When entering The Great Court from the front of the school, you’ll notice a new mural on the outside of the Una Mitchell Building and ESSTEAM Studio. This mural was created by local artist Joanna Brown.
The piece is titled ’A Living Circuit – Creative Powerplant’ and is divided into two parts, the lower painted element and the 3D sculptural element above. Created with ESSTEAM in mind, the piece plots the journey through the creative process and is designed to inspire and engage its audience.
Below is an explanation of the two parts:
Part 1: The Painted Artwork
Circuit in this instance is defined as: a two-way communication path between points (as in a computer) and/or: a neuronal pathway of the brain along which electrical and chemical signals travel. The idea of circuitry developed as a way of depicting how an idea is formed, develops and is ultimately expressed. Some of the symbols contained within this artwork are drawn from electrical circuits, mathematical symbols, computer, internet and cloud symbols, battery technology and green energy production. These symbols are intertwined with living botanical elements (leaves) as to suggest a synthesis between science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, invention and the living natural world. The ‘living’ part of this artwork apart from suggesting the whole circuit is alive is depicted in order to suggest that the change makers of the future will travel in parallel with and be consciously aware and connected to the natural world especially when viewed through the lens of building a more sustainable future.
Part 2: The 3D element
This part of the artwork responds to the curatorial themes of ‘Spark Hubs’ and the various physical and defined areas held within the ESSTEAM studio. Joanna’s sculptural ‘hubs’ symbolically depict the places in which the ideas and energy generated in the painted artwork are transformed into solutions and actions. The energy of the lower painted section is transmitted up into the aluminium hubs above, from there cables connect the hubs together and then travel up and off into unknown unlimited futures and possibilities (represented by Greek infinity symbols and other shapes).
