Prep School Build Giant 99 Flake Ice Cream
Nursery and Prep School
“ In the first week of Sculpture Inspire the girls were given a brief to look for items around the site which could form part of a sculpture as we are keen to up/recycle materials wherever possible. Almost immediately they found an old traffic cone which they suggested could be used as the cone for an upside-down ice cream. The idea for the construction of our giant ice cream was born!”Tom Woods, Prep School
In order to make the ice cream scoop, we decided to use a large gym ball as formwork which we would cover with a waterproof papier mache mix. Luckily we already had the gym ball which was previously used to create the dome for our pizza oven.
Next, we thought about how we would make a flake as it was decided that a 99 ice cream would be more visually exciting than a standard one-scooper. After some thought, we decided to use rolled-up corrugated card as this would provide a flake-like texture whilst being strong and light.
After several sessions of papier-mache layering (using waterproof PVA and torn up newspaper) the gym ball was deflated and removed. We left the plastic cone inside the papier mache as the base of the ice cream needed to have additional strength. The three components of the ice cream were now joined together using a broom handle and expanding foam. A heavy log was used to mount the sculpture on and provide stability.
The assembled papier mache ice cream was next given a coat of exterior-grade primer followed by two coats of masonry paint to give it protection from the weather. The ice cream ball was finally given a coat of yacht varnish to give the impression that it was melting in the hot summer sunshine!
In one of our sessions, we looked at some of the creations of the sculptor Claes Oldenburg - famous for his larger than life constructions of everyday objects. We were especially impressed with his six-metre tall giant shuttlecocks and garden trowel which open up a whole new way of looking at the world around us.
We hope you like our ice cream!
Yrs 3/4/5, Mr Woods and Mrs Simon