Timely piece a winner in kinetika awards
A kinetic scupture featuring a rotating hourglass to represent controversy over the proposed iron sand mining off the
Patea coast won a special Massey University award at kinetika.
Rebecca Pratt, a Year 12 student at Hawera High School, won the Excellence in Engineering Innovation Scholarship Award,
worth $6000 and offered by Massey’s School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, for her creation titled A Matter of
Time.
The New Plymouth-based competition fusing art, design and engineering innovation, held for the second time, attracted
more than 70 entries from New Zealand and globally, including from the United States, Germany and Hungary. Awards worth
$20,000 in total were presented at a ceremony held at Puke Ariki Museum on Saturday.
Ms Pratt says her entry, built with input from Wells Group engineer Leith Robertson, is intended to spark debate about
the removal of iron sands. She says she likes the idea of environmental and scienfitic issues finding expression through
art and design, as well as music and theatre. Her entry also won the Supreme Award in the Student Design & We Build category.
“There are lots of great science stories and characters that would make great theatre,” she says. “I like the idea of
telling stories [about science] creatively, selling an idea with a good title, a play on words”.
School of Engineering and Advanced Technology senior tutor in product design Chris Chitty (aka the former Dr Robotech of
TV2’s Let’s Get Inventin’ popular series for young inventors) said in his presentation award speech to Ms Pratt that
designers and inventors were often encouraged to “think outside the box”. His response took the concept a step further.
“I say; ‘what box?’”
He said the competition is a great initiative for inspiring inquisitiveness and innovation in young designers.
The award was one of two sponsored by Massey. The second – the Ngā Pae Māhutonga School of Design award sponsored by
Massey’s College of Creative Arts in Wellington – went to Wellingtonian Jia Fang, for her Migrant Polar Bear design,
which also earned a Commended award in the ITL You Design & We Build category.
Design lecturer Matthijs Siljee judged and presented the award. The curved, flexible shelter resembling the shape of a
polar bear was inspired by the designer’s wish to “heighten awareness of the effects of climate change”.
“This project shows an unconventional approach to movement through an elastic composite material,” Mr Siljee commented.
“Its movement can be activated by the wind and it lends itself for safe human interaction too. It plays a subtle game
between a two and three-dimensional mode of image making. The work and its title also sends a pertinent message about
the state of our environment”.
Suzanne Porter, chief executive of Taranaki Arts Festival Trust which runs the event in conjunction with partnering
organisations including Massey, told the audience that the competition had attracted not only world-wide but also “world
class” entries.
Mr Chitty joined the kinetika exhibition at Puke Ariki this weekend with a kinetic installation – a water wheel –
evoking the beauty and power of water and light. The water wheel is an age-old engineering response to harnessing the
power of water, he says.
“This kinetic activity is a working model illustrating not only how changeable the physical components of our world are
but how water moves through our oceans, seas, rivers and ice-caps,” he says.
kinetika installations and design drawings are on display at Puke Ariki Museum until November 9.
Organisers plan for the competition to run again next year, coinciding with the opening of the Lyn Lye Centre in New
Plymouth which will house the work of New Zealand’s foremost and internationally acclaimed kinetic sculptor, the late
Len Lye.
ends