Solihull College

The Degree show is nearly here! The date for the private view is 10th June from 6pm to 9pm. After that we are open to the public on Saturday 11th June 10am to 4pm and Monday 13th June to Thursday 16th June (10am to 4pm).

We started prepping the studio last week, amazing what a lick of paint can do!

Most works have been installed and we are now makeing any adjustments needed.

I recently recieved an offer to study for the MA Fine Art at Margaret Street, which i have accepted and i have a few other plans for work over the Summer.

I have learned much on the Degree but also from work i have undertaken outside of it which has provided me with invaluable experience.

I would recommend to any Degree student to do their best to gain as much experience outside of their educational establishment and to explore the art network in their surrounding area. I have learnt as much from doing this as i have from my degree.

The website is up for the degree show. Website is my job while others are busy with writing to sponsors, fliers, posters, invites, facebook pages, catering etc. We are a good team.

With the website i wanted to make it more interesting for people by adding video blogs. These will show our progression up to the degree show including interviews, fundraising activities and anything else that may be of interest. Hopefully this will give people an incentive to keep returning to our site and then coming to see our show.

Here is the link

http://www.poiesis.webeden.co.uk/

Let me know what you think.

End of the first term of the final year! Time flies! Stress levels EXTREME! Money levels, very, very low! First fundraising event for the degree show took place on Thursday, a cake sale, and after Christmas we shall be sending out letters to ask for sponsorship.

I have been working on some film, which i want to take further, and i’m getting a fair few performance ideas that i just know aren’t going to leave me alone until they are realised!

My mind is lost for words so i shall quote Franko B

“My desire in work is always to express something, always do things that are powerfully communicative … I would like to be economically more independent, which would mean for me to be able to do more things,be crazier …But it’s not bad now!”

I’ve been filming some experiments i’ve been doing with fake blood powder. This is a powder that looks invisible when blended into the skin but then “bleeds” when in contact with water.

It looks pretty impressive in real life but watching it played back didn’t have the same impact. I was going to do full body length frames but this makes it very difficult to clearly see the “bleeding”.

I shall be filming close ups instead! I often have a leaning towards close ups!

The whole thing will be played back in reverse so the blood goes back into my skin, therefore it is quite important that the viewer can actually see this happening.

I allways use fake blood “representations” so far. I don’t use real blood in my work. To me it is not necessary to use the real thing. People don’t drink blood at communion and yet they understand that what they are drinking represents the blood of Christ.

I use the representation of blood as a mechanism to show emotion, life and death, purity and disease, and also something more. I use the body directly to explore the psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects of the human. The blood is like a leaking of the things we keep hidden, the things we don’t say, wounds that have remained unhealed.

Everyone is busy working towards the Degree show on 10th June 2011. The title for the show is Poiesis and i will post the link to the website for it shortly.

The range of themes and approaches in the artwork of the third year students varies quite dramatically. We spent many meetings and facebook discussions coming up with a title that would adequately represent all of our work. Poiesis derives from the Ancient Greek meaning to make. Other definitions include creation, formation and production. To make and to become.

We are currently working on an image for our publicity material, organising fundraisers and applying for sponsorship funds.

More info coming soon.