Falmouth School students see their giant design on show at Porthcurno Sculpture Garden, July 21 2009

Media release: 22 July 2009 (PDF version, 183KB)

Six students from Falmouth School visited their own giant sculptural creation, the Global Wave Vane - which forms part of the Porthcurno Sculpture Garden - during a special visit to West Cornwall this week, enjoying a rare spell of sunshine between showers.

The impressive three-metre high metal sculpture - crafted from steel & copper, and depicting ideas about the science and technology of telecommunication - was created by the students working with Plymouth-based artists Sam White and Martyn Ellison in response to the fascinating exhibits and world-class archives at Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, which is also home to the new Gardens.

The students’ creative process began a year ago after Falmouth School beat off hot competition during a unique £8K commissioning process for Cornwall’s secondary schools, funded by Creative Partnerships and the Real Ideas Organisation working in partnership with the Telegraph Museum.

During the Falmouth students’ first visit to Porthcurno since they began their creative process, and accompanied by artist Sam White, 14- to 16-year-olds David Whitman, Jasmine Brett, Tom Hicks, Chloe Halliwell, James Green and Alex Leach and teacher Billie Lee-Smith met with Museum Director Libby Buckley and enjoyed seeing their piece ‘in situ’ on Tuesday before sharing their thoughts and feedback on the Sculpture Garden with the Museum management team.

Student Alex Leach said: "It’s really good seeing our Global Wave Vane work in place - I expected it to be bigger after seeing it in the Plymouth workshops, but it’s been great to see it at Porthcurno and to think about how it has gone from our beginning ideas and models to seeing it realised."

Student Chloe Halliwell said: "The sci-art sculptures are really good - I like how similar they are but that they all use different ways of interpreting similar ideas. During this project I learned about all the different ways of communicating with people, and I didn’t know before that telegraph cables went under the sea.

"I always wanted to do art, but being involved in this has given me inspiration for other projects."

Artist Sam White, who until this July was also working as a technician at Plymouth College of Art, an establishment which kindly supported the Global Wave Vane build, says: "We met with the children for the first time a year ago at Porthcurno when we explored the Telegraph Museum’s exhibits and archives together, so this return visit with six of the original group of nine brings the project to a great close.

"Martyn [Ellison] and I were enormously impressed with the students; it was utterly inspiring working with youngsters who have no preconceived notions of how things ought to be - they just have very pure, fresh design ideas and interesting ways of looking at the world. Thanks to them, the piece was wonderfully simplified and I think it looks great in place here at Porthcurno."

Billie Lee-Smith, Head of Art at Falmouth School, says: "It’s been an incredibly valuable and real experience for the students to work alongside practicing artists, working to a professional brief to produce something from initial ideas to a final finished piece, and gaining an understanding of how an artist might work on a real commission.

"We feel very lucky to have had some sunshine today and to have brought the year’s work to a close in such a lovely manner with the final visit. The group feel very grateful and hugely inspired about this - it’s been a really superb project. I’m incredibly proud of how they worked together, and we are thrilled to be able to enjoy the piece in place in such a stunning venue. This is a creative legacy that the students can enjoy and be proud of for years to come."

Porthcurno Sculpture Garden, which opened this May, currently comprises a series of six large-scale art works including the Falmouth piece, each created by sculptors working with Cornish schools and which articulate the invisible science behind telegraphic technology as well as celebrating Porthcurno’s key role in world history.

Porthcurno, described as "the Silicon Valley of its age", was the site of the first successful submarine telegraph cable established between Britain and India in 1870 and subsequently the hub of the British Empire’s communications network for 100 years, leading enormous advancements of the time.

Supported by a range of partners including NESTA, the Museums Libraries and Archives Council for the South West, Plymouth College of Art, the Real Ideas Organisation and Creative Partnerships, it is hoped the Sculpture Garden will grow in the future with more funding to commission and install more beautiful new works that interpret the Museum’s unique collections.

Ends

Laura Martin: Press & PR for Porthcurno Sculpture Garden on behalf of Porthcurno Telegraph Museum & the PK Trust laura.martin@realideas.org 07966 862630

Notes for editors

Contacts:
Libby Buckley, Director, Porthcurno Telegraph Museum 01736 810966 libby.buckley@porthcurno.org.uk

Porthcurno Telegraph Museum and the Porthcurno Sculpture Garden are owned and run by The PK Trust, an independent educational charity set up in 1997 by Cable & Wireless to preserve the important historical buildings and collections at Porthcurno, the home of the British Empire’s first international telecommunications network. A major telegraph station and training centre which stood at the very heart of the world’s communications network for 100 years until 1970, Porthcurno was deemed so important by Churchill during WWII that he requested the station was fortified underground in 1941 to protect it from enemy attack. Here, the major submarine telecommunications cables still reach land, carrying millions of messages daily between the UK and the world. The PK Trust also manages the Cable & Wireless historic archive of photographs, films & documents. Through providing access to these unique, world-class historical resources, the PK Trust is developing Porthcurno’s reputation as an important centre for the study of the history of communications. Generously supported by Cable & Wireless and grants from sources, we are also greatly indebted to our staff and volunteers, many retired C&W engineers, who maintain and operate the historic equipment, provide talks and tours and give the museum its great atmosphere. www.porthcurno.org.uk

Major Funders and Partners
Real Ideas Organisation is a pioneering social enterprise which helps young people around the world realise their potential and make change happen. We work with a wide range of clients, from government departments and local authorities to private businesses, universities and schools, developing and delivering specialist products and services that meet their needs and create real opportunities for young people. Everything we do has economic, social and environmental goals - we invest all our profits back into building our work with young people so they can design their future using their own ideas, energy and ability. To find out more about us and what we do, log on to www.realideas.org.

Creative Partnerships is the Government’s flagship creative learning programme, designed to develop the skills of young people across England, raising their aspirations and equipping them for their futures. We foster innovative, long-term partnerships between schools and creative professionals, including architects, scientists, multimedia developers and artists. These partnerships inspire young people, teachers and creative professionals to challenge how they work and experiment with new ideas. Young people develop the skills they need to perform well not only in exams and extra-curricular activities, but also in the workplace and wider society. www.creative-partnerships.com

NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts - a unique body with a mission to make the UK more innovative. We invest in early-stage companies, inform and shape policy, and deliver practical programmes that inspire others to solve the big challenges of the future. Our independence and ability to work across different sectors allows us to bring together ideas from a wide range of perspectives. And because we can take a longer-term view, we are able to assume a greater burden of risk than others. NESTA does not work alone. Our success depends on the strength of the partnerships we form with innovators, policymakers, community organisations, educators and other investors. We bring the best ideas, new flows of capital and talented people together, and encourage others to develop them further. www.nesta.org.uk

Museums Libraries and Archives Council for the South West Leading strategically, the MLA promotes best practice in museums, libraries and archives, to inspire innovative, integrated and sustainable services for all. We are a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Launched in April 2000 as the strategic body working with and for the museums, archives and libraries sector, tapping into the potential for collaboration between them, MLA replaced the Museums and Galleries Commission (MGC) and the Library and Information Commission (LIC). www.mla.gov.uk

Plymouth College of Art is one of the few remaining specialist art colleges in the UK and offers a wide variety of programmes in art, design, crafts and media from part-time and short courses through to Foundation Degrees and BA (Hons) Degrees, serving the needs of the creative industries sector. Currently some 2,000 students are enrolled at the college. Formerly Plymouth College of Art & Design, in December 2008 the Secretary of State granted the College approval to change its name to Plymouth College of Art. For more information visit www.plymouthart.ac.uk

Sculptures and artists
Transmission by Renny Nisbet (funded by NESTA, sponsored by Best Windings with support from Farnell UK, Trumeter Technologies, Synthax UK, Imerys, Shaw Magnets, Basildon Chemicals Silicone Products and Pico Technologies).

Lissajous Wave Ring by Tom Grimsey (funded by NESTA).

Lissajous Wave Star by Tom Grimsey (funded by NESTA).

Soundings by Renny Nisbet (funded by NESTA).

Lightcatcher-Porthcurno by Suzanne Redstone (funded by MLA South West).

Global Wave Vane Falmouth School commission created with Sam White & Martyn Ellison (funded by Creative Partnerships & RiO, build supported by Plymouth College of Art).

Participant Schools
Falmouth Community School (won RiO/Creative Partnerships commission to co-design new piece with artists Sam White & Martyn Ellison).

Humphry Davy School, Penzance (worked with artists Tom Grimsey & Renny Nisbet).

Camborne Science & Community College (worked with Tom Grimsey & Renny Nisbet).

Newlyn CP School (worked with artist Suzanne Redstone).

St Buryan Primary School St Buryan, Penzance (worked with artist Suzanne Redstone).

Flushing CP School Flushing, Falmouth (worked with artist Suzanne Redstone).