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Sculpture provides the right equation
You don’t need a degree in mathematics to find an answer to the huge equation that adorns Mountain Creek High School’s newest building facing Lady Musgrave Drive, Mountain Creek.
An appreciation of art and a sense of humour would be more helpful, according to University of the Sunshine Coast computer art and design senior lecturer Kevin Todd, who was the artist-in-residence for the Queensland Education Department funded project.
Mr Todd said the eye-catching low relief sculpture, which features text and mathematical symbols, was designed by a group of 12 Mountain Creek High School students from Years 10-12 to express their personal journeys through the school.
The USC lecturer trained the students in art and design every Friday afternoon from February to May this year – a total of about 40 hours contact time – before they took their design to Hardcote in Maroochydore.
"The letters were cut using computer numeric control which uses a hot wire to cut the foam directly from the computer,’’ Mr Todd said. "The characters were then sprayed with polyurethane and then it was painted."
Mr Todd said Hardcote installed the sculpture on the school’s new $3.5 million Harris Centre building.
"There’s a bit of intrigue about the sculpture,’’ he said. "It says something about the school and the students’ experiences and journey through school at Mountain Creek High.’’
"There’s a kind of humour in it but, most of all, we were looking for something that was not predictable and something that came from them, the students.
"We wanted something that was cohesive – and the maths equation tied it all together – and, in a humourous way, it looks like it’s on a classroom blackboard."
Mr Todd praised the school for creating artwork that was different and culturally significant.
"We tend to see culture as the icing on the economic cake rather than as an essential ingredient," he said. "By incorporating art and architecture, it shows the ambition of the school to extend culture and diversity."
Mountain Creek High School acting head of senior school Karen Wilmott said the school was one of only 12 in the state to receive funding through Education Queensland’s Art Built-In project.
She said the team of students presented the design of their sculpture to a meeting of 120 teaching staff and received great support from them.
"I think it’s very thought-provoking,’’ she said of the sculpture. "It’s got heaps of people around the school talking about it. People are discussing what art is and what are the boundaries of art.’’
The school presented Mr Todd with an award in appreciation of his help with the project during its recent awards night.