Bright ideas from students for Light Up fest
Article re-purposed from The Beacon, July 2023
High school students will also be illuminating the town at the Trust Horizon Light Up Whakatane festival.
Some year 9 students at Whakatane High School students in the Design Thinking Programme are busy creating their installations for the light festival, which begins on July 28.
Technology teacher Natalie Cattell is in charge of the Design Thinking Programme and said students had been given a choice of courses to do, with some of those doing the light and design course creating installations for the upcoming 10-day light exhibition.
“For those who are doing the light and design programme, we thought it would be great to bring in some local curriculum, and so we got together with Arts Whakatane so that we can do something that is in the rohe, something that is real, not just ideas for what could happen, but actually make it and do it and get feedback from real stakeholders.”
Alec Simpson is part of a group of five of these students working on their artwork for the light art trail, which will include installations by local, national and an international artist. Members of the public will be able to follow the trail across town to view the artworks.
“The goal is to make a life-size skeleton that is sitting on a ledge holding a bouquet of CD flowers,” said Alec. “We have CDs that we cut up and melted them into flowers shapes and we will be attaching them to parts of the stems for the bouquet and they will be lit up by fairy lights or LED strips.”
Martina Lowry is working on the skeleton for their work, which is made of wire mesh, while Max Coxon and Esther Ferguson are creating the CD flowers.
Psalm Akuhata-Brown came up with the concept.
“I think we had just come from science and there was a skeleton in the class and I was like, ‘I have an idea about that’, and I think there is a skeleton fish on the wall and my brain just made the connection, why don’t we just make a skeleton. We will be using wire mesh to create the limbs and body parts.”
Keep an eye out for their skeleton, it should be perched up high outside the library.
The team are super-excited to be a part of the light festival: “We jumped at the chance when it was offered,” said Alec.
Ms Cattell said the aim of the class was to teach them the design process, which includes empathy – learning what the client needs; defining the problem; ideation – coming up with ideas; prototyping; testing, and presenting.
“The idea is that they learn how to solve problems, how to test things in a real-world situation. All the soft skills that we need but don’t necessarily have intimately in the curriculum, although it is expected that we teach it.
“It is much more fun if it is real.”
Trust Horizon Light Up Whakatane is on from July 28 to August 6 and will include the Light Art trail and two community events, including a Lights on Parade. The public is encouraged to get involved in the community events. Get in touch with organisers on lightupwhakatane@gmail.com
UPCYCLED Psalm Akuhata-Brown is refashioning CDS into flowers for the group installation.
BARE BONES: Martina Lowry, Esther Ferguson and Alec Simpson work on the skeleton for their Light Up Whakatane artwork.
TEA TIME: Keeva Laurent is working on her teacup installation, which will be illuminated with solar lights and be hung from a tree for the Light Up Whakatane art trail.
