SETU students create 3D Art using repurposed copies of the Waterford News & Star
The models were created out of a pulverised clay made from old newspaper, before subsequently being remodelled over sustainable materials
First-year Visual Arts students at SETU Waterford recently unveiled a new art project, using repurposed copies of the to transform fragile materials into sculptural forms.
The sculptures were designed in a way that could either absorb and respond to light or hold a small body of water. Through once-haggard copies of old newspapers, students were able to produce small figurines, the winding bodies of a shark and artisan flower vases.
Sustainability is a key feature of the artwork. The work is designed to encourage viewers to slow down and reflect, taking in waste that’s been brought back from the dead and now teeming with life once more.
“(Sustainability) is really important, first and foremost for the environment, but also for the students and artists today…even economically, to be able to recycle and not have to purchase materials,” said Dr Eimear Higdon, an assistant lecturer in SETU’s Visual Arts programme.
“A key would be the environmental part, it's something we take into consideration with all our materials.
“I think in first year as well, we really lay the foundations for how they make, and the different techniques they know to making, so when they do go into second year, third and fourth year, sustainability will be at the key of their mind.
“It really is integrating those ways of making earlier on, so they use them and become more professional as they continue as well.”
