hand sculptures make music and art simultaneously

‘the musical torch’ by alexander schnell sramek, kevin yeo, seung youn lee, amy wallace and elisa magnini

the ‘musical torch’ by alexander schnell sramek, kevin yeo, seung youn lee, amy wallace and elisa magnini is the result of a collaborative project completed in october of 2012 between the academy of saint martin in the fields and central saint martins, which sparked from a simple conversation. the designers worked with children from three islington schools on a spectacular and inspirational project as part of the cultural olympiad’s ‘music nation’. they devised a programme of workshops for the children which explored music and art through a game of chinese whispers. each class worked together to create a piece of music in a morning workshop, and then explored similar themes in the afternoon, creating unique hand sculptures represented by a single bold colour. the music was then passed from the first class to the next as inspiration, and the musical torch passed along the line of five classes.

the results of the workshops were displayed for the first time to the world in a playful, exciting and interactive exhibition held at kings place on 3rd march 2012. the children’s hand sculptures provided the secret ingredient on a large-scale painting machine (which resembled a music box of giant proportions) with surprising results — so that the very hands that made the music also made the art. the painting machine was constructed with help from sam neal’s metal workshop completely made from the designer team. the structure was made by using traditional materials such as wood and metal and using old engineering techniques for the actual function. after a successful exhibition at the crossing in central saint martins college of art and the event – celebrating london 2012 evening reception, the muscial torch will continue touring.

hand sculptures on a rotating plane create the music and the art

exhibition at king’s place, london

london 2012 olympics, evening reception

central saint martins, london

1:10 prototype

children’s workshop

W.I.P

concept sketch

digital model

elevations