![]() ![]() I also had to consider the surface of the ground, because if it’s rougher, it’s going take more product, yellows and pinks will need more layers. I did a few concepts and gave them to my friend Roberto who put them into CAD, and he worked out their surface area, and then I calculated how much product I would need, and I tweaked it from there. Basically, I tried to keep the design quite simple and geometric, because curves would slow me down, details would slow me down. I’ve done it in fashion design, where you’re really conscious about material and how to maximize the design based on materials, so I kind of used that thinking. I hadn’t really approached the design process in that way before, I usually approach it more artistically. So, you figured out a formula to achieve that? So, I got talking to him about how we could make that happen, just using a more mathematical approach to working out surface areas and ordering smartly, basically designing according to how much material would be used… Anyway, Ross got back to me and said we can’t afford that, which I was expecting, so I called him back and I said, what is your priority? Is it to have those traditional elements, or is it to get a whole lot of color on the ground? He said if we can get that area covered, that’s the priority. I knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of creative freedom, so I just quoted the job. ![]() Yeah, like Four Square, roads to follow, those types of things. You mean like hopscotch, that sort of thing? Their ideas were directed at traditional games and instructing children to play in a certain way and interact with the space in a very traditional way, like we probably would have interacted with spaces when we were kids… I imagine there are a lot of stakeholders that must be consulted… ![]() When they asked me to quote the area, I was like, far out, how have this school got the money for this? To go through the design process with a school, I’d imagine it would be quite a long process… They wanted to paint the junior ground and after a conversation with them, they had some really clear ideas about what they wanted. One of the teachers showed Ross an article about Crossings, the red zone work we painted last year, and he must have thought, that looks good, this artist can paint a ground! I have a ground that needs some paint, so it’s perfect…ĭid Crossings inspire the concept or were they already sold on the idea of painting the ground? You must have felt like you were on a roll! How did you get on their radar? He didn’t really give away too much in terms of what he wanted, but it was quite exciting, especially having just painted at Graffiato… As soon as I got off the plane in Rotorua after leaving Taupo, I checked my emails, and I had a message from Ross, the principal of Akaroa Area School asking if I would be interested in painting the junior area of their school. It’s funny, the last thing I talked to you about was Graffiato (the street art festival in Taupo). How on earth did you find yourself painting such a massive ground mural in Akaroa? When he got back we sat down to talk about the project and the technical process… In January 2022, Dr Suits and Porta loaded up and headed to Akaroa to spend a week transforming the junior school with colour and the result, Polymorph, is stunning. Akaroa, the picturesque waterside township south east of Christchurch on Banks Peninsula, is not an expected location for such a project – but word of Dr Suits’ ability to produce bold, striking mural works had obviously spread. Back in November, we caught up with our good friend Dr Suits to chat about his experience at Taupo’s Graffiato festival, Aotearoa’s longest running street art festival, what he didn’t let us know at that time was he was in talks about a massive mural on the grounds of Akaroa Area School. ![]()
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