On Saturday we finally got to fulfil a long time dream – making an “Art Attack” in The Sir Duncan Rice Library. We grew up watching TV presenter and artist Neil Buchanan create huge images from strange materials, like a huge portrait of the Queen made of bank notes, and we have just been waiting for the day when we could follow in his footsteps. Our new exhibition, Above Scotland, gave us the perfect opportunity.
The exhibition, which is a touring exhibition from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), features amazing aerial images of different areas of Scotland. From an ancient stone circle on Orkney to Dundee’s modern riverside, the exhibition captures different aspects of the country. One image which particularly inspired us was the aerial view of Aberdeen Harbour. It gives a rare glimpse of the extent of the harbour, a view which a lot of locals never really see. We were amazed by the sheer volume of boats and buildings in there!
We decided to recreate the bustling harbour on the floor of the library’s Events Space. First we marked out the shape of the harbour, the seashore and the river with masking tape (our Neil Buchanan moment). Then we challenged visitors to our Aberdeen Art Attack Family Fun to help us fill it with boats and buildings using recycling gathered from library staff.
As always our amazing visitors rose to the challenge. After a slow start the harbour started to fill up with tug boats, lighthouses, ferries and even a gun boat.
After all that hard work the harbour was looking much busier and more colourful. Even the beach was getting filled with umbrellas and beach huts! See how our finished Art Attack compares to the original photograph.
We have two more Above Scotland Family Fun events coming up in the school Easter holidays. Find out more on our Family Fun page. We hope to see you there!
Posted by: Lynsey
UoA Collections 
Absolutely brilliant! Love it!