Over another busy weekend of degree show openings and previews around the country, a-n members have once again been visiting the shows and posting images and commentary on a-n’s Instagram.
Andy Jones’ final takeover came from University of Central Lancashire in Preston where he attended the graphic design degree show preview.
Highlights included Neil Bennison’s “fantastic video” that celebrates the 60th anniversary of Letraset (above left), and Jane Lawler’s Preston Carnival re-brand (above right) demonstrating “a real blast of colour with traditional design values”.
Performance in Plymouth
Maddy Hearn’s focus was on Plymouth, where visual arts degree shows opened at both the University and College of Art campuses in the city.
For his performance installation at Plymouth University, Danny Everton was photographing degree show visitors and posting the resulting ‘Fuji Instax Mini’ photos to his Live Wall (top). Hearn explains that the work – which captures visitors accompanied by Everton’s ‘models’ – “explores beauty through juxtapositions of inherent grotesqueness”.
Highlights at the Plymouth College of Art fine art show included Elena Brake’s The Washing Machine is Working. This participatory performance seeks to enchant an everyday activity through a simultaneously amusing and uncomfortable audience experience, which Hearn describes as “disrupting the audience’s familiarity”.
Childhood memories in Sunderland
Attending the Sunderland University fine art and photography show, Sheyda Porter reported that works reflected “a broad range of themes and interests” including childhood memories, social issues such as animal welfare, and health matters such as neurological disorders.
Speaking about Rose Reay’s work that draws inspiration from an abandoned swimming pool the artist was fascinated by as a child, Porter said: “The derelict nature of Reay’s works – that freeze childhood memories within plaster blocks –inevitably creates a sense of loss and nostalgia.”
Jonathan Clarke’s very different portrayal of childhood, Inattentively Creative, seeks to raise awareness of attention deficit and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. Speaking about his own experience of being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, Clarke explains: “Navigating through childhood is difficult enough without the stigma of being different.”
Images:
1. Danny Everton, Live Wall. Photo: Maddy Hearn
2. Neil Bennison, Letraset: Celebrating 60 Years of Type. Photo: Andy Jones
3. Jane Lawler, Preston Carnival. Photo: Andy Jones
4. Elena Brake, The Washing Machine is Working. Photo: Maddy Hearn
5. Rose Reay. Photo: Sheyda Porter
6. Jonathan Clarke, Inattentively Creative. Photo: Sheyda Porter
Follow a-n on Instagram to catch all the takeovers as they happen
Coming up: Northumbria University (Sheyda Porter, 14 June); City & Guilds of London Art School, (Nadine Shaban, 23 June); Royal College of Art (Nadine Shaban, 26 June)
More on a-n.co.uk:
a-n Degree Shows Guide 2016
Degree shows 2016: crafted objects, beautiful paintings and a disco trolley
