Sustainability Show

Our next big exhibition will be the Sustainability Show in Taunton on 17th June.  We will have a range of our work on show, together with Scraptor giclee prints for sale - to help raise funds for our Scraptorzoic Era at Magdalen. 
Please do come along and introduce yourselves, it should be a great day.   

Magdalen's 'Spring on the Farm' Open Day

On Sunday 29th April we braved the howling gales and cold rain for a 'Spring on the Farm' Open Day at The Magdalen Project!   Our Scraptors stand in the barn displayed some of our work and samples of pieces which may feature in our planned Scraptorzoic Era - if and when we get funding.  Possibly the coldest Spring day so far - with flooded roads and fallen trees all over Somerset and Dorset - visitor numbers were seriously depleted, but the people who came enjoyed roasting marshmallows on the fire, feeding lambs, seeing the bees, stroking Jenny the cob horse and chatting to us about our future plans.  See images below:

Our stand with Limited Edition Giclee Prints for sale

Detail of Spawn and Scraptorzoic Creature - some of these will be made by young and old in workshops

Mini head - which will form part of a 'Tripod Mini Head' giant sculpture

 

Humanoid

Scraptors with Spawn and Scraptorzoic creatures

Big Green Week

Fiona, one of the Scraptors, is currently working as a Green Capital Artist-in-residence for Bristol's Big Green Week in June, culminating in an exhibition of work at the Create Centre (9-17 June): http://biggreenweek.com/.   Visitors can see the development of artists' work at Create leading up to the Big Green Week.  Below are examples of works in progress.  One of the floating Diatoms will include some additional tentacles made by Rachel (Scraptor).

Man models himself on Earth, Earth on Heaven - work in progress by Fiona

Recycled steel, copper wire, lead

4.5m high aprx

Diatom by Fiona with tentacles added by Rachel

Fund-raising

Thanks to those who have supported and donated, we have raised over $700 and many materials in kind so far, for our planned Scraptorzoic Era at the Magdalen Project.  We are currently applying for further funds through various funding bodies and will post progress updates on our blog.  


We will be at Magdalen's Open 'Spring on the Farm' Day on April 29th, showing samples of what's to come for the Scraptorzoic Era, and hope to raise greater awareness of the project then.  Do come along if you can - it will be a fun day for all!

IndieGoGo Launch for Scraptorzoic Era at Magdalen Project

We are about to launch our crowd-funding pledge on IndieGoGo for our Scraptorzoic Era at the Magdalen Project - an eco farm and charity-run education centre straddling the Somerset/Dorset border, near the Jurassic coast.  Please watch this space over the next couple of days for further details and the IndieGoGo link...

Scraptors in Anthony's garden

Casespace, Bruton Museum

One of the Scraptors - Fiona Campbell - is having an Exhibition of her smaller sculptures and drawings at 'Precious and Primal', Casespace, Bruton Museum from 1 - 29th February.  The work incorporates recycled materials, mainly in steel, copper and wire.  Some of the drawings on show relate to our next planned Scraptors' event at the Magdalen project, for which we're about to launch our IndieGoGo fund-raising bid (Feb-March).

For further details please visit Fiona's blog

IndieGoGo pledge - plea for materials

We are in the final stages of preparing our film and presentation for our IndieGoGo pledge.  An international crowd-funding site, IndieGoGo will hopefully help us finance our exciting new project - a Scraptorzoic Era at the Magdalen Project, an eco farm and charity-run education centre straddling Somerset/Dorset.

Floating Diatom drawing - one of the choices for perks

We will provide perks for donations.  Perks range from limited edition Scraptor prints on hand made paper donated by Wookey Hole (see drawing above), exclusive to the Magdalen project; a weekend in a Yurt at the Magdalen Project for 8 people and a one-off Scraptors’ Sculpture. The most generous donors can have a link to their website as well as other benefits.  


As we like to recycle, if anyone has clean thin cardboard tubing (eg from Christmas wrapping) or thin flat card we have a good use for it!  Other materials such as scrap steel tools, wire/old wire sieves, copper, tin, rope/old football goal netting (no plastic) etc would also be much appreciated.  Contact our email: scraptors@hotmail.co.uk

SalvoFair

Fiona recently had a ‘working’ stand at SalvoFair, Knebworth (24-26 June), where people could see her sculptures including the giant recycled Spider, and Fiona working on her Chameleon - two of the pieces to be installed at Stourhead.  The Fair was packed with thousands of visitors and the most incredible selection of salvage/antique items.  The Scraptors have gained several new contacts from this.  See images below:

                                                      

Chameleon body - awaiting outer layers of wire and bottle tops

SalvoFair - view of Fiona's stand from giant Spider

Fiona's young helper - piercing bottle tops to decorate Chameleon

Sustainability Show Taunton and Scraptor Stand

Our Scraptors stand at the Sustainability Show, Taunton today went well. The show organised by What's On in Somerset was busy from the moment it opened. Our assembled works attracted plenty of attention and exciting new possibilities. Two of the exhibitors expressed strong interest in having a Scraptor sculpture trail on their land  and a friend of Fiona offered a barnful of old machinery for sculptural purposes. Our idea of Heaven. The pictures show us with visitors

SCRAP – THE NEW ALCHEMY!

Pylle Motor Spares (near Shepton Mallet) long established in the scrap business, have become art patrons!  They have donated scrap to the Scraptors, who scavenge incessantly for material for their sculptures.

The spirit of alchemy overcame our photographer VJUltra – creating a palindrome image of our scrap hunt.

VJUltra will be doing an animation film at the preview/launch of our Trail at Stourhead on 1st September (5.30-7.30pm)

Pylle responded to an appeal by the Scraptors for bits and pieces for their forthcoming Trail at Stourhead.  Sarah Herring and Ped Rossiter, at Pylle Motors said “it’s great to see some things being created into art rather than crushed”.  Although individual in style, South West 'Scraptors' Fiona Campbell, Anthony Wilson, Paul Boswell and Rachel Macleay all use mainly recycled and found materials in their sculptures.  Their new venture will be a circular sculpture trail “Beyond the Garden Gate” at Stourhead National Trust Estate, (1-30^th September ’11).  With no funding for the project, the Scraptors have been relying on their own ingenuity to source materials.

Now that the price of scrap metal has reached new heights, the Scraptors are finding it more difficult to obtain donations of scrap, such as steel and copper wire, for their work.  These days, people are understandably even more likely to save their scrap metal to trade in for extra money!   It’s a lucrative business for scrap merchants.

In additon to finding materials on walks, at scrap yards and in skips, some off cuts of steel and scrap have already been kindly donated by friends, together with companies such as John Shepherd Feeders and Pylle Motor Spares.  In response to a newspaper article, a lady, Karen Green, invited them to collect a supply of metal tools from an elderly man (Ed’s) sheds, as he no longer required them. It turned out to be a treasure trove of trash – literally shed loads of interesting shapes for their new pieces! (See article Ed's Sheds below)

Fiona has been a regular customer at Pylle Motor Spares, scouring the huge heaps of scrap, usually to find various steel parts and colourful copper wire, which she buys.  “The range of rich reds and oranges that come from alternators, for example, are fantastic colours for my woven sculptures.  I like the concept of reusing things – giving them a rebirth – and the playfulness of creating forms from given shapes”.  Apart from the obvious environmental benefits of using scrap, Paul says “ I enjoy creating work out of scrap as it leads to an interesting collision of different materials.” In the mountain of scrap at the yard, Paul instantly saw a hippopotamus, giant dog and gorilla!  “As a child, my nickname was ‘Stig-of-the-dump’” says Rachel “..not alot’s changed!!”  Utilising coloured plastic bottles, Rachel creates exotic flowers and creatures.  Anthony says “My idea of heaven is a giant scrapyard!”  In his large, wild garden even the bushes become sculptures – nothing is safe from his zoomorphic touch!

Further donations of scrap steel, copper wire, colourful bottle tops, beads and buttons would all be much appreciated.  Tel:  (01749) 880394/(01373) 836786/scraptors@hotmail.co.uk