Students of Leibniz-Gymnasium St. Ingbert displayed their artistic talent in response to the topic “innovation” at INM.
In June 2018, five students of Leibniz Gymnasium and one student of Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium (both schools located in St. Ingbert), implemented an art project with much enthusiasm and commitment at Leibniz-Institute for New Materials (INM). The goal of this project was to refurbish and enhance a wall at INM.
INM made it possible to realise this exciting extracurricular art project. Being an independent research institute on the university campus of Saarbrücken, INM focuses on the research and development of materials. It is a scientific partner to national and international institutes and a provider of research and development for companies throughout the world. In order to find application-oriented solutions and to meet economic demands, both creativity and innovation are sought after at INM. These requirements were to be clearly showcased in the artwork.
As a consequence of these requirements, the idea to execute an art project was born in cooperation with the nearby Leibniz-Gymnasium, to give students an opportunity to show their creativity.
At first, many students of all ages were part of the design phase within the framework of their art classes. Afterwards, Dr. Peter William de Oliveira (Head of Optical Materials and Head of Innovation Center INM), Günter Weber (Business Director INM) and Anja Quarz (art teacher at Leibniz-Gymnasium, St. Ingbert) opted for Xenia Rutz’s (AMG) draft.
The combination of graffiti and paintings shows a big eye, embedded in outer space. A yellow “path”, starting at the corner of the eye, illustrates a sequence of important inventions, from the wheel to the steam engine, the light bulb, the first mobile phone to the internet. It ends in a big question mark: What will the future hold?
A globe embodies the eye’s iris, whose pupil on the other hand reflects a man’s head. One of his eyes resembles a fisheye lens, emphasizing the link between man and technology. The combination of painting (ancient art) and graffiti (modern art) is a reference to the innovative research at INM, where, for instance, new materials inspired by nature (e.g. gecko feet) have been developed.
After the decision for a draft had been taken, the artwork was painted on a wall in a corridor connecting two buildings, on a surface of around 16 square meters. All students involved are of great artistic talent and were part of Anja Quarz’s art class at Leibniz Gymnasium. This joint project highlights the end of the students’ schooling, as all of them are about to graduate – and perhaps innovate the art scene in the future?