*group project

 

 

The community of Askøy approached our school with the possibility to design a memorial for two of the children who were killed on the island of Utøya during the tragic events of July 2011. This is an assignment that we began as a class in December 2011, a humbling experience and our first ‘real’ project.

We initially worked in groups of 3-4 to come up with different concepts for a memorial sculpture. After a presentation to the local community, our group’s design was chosen to develop further. Our idea was simple and strong; comprising of two main sculptural shapes, each one designed specifically to represent the personality of each of the children. There is a specific point where they overlap and connect. I have included just one week of the ongoing work in this portfolio, which shows our preparation for a second presentation to the clients in February 2012.

To unite the two main elements, we decided to concentrate the bulk of the colour and lighting where they intersect. This, we considered, to be the heart of the sculpture. The community’s reaction and feedback to our final presentation was a positive one, and after taking the details, they managed to realize the project during the following year. The final images included here show how the sculpture sits in its location on the island of Askøy.