Last night I attended the latest AIR Open Dialogues event at Rivington Place, London. Presenters included Goldsmiths final-year student Aliceson Carter and 2008 ceramics graduate Laura De Benedetti who shared their thoughts on points of departure and reflection. It was a fantastic event and a good chance to meet interesting people. If I could liken it to anything I would say it was the artist equivalent of Loose Women…! One strange thing I noticed was the lack of male attendees. Maybe men really do find it hard to verbalize their feelings…!
There was a dialogue regarding how well art education is structured and whether it prepares students for the 'real' world. I felt my education beyond BA level was flawed and left me completely unprepared for that initial post-MA period. I was grateful for the emphasis on theory – it still informs both my practice and writing now – but a few lessons in business management would have been useful. One member of the audience noted that in most subjects you do not receive business training but I would argue that art is quite a unique subject that, whilst developing a whole range of skills applicable to many jobs, it often resists any specific training that leaves you completely suitable for a specific industry.
