Wings win it for sculpture
One-thousand dollars represented a solid payday for an afternoon of family teamwork at the recent Festival of the Elements.
Sculptors had to race against the clock to create an ‘‘air’’ themed creation from recycled materials.
Seth Papadopoulos, his dad Flin, auntie Anika and friend Roydon Ekman worked for eight hours on their sculpture, which took inspiration from a flying machine made famous in the movie Madagascar.
Material used included a wine rack, badminton rackets, flippers and even part of a paddling pool. They had a lot to choose from, with the competition’s organisers amassing a huge pile of recycled items.
‘‘You would be amazed at how many cable ties we used, it was a pretty big effort,’’ Anika says, adding that her team was ‘‘over it’’ by the time 4pm rolled around.
The 2 metre by 1m sculpture, which beat out seven other entries on the day, wowed the judges with its originality and colour, but Seth believes there was one factor that made the difference.
‘‘The wings actually flapped, when you used a pulley, to see it actually work like that was pretty cool. But to win the $1000 was amazing, my eyes just about fell out of my head.’’
Seth decided a share of his prizemoney would go to the SPCA, as his family has taken in a few ‘‘strays’’ over the years and knew what excellent work the society did.
The group plan to enter the competition again next year and are already contemplating what challenges the element of fire will present.