Edmund Rice College Carrigaline • group • Cork

Group Category   •  2024
We decided to create an installation based on the theme This is Imagination, where we explored how our creativity could inspire awareness about the environment. Our piece features whales, jellyfish, and clouds, hanging together in the school’s atrium in front of a forest mural. We wanted viewers to feel like they had entered another world—a dreamlike underwater atmosphere mixed with the sky, where reality and fantasy blend together. Inspired by surreal art, we hoped to create an experience that would capture the viewer’s imagination while highlighting an important environmental message. Our installation is made entirely from recyclable materials, which is a key part of our message. We constructed the jellyfish from sellotape, wool, beads, and plastic tablecloths. The delicate and almost translucent quality of these materials was perfect for capturing the elegant, otherworldly feel of jellyfish. To create the whales, we used cardboard, newspaper, papier-mâché, and paint. The whales are massive and powerful, yet fragile in their form, representing the real-life vulnerability of these majestic creatures in polluted oceans. The clouds were made using cotton wool, wire, and glue. They seem to float and swirl above, adding to the feeling of a surreal dreamscape. Our use of recycled materials is intentional and significant. By repurposing items that might otherwise contribute to waste and pollution, we want to emphasize how important it is to protect our environment and reduce our impact on the planet. Pollution is an urgent issue, and our artwork invites people to think about how even small actions, like recycling, can make a difference. At the same time, we wanted to show that recycled materials can be beautiful, giving them new life in art. We also wanted the installation to appeal to the senses. By suspending the whales, jellyfish, and clouds at different heights, people can walk through the space and feel immersed, as if they have entered a new world. It’s more than just seeing; it’s about experiencing and being transported to a place where imagination and reality meet. We hope that, as viewers move through the installation, they can feel the magic and also think about the responsibility we have to protect the real whales, oceans, and skies around us. Our installation shows that imagination isn’t just about escaping into fantasy. It’s also about dreaming of new possibilities and finding creative ways to address real-world issues. By combining art, imagination, and environmental awareness, we hope to make people think and inspire them to care for our world. This is Imagination is a call to dream, create, and act.