Our class artwork was initially inspired by a video produced by the Art Gallery of NSW for their Together in Art series, showing us how to make a monster with Ramesh and Santi. We used the idea of sticks for a frame taped together, but instead of using clay to make the body, we used recycled aluminium foil from Canteen orders and from Easter Egg wrappers. Our school Canteen wraps its hot food for delivery in aluminium foil, instead of plastic, as we are trying to reduce our use of plastic. People know aluminium cans can be recycled, but some people don’t know that aluminium foil (for example, from your kitchen, lids of yogurt and your Easter Eggs!) can also be recycled. Little bits of foil aren’t good for the recycling machines, but if you collect your pieces of foil and scrunch them up into a ball about the size of your fist, you can put it into your recycling bin, ready to go and be made into new items!
Instead of making monsters, we made people, as we have been away from other people due to Covid-19, and our sculpture shows people together in art. Using aluminium foil meant that everyone in our class could participate, as it was a soft, scrunchable, easy material to work with. Some students chose to use just the plain foil, others added colourful foil to create their artwork. The students added layers of aluminium foil over their frames on the days they were able to come in to school, until we were all together and able to put our artworks in the playground for a group photo – together in art!
Materials used: Foam base (to stand up during construction, removed to stand in sand when
completed), sticks, tape, pipe cleaners for arms, and aluminium foil (plain and Easter Egg wrappers)