Programme 3: Iain Kettles and Susie Hunter – 3D inflatable sculptures

Programme Outline

The Artists
Iain Kettles and Susie Hunter exhibit their work at home and abroad. Their work is fun and children easily relate to the cartoon-like shapes and bright colours of their sculpture. Their exhibition in Copenhagen called ‘Airspace’ is an interactive world created for children in an old church. Children can walk through and touch the various shapes, climb ladders, touch clouds floating higher in the air, and look above the clouds to see birds.

Iain and Susie start from an initial idea and then create a paper pattern. The drawings are then transferred to graph paper where they work out the measurements by calculating the scale, drawing a centre line down the shape and fitting circles at equal lengths through the entire shape. They multiply the diameters of each circle by p to find the circumference. The answer is then divided by the amount of panels of material they require to create their sculpture (they generally use twelve). The whole process is then scaled up to much larger paper from which they mark out the material and begin the process of cutting and sewing. The final stage is to blow up their designs. Until this point they cannot be certain whether or not they have calculated the measurements accurately, although over the years they have a much higher first-time success rate. They do not guess measurements, as the material they use (rip-stop nylon) can be expensive.

Iain and Susie do not make a living solely from being artists. This will hopefully come in the future. They occasionally accept commercial commissions that allow them to create the ideas for the project. They have chosen not to work in a traditional studio. Working from home has an effect on their work. Their home is full of fun and colourful objects, which influence their work. It is also practical for them to work from home as they have a large industrial sewing machine in the kitchen.

Iain and Susie do not see their work changing dramatically in the future. They like the spontaneous aspect of their work and feel it would be detrimental to plan it out too carefully.

Project
Iain and Susie undertake a project with John Gault Primary School in Irvine. They visit the ‘Big Idea’ science centre in Irvine to complete and inflate their sculptures.

The children are asked to create simple 3D inflatable sculptures to do with things you find in the sky. They start by examining 3D inflatable shapes. By dismantling them, they can discover how they were put together. The groups select a drawing from which they will produce a large-scale inflatable sculpture. They draw diagrams and work out the dimensions before mapping it all out on material. The greater volume of material required for three dimensions becomes evident.

The children have to work out how to make their initial one-dimensional drawings into three dimensions. Instead of sewing their material together in the same way as Iain and Susie, the children use strong three-inch wide adhesive tape to join their patterns. They will not know if their creations have worked until the final stage, when they blow the shapes up with a fan to discover what 3D shape has materialised.