I love being in the studios. The opportunity to interact with so many creative people, to chat about every thing from art to last nights tv, is something I shall miss after graduation. I think that we all underestimate the value of working beside other artists. I often wonder around the spaces to take a closer look at what other people are doing. It’s like having a pass to a constantly changing and developing exhibition.
Unsuprisingly, the atmosphere is a little different this semester. There is an air of tension and nervous energy that is hard to ignore. I suspect that although some of us might complain about the pressure, it is a productive and stimulating atmosphere, spurring us on to push ourselves and our art just a little further.
I do think that for some of us who come under the umbrella of ‘mature studen t’, there is an extra source of pressure. Achieving a decent degree is much more than a personal or professional goal. Our final graduation and marks are a source of validation for the choices we have made.
We had lives before university. We were mothers and fathers, employess and employers. We had jobs or careers. We had an identity that was recognised by our family, friends and colleagues. By becoming students we changed the rules and disrupted those familiar identities and sometimes our relationships too. For some of the people around us our actions were incomprehensible, selfish or indulgent. Maybe if we had chosen a vocational or academic subject that could be more easily related to the roles we had previously filled… But we chose art.
So now our choices are on the line. A good degree result will at least in part, offer justification for that choice.
Yet the odd thing is that on a personal level, if I block out all thoughts of other peoples opinions or judgements, my final results are the least important thing about the last few years.
