‘The Pull of the Sea‘ on display at the V&A Museum of Childhood as part of the ‘Inspired by..’ Trail from 2nd October until 21st November 2010.
This year I took part in ‘Inspired by..’, the Victoria & Albert Museum’s annual art competition for those on part-time courses. The idea is that you choose an item/items from the V&A’s vast collection and create your own work of art inspired by the piece(s). My offering was inspired by an object at the Museum of Childhood, where the V&A’s toy and childhood-related collection is found.
I was particularly taken with the moving toys section and the sand toys there.
Sand toys were first made in France in the 1800s. They show cardboard figures (often circus artists or dancers) moving within an enclosed space, and are encased in wooden boxes with glass fronts. Inside the box, hidden from view, there’s a container of sand which allows the sand to trickle (much like an hourglass) once the box is turned upside down. The sand trickles through a hole and turns a wheel. The figures then begin to move as they are connected to the wheel by string. My main source of inspiration was ‘Leotard, The French Trapeze Artist’ (Museum No: E.71-1961).
I decided to create my own moving toy. The sand toy mechanism was replaced with a pull-string device. I had seen the Flamingo Puppet (Museum No: B.13, 1994) and was struck by its bold shapes and the way these had been assembled with cord. However, I very much wished to keep the sand toy idea of an image within a box.
In the end I illustrated a boy and girl dressed up as pirates and sailing in their pirate ship/boat. The pull-strings allow the sea waves and boat to move. In keeping with the pirate theme, I decided to turn the box housing the illustration into a treasure chest. Grains of sand were stuck onto the treasure chest so that it looked as though the chest had just been dug up. This was also a reference to the sand toy that had inspired me: my source of inspiration had sand in its interior but my own creation was to have sand on the exterior.
My artwork is called ‘The Pull of the Sea’, alluding to its pull-string mechanism, the moving waves and the fact that the children depicted are drawn to sea adventure. In July 2010 it was selected to be displayed at the V&A Museum of Childhood, from 2 October until 21 November, as part of the ‘Inspired by..’ Trail.
