Sarah Bridgland is an artist who works in collage and makes 3D paper constructions. In partnership with ReachOutRCA, Art on the Underground invited her to develop a project with a group of Year 7,8 and 9 students from Holland Park School in response to Big Ben [2012], a large-scale artwork by international artist Sarah Morris. The twelfth commission at Gloucester Road station, Big Ben [2012] is a site-specific response to the station’s architecture and to London itself.
Like Morris, Bridgland wanted to use the city of London, its rich architecture and the idea of journeys as a source of inspiration for the project. The students visited Morris’ artwork to gain an understanding of how she had built up an abstract image with a sequence of complex, geometric shapes inspired by the structure of Big Ben. At Gloucester Road station they made a collection of line drawings, rubbings and collages based on the shapes, signs, textures and architectural details they found, as well as collecting collage material such as pocket Tube maps and leaflets. This informed a series of playful exercises and visual investigations into ‘drawing with paper’ back at school.
These final 3D paper constructions reflect each individual’s interests and visual investigations of London, whether through deconstructing an architectural landmark, expressing their experiences of travelling in the city, or recording architectural details and symbols, even the skyline. As Bridgland has commented, “These works act as a personal record of the students’ journeys, like a ‘pop-up’ visual diary – an abstract portrait of the London that they each know.”
Download the Pop-Up Journeys Teacher Pack: Key Stage 3
