Visual Arts

2022/23 Artist in Residence project

For those who drive around the College ring road, you would have noticed that we have been very, very busy as a department. One hundred and fifteen excited students helped paint the Technology mural with Glen Downey, working in teams of four or five to get the job done. Eighteen Visual Arts and VCD classes had worked with Glen to explore design concepts which he creatively compiled into one cohesive piece. The work overwhelmingly captures  workshop ideas and students’ inspirational designs were brought to life.

AIR submission proposal - CONCEPT

The composition moves from left to right with a computer screen nestled in the bottle brushes found around campus. On the desktop is a background picturing Greenvale, a view of the Melbourne skyline with a magpie surveying. A hard drive icon suggests a USB device plugged in with an Aitken.x3g file ready to go to a 3D printer inside.

Windows open on the desktop titled by the physical ‘TECHNOLOGY’ text on the existing building. These are running a minecraft-ified Aitken crossing guard helping some cockatoo students across the road, flanked by some voxelated Aitken plant life.

A circuit board emerges from behind the computer and glitches into a look at the grounds in its working farmland past. Following the same skyline from the computer background the sheep grazing paddocks are divided by Brodies Creek, an iconic windmill demonstrates technology of old in use on the farm. A drawing of the farmland transitions the skyline onto an iPad in the foreground to make a statement about the production process of this mural and the ways the use of technology was vital to its creation. The agricultural and kitchen garden animals are represented on screen. 

I hope you agree that the mural has added life and colour to the building and engaged a significant number of students in its production. Our students are very fortunate to have the opportunity to engage with practising artists and learn in different way. As our school develops, this mural will serve as yet another moment in time, celebrating 20 years of our Artist in Residence program, capturing past and present in its composition. A time lapse was uploaded to socials, so please check it out! So much work captured in less than a minute.

In 2023, protruding tools will be attached to the mural in places specified by the artist. These will be cut using the Design Technology faculty, laser printer and painted in Visual Arts classes, before being screwed into place. We will again see it change and grow, just as our school continues to.

Art and Design Exhibition

We have many families who have been connected to the College for a while now. We used to have a large-scale physical exhibition that included a piece of all students work, P to 12. With increased enrolments and room availability, this is no longer possible. This year we staged a much smaller display in VCE1, with Year 12 work celebrated, aiming to showcase their final achievement. Due to limited space and the need to access lockers, we could only exhibit four pieces per task, from each class across Primary. On the day, a few extra boards were delivered, allowing us to exhibit some additional work that had not yet been returned. I hope you had a chance to visit and enjoy the impressive display.

To coincide with this, we also ran the Online Exhibition, its third and final iteration. A Covid initiative, it was specifically developed to showcase work during lockdown. While very successful, the new building will allow us to display physical work throughout the year on a rotating basis, and exhibit in a more sustainable way. We look forward to sharing student work with you, so look out for notifications of what’s up and when.

The advertising posters for this year’s exhibition did not include notice of ‘Prizes and Awards on offer’ as they had in the past. It was decided that knowledge of each task was required to accurately discern, and data analysis is a very lengthy affair. The following artworks were therefore recognised as stand out pieces by a team of twelve members across four Art/Design faculties with awards presented in assemblies on 28 November or 2 December. In my Cumberland presentation, fair play and voting with integrity were discussed. To the many who take the time and look for the most impressive artworks, we thank you.

EXHIBITION AWARD RECIPIENTS

Fairview

Cumberland

Dunhelen

Brookhill

We wish all students, parents, families and our extended College Community a restful Christmas holiday. We look forward to sharing new creative ventures with you all next year. Until then, take care, be safe and have a joyous, well-deserved break! 

Mrs Linda Camilleri

Head of Faculty – Visual Arts