A while ago now, back in August of 2009 i was involved in a great little exhibition held by Chris Edser & Sam Barratt, the guys behind Screamdance.com. I didn’t have a blog at that point so i didn’t get a chance to write much about the event and how the whole shindig went down. The exhibition was all about the little wooden guy to your left, the scientific name for this peculiar creature being a ‘Schaffas’. Certainly one of the most interesting projects i’ve been involved with so far.

There were over 80 artists involved in the project, with myself included. The artists chosen for the event included local & overseas artists, working in an range of industries utilising all kinds of different skills. For that reason you will notice towards the end of this article, no Schaffas is the same. The not-for-profit project was aimed at raising funds for Oxfam’s ‘Close The Gap’ campaign. Artists donated the Schaffas they created, which were ultimately auctioned off to the highest bidder on the opening night of the exhibition.

Designing a Schaffas

The 80+ artists involved were all sent a blank Schaffas and given complete creative freedom to do whatever they liked. The Schaffas could be painted, extended, electrified or completely destroyed. So long as the original Schaffas still existed to some extent. I went to some lengths for my own Schaffas, to get an idea – i used additional materials such as wood, cardboard, wire, sculpting clay, paint, glue and putty to bring my Schaffas to life. The project was announced early in the year so artists had months to design and build their very own Schaffas friend. I needed every one of those months as i was still adding last minute details to my own Schaffas in the weeks leading up to the opening night.

Opening night

The Exhibition itself opened August 6 at 6pm in the Black Sheep Foyer, which is located down Rundle St. Adelaide. I managed to get there quite early so i was able peruse the Schaffas in detail. If you got there 10 minutes after 6pm it was a giant human sandwich. It was absolutely packed to the brim with curious Schaffas watchers. Along with the amazing creations the artists had contributed, and the free wine, the auctioned Schaffas managed to haul in over $4000.00 for the ‘Close the Gap’ charity. A very worthy contribution indeed. My own Schaffas went for $200.00 which i was very pleased about. For more photos and information about the exhibition visit the official Schaffas website

My picks

There were some truly amazing entries entered into the exhibition. The amount of detail and effort that went into all of the Schaffas was exceptional, however there were some that pushed the boundaries just that little bit more. I’ve included photos courtesy of Screamdance.com of those that really caught my attention. For a full list of Schaffas visit http://screamdance.com/schaffas.html

Phylidonyris Electra

Nickas www.nickas.net

Waldo

Lorell Lehman www.notallfaeriesarebeautiful.com

A Shadow of Light in the Darkness of Night

Gary Seaman www.goldensilverproject.com

Bipedendaffus Giganteum

Chris Edser www.chrisedser.com

Po Po

Benzo376 www.benzo376.com

Little Asian Shop of Horrors

Min

For a full list of Schaffas visit http://screamdance.com/schaffas.html

Meechoo The Werewolf

My own Schaffas entry i named Meechoo The Werewolf. A vegetarian werewolf in some trendy green shorts. This guy took me ages to do as i had not actually attempted anything like this before. A lot of trial and error. You may notice in the ‘making of’, at one point i ran out of putty, which i replaced with blu-tack. Not the best option but hey. Creating the basic frame was actually the easiest part, it was the molding that really killed me. I spent weeks adding putty and sanding to get the almost plastic smooth finish. The painting i also found quite difficult as i could not click on a colour palette to choose my colours, i had to mix them. Shock and horror. The final result and the ‘making of’ you can view below.

‘Making of’ Meechoo The Werewolf

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