyone in the world with access to a TV. I imagine a huge number of people also listened to the radio. For the first time in human history a huge proportion of mankind were focused on this giant leap for mankind. This month the man who took that first step in 1969, Neil Armstrong, died

ARMSTRONG: I’m at the foot of the ladder. The LM [lunar module] footpads are only depressed in the surface about one or two inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it. It’s almost like a powder. Now and then it’s very fine. I’m going to step off the LM now. That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

Just recently I discovered this clip of the first Space Art

 Reaching an astonishing 100 thousand 810 hundred feet near Space, whilst simultaneously creating a world-first work of art by all means made JoshingTalk Space Art (JTSA) a success. - Click on the image below to see the art work on it's 'birth journey'.

Future Olympians

This term the year 8's have been looking at 

Olympic Art and Sports Artists

The first record of the Olympic Games was 776 BC, they continued for at least 1000 years. The games offered artists, writers etc. a chance to make themselves known. Painters and sculptors also exhibited their work on Mount Olympus and received the same awards as other athletes competing at the games. More than 1,500 years after the ancient games came to an end Baron Pierre de Coubertain had a dream to bring back the games. In 1896 the first modern Olympics was held in Athens. Coubertain’s original dream was to include the arts in the Olympics. This was finally realized at the 5th Olympiad in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912. There were categories for Architecture, Literature, Music, Painting and Sculpture.

We looked at Ancient Greek art, in particular 

'The Winged Victory of Samothrace', Nike 2nd Century BC

The influence of this sculpture, probably the second most famous art work in The Louvre, Paris, still continues today.

                 Audrey Hepburn in 'Funny Face'

 Boccioni

 'Titanic'

After further studies of other artists and photographers, students composed their own paintings using Pointillist techniques base on photographs of themselves or favourite Olympians.

Below is Nic's self-portrait.

Nic going for Gold

Ballentynes Art Show

This show is now closed. Congratulations to all students who exhibited work in the Ballentynes  downstairs cafe this August.

More 

Fairtrade Bowls

Made using terracotta clay and decorated with oxides

 HAPPY FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT

Heaton School is a Fairtrade School

FAIRTRADE BOWLS

Just over 200 years ago ( 1807 ) Britain passed a bill to abolish

slavery. The people who campaigned for this were

called Abolitionists. One of their supporters was Josiah

Wedgwood, one of Englands most famous potters. He

produced a series of ceramic pieces to advertise the

cause. Some shops at the time advertised that the sugar

in their shops was ‘Slave Free’ just in the same way that

Trade Aid advertises it’s Chocolate as Slave Free.

All good campaigns need a slogan. Wedgwood made

cameo brooches for supporters to wear that featured a

slave in chains, there was a male and a female version,

with the slogan

‘Am I not a man and a brother’ or

‘Am I not a woman and a sister’

We discussed what this meant in class and related this

to our understanding of the humanitarian philosophy

behind Fairtrade and role Fairtrade plays in the

campaign against slavery.

Medallion Josiah Wedgwood 

 

Wedgwood sugar bowl

Just as we would wear a badge or use a mug promoting

a favourite team or cause so did the Abolitionists. They

might wear one of Wedgwood’s medallions or

brooches or use one of his special ceramics pieces.

The sugar bowl on the table was a good conversation

piece and gave the owner the opportunity to engage

guests in discussion about the plight of slaves.

Other Abolitionist campaign sugar bowls

            Modern Fairtrade campaign mugs

Heaton Pupils were challenged to produce their

own ‘sugar bowl’ that would carry the message of

Fairtrade. They explored techniques and textures

in their test tiles using Fairtrade items and foods,

for example Indian wooden printing blocks, coffee

beans, rice and cloves. We even experimented

with adding coffee waste from plungers and

espresso machines to the clay. A mixture of 50%

Coffee and 50% clay gave a lighter more airy

texture to the clay. The coffee burns out when

fired. We also experimented with cocoa, this

worked well but gave a more smooth texture.

They then designed their bowls and formed them

using a slump mould. Underglazes added colour

or accentuated texture and a clear glaze

completed the process.

Kate  - Elmwood

Seungjun - Otahuna

Rosa  – Rhodes

What will you do to support Fairtrade and Human Rights this

fortnight. Check out

http://www.oxfam.org.nz/what-you-can-do/events/fair-tradefortnight

for ideas

This Saturday go global and join in celebrating World Fairtrade

Day with the rest of the world.

http://www.wftday.com/

Art - creating a better world

People creating a better world through Art

      The Memory Project

 Dramatic Needs

Forensics and Art

Hear Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci speak!
Matsumi Suzuki, a forensics scientist specializing in acoustic and voice analysis, says he has recreated the voice of the woman who sat for Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, as well as that of the master himself.

"Normally, we do crime-related research. We recreate the voices of suspects based on information about their physical characteristics, lifestyles, dialects and so on," Suzuki said.

However, his company, Japan Acoustic Lab, also gets the occasional request to recreate the voices of historical personages, he said, so being asked to unravel the Mona Lisa and da Vinci vocal codes was not an unusual request.

For the Mona Lisa, the laboratory worked with a photograph of the painting to get detailed measurements of her face and hands, Suzuki said. They used this data to then recreate her skull and estimate her height, which they put at 5 feet 6 inches, he said.

The data was then run through the lab's voice simulation programs to recreate the vocal cords and other organs that produced the mystery woman's voice and determine its pitch.

A native Italian speaker was also employed to help the lab get the right intonations for the Mona Lisa's voice, he said.

It was unclear, though, if that individual spoke the same Italian dialect as the woman portrayed in the Mona Lisa painting -- whose identity remains unknown.

As for da Vinci, the lab had to base their work on a photograph of the master's self-portrait, Suzuki said. The work was made difficult by da Vinci's very full beard, which obscured elements of his facial structure, he said.

The results can be heard on Microsoft Japan's Web page, which hosted the results in a section promoting the film version of Dan Brown's murder mystery.

"My name is Mona Lisa," she says, according to the Japanese subtitles.

"My real identity is enveloped in mystery. Some say I am Mary of Magdala, Giacondo's wife, Isabela d'Este or the mother of Leonardo da Vinci. And some say that I am Leonardo himself," she adds.

"The one thing all say," her message concludes, "is that I am the most loved woman in the world, the one with the smile full of mystery."

The Mona Lisa's presumptive voice, it can now be said, is a bit on the deep side though not throaty, while that of da Vinci is also deep but more nasal.

Da Vinci began work on the painting in 1503, and it now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

The work, also known as "La Gioconda," is believed to have portrayed the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. The title is a play on her husband's name, and also means "the jolly lady" in Italian.

"See me, HEAR ME!"

Click on Leonardo to hear him speak or HEAR ME  above to hear the Mona Lisa speak.