Curatorship

The why, what and how of our final year art degree show

Involve - The day itself

The involve event was a fantastic success and inspiring for everyone involved. Last night we met at the conference rooms to set up for the workshops in the evening. We decided on which space the different groups would have, had a brief talk on health and safety and then arranged our spaces. The sculpture group had one of the larger spaces and we spent a couple of hours arranging tables, setting out materials and deciding on exactly how we would deliver the workshops. We decided that myself and Kelly would open the workshop by giving the short presentation I had prepared,  followed by an overview of the materials and methods and a reminder of health and safety considerations from Hannah. Amber would then take the students though the method step by step and the rest of us would work with the students on the trickier bits of the workshop.

The next day we arrived at the conference centre early to run through the workshop and to arrange materials. The five groups of students we had all engaged well with the workshop, producing shell cast moulds with alginate that we then filled with plaster. We also got the chance to chat with the students about other casting and sculpture techniques and to answer some questions from them. The teachers that accompanies the students were also very interested in the techniques we taught the students and some said they would like to use them again in school. One challenge was the quick change over in the workshops, ensuring that we were ready for the next group straight after the last one had left could be tricky but the workshop was well structured and this helped to ensure that it ran smoothly. 

After a short break for lunch, during which we filled all the moulds that the children had made with plaster, the mural making began. The sculpture room then became the mural room with all 65 students crowding into work on two large mural pieces. The process of bringing the digital and sculpture mural together began with painting the background and covering the bottom of the mural with a mixture of sand and paint to create the background for the beach scene. At this point the plaster shells were dry enough for the students to paint and they used neon colours to decorate them. Meanwhile the digital group were busy creating  a collage of their ‘firework’ images which would form the top of the mural. When the neon shells and firework collage was in place the wooden silhouettes of people (which some of the group had cut out the day before) were placed on top and the whole piece looked really impressive. I think the kids were really impressed to see the murals come together.

The involve day was a great opportunity for both us and the young people involved. Everyone that was involved was left with a real feeling of achievement which was reinforced by the positive feedback we got from Jo from involve and the staff and students that attended the event. I think we provided a really diverse and exiting program for the kids. They also got the chance to gain a sense of what it might be like to study art at university though visiting the studios and the Peter Scott Gallery.

The day was also a great opportunity for us to pass on our skills. For those who are interested in going into teaching this experience could be particularly useful. For the rest of us it was really inspiring to see what could be achieved through working in a team

Admiring the work - the finished beach mural. Photo by Natalie 

Admiring the work - one of the finished murals. Photo by Natalie

The presentation I made to introduce the workshop. I tried to keep it snappy but informative. 

A-N ad designs

The AN ad has now been paid for. The university were able to pay the balance on a university credit card, this means we have secured the ad and the early bird discount which is a relief. We now have to design the ad and submit it before the 31st of March. I found a copy of last years AN degree show supplement so that the publicity team could get an idea of the styles of design other university have used. The group were keen on the simpler designs which were mainly comprised of text and avoided complicated or flashy images and colours, feeling that this was eye catching while remaining formal and professional. Hopefully these images will prove useful for creating the final design.

 

My favorite design from last years degrees unedited in A-n magazine. 

Workshop proposal

Proposal

The workshop will be based on casting, and how alginate and plaster can be used to create a quick cast of an object showing the textures and qualities of the form.

Team Members:

Amber Shorrock

Hannah Jones

Kelly Bieliauskas

Abi Kilbride

Step by Step Plan for the 15minute workshop

1.        5 minute presentation.  [On artists using casting and the process of casting using alginate and plaster].

2.       Discuss selection of objects, and each child will pick an object to cast which has been found from around the university. [Or the children can bring their own objects with them]

3.       Demonstration of the process by one team member whilst the other three supervise the pupils. The demonstration will be in real time, as the pupils copy exactly what the demonstrator is doing.

4.       Cast object in alginate.

5.        Cast in plaster from the alginate mould made.

6.       Summary of what we have done, the process ect. Evaluate the casts. 2 minute discussion.

7.        Give out take home sheets of what we did today, and the method so the pupils can use the process again.

Preparation

We need to prepare well so that the workshops go smoothly and we do not run out of time. To prepare we are going to collect 60 objects, ready for the children to cast. We are also going to do a full run through on Wednesday of Week 16 at 1pm. We will time the process, and how long each part takes. We hope that the run through will only take 20minutes, so we have ten minutes longer with the children in case there are any mishaps. We will also be creating the presentation in advance and the worksheets. These will be completed by Wednesday week 17 also.

Involve - Getting to grips with the workshop

Plans for the involve workshop are going ahead and our group have now come up with a proposal for our workshop which involves using a casting technique. I was particularly keen to use this technique because it is one that I am familiar with through using it extensively in my own practice. It is also a technique which is likely to be new and interesting  to the students. We had to consider which methods and materials would be suitable in terms of time, safety and cost. We decided that alginate would be used to create the mould because this creates highly detailed effects, is easy to work with and extremely safe (it is used in dentistry and prosthetics in direct contact with the skin). To make the positive of the object we’ll be using plaster, however we need to consider safety issues around the use if plaster with children. We have not yet settled on which objects the children will be casting with. One idea was for them to bring an object with them from home or to collect something interesting from around the university. Whichever objects we use to make the moulds they cannot be too big because it will take too long for the plaster to dry.

We decided to have a practice session to experiment with a range of small objects, work out timing issues and what materials would be required. As a result of the practice session we made some adjustments to the original plan. Initially we poured the alginate into a cup and completely submerged the object in it. This made it very difficult to get the object out and would have required cutting the mould with a scalpel which would be too dangerous for the children. Instead we decided to cast the objects by pressing them into a tray of alginate so that they were only half submerged and could be easily removed. We also decided to use natural objects such as shells and bark which would have more interesting forms and textures than the objects we selected to practice with. I agreed to take responsibility for the making of a presentation to be delivered at the start of the workshop to prepare the students and give them some background on the casting technique.

The first objects we attempted to cast with (image courtesy of Hannah)

 

Pouring the alginate 

LUSU-Involve - Involvling the Community in the Arts

Earlier this week (Thursday) I attended the first meeting for the latest fund-raising venture of Lancaster Fine art students – A day of art workshops with local school children organised through LUSU Involve (Lancaster Universities’ volunteer unit). Involve have offered to contribute funding for advertising costs if we design an event involving the local community in the arts. The idea that was proposed was to hold workshops on different art disciplines including drawing, painting, digital and sculpture and to design and engage the students in a  group project making murals to be displayed at the university. The purpose of the day is to get local school children (year nines) involved and enthusiastic about Fine art and the prospect of studying at university level. The day will also include tours of the studios and Peter Scott gallery and a chance for the students to find out what university life is like first hand from current students.

The event will by organised by four groups, each with responsibility to design and deliver a workshop in their discipline area. We will then join together in two groups to plan and facilitate the making of the murals. I have joined the sculpture group and will be working with three others to plan the workshop, we will then join forces with the digital team in order to create a collaborative mural. At this stage we think there will be four groups of around 15 children who will rotate around the workshops during the morning. In the afternoon the children will be slip into two large groups to participate in creating both murals.

I was keen to be involved in this project because of my interest in working with children after university. This experience will also be invaluable for anyone considering in a career in teaching. I have previously taught art and crafts workshops with children in Scotland and South Africa but have never taught children of this age before so am interested to find out what this will be like and to add this to my range of practical experiences

Publicity Team Update

Currently the publicity team is looking at which publications we would like to advertise in. Advertising in art journals and other high profile publications can be expensive so we are looking to maximise our exposure by picking publications that have a wide readership, or are likely to be read by key people in the art world . We held a brief meeting and decided on a list of suitable journals and then divided the task of contacting them for quotes. I will be contacting A-N magazine to get a quote for a quarter page in colour. We also need to find out the deadlines for submission so we can ensure that we have the funds in place and can design the ad and run it by the rest of the class and Sarah Casey (who’s overseeing the degree show) before submission.

The advertising team at A-N magazine informed me that there is a supplement in the May edition of A-N dedicated to degree shows called ‘Degrees Unedited’ and our ad could be included in this. Clearly A-N is keen to promote emerging artists so this would be a good publication for us to be included in. They have also offered us two discounts off the cost of the ad, an early bird discount of 10% if we book the ad before February the 25th and a self-funding discount of 10% for groups that are raising the cost of their degree show themselves.  This would bring the overall cost of the ad to £384. Fortunately Sarah Casey has secured some funding for the ad through the university. This is unlikely to cover the entire cost  but will make a considerable contribution towards it and leave more money in the budget for advertising in other magazines, journals and papers.

The Correspondence I received so far from A-N                                                          Dear Abi,

Nice to speak to you just now.
I have attached our rates card where you can see that the standard price of a quarter page ad is £480+VAT.  As you are a self-funding student group, we’d like to support you with a 10% discount. You can also get a 10% discount if you book the ad (and confirm the booking) by February 25th - however copy can come later as we discussed on the phone.This brings the price down to £384+VAT.
Quarter page ads come in two formats: portrait (128mm high x 93mm wide) and landscape (62mm high x 191mm wide). They should be submitted as a pdf, but we can accept tiff ad eps files too.
Booking is simple - just email us or call us with your requirements. As you will be paying for the ad yourself we will need to set you up on our database. For this we need the following info:- your name, surname and what course you are in- your address - your email address- your phone number
We can arrange payment by credit card or by cheque at that point.If you have any further queries about advertising, or about any of the offers above, do let me know.  Kind regards,

Eleonora Schinella
Communications and sales team - Advertising

Degree Show Fundraiser

The first fundraising social event was held in town at the Lounge and was very well attended by students from all years of our course and their friends.  The fundraising team secured a good range of prizes for the raffle from local businesses and raffle ticket sales helped to supplement ticket sales for the event. As a result of the hard work of the Fundraising team and the students that supported the event £450 was raised towards the costs of our degree show.

My role in the publicity team means I am not directly involved in the organisation of events like this, however I did contribute by drafting a letter of thanks for all the local businesses that donated raffle prizes. Organising our degree show not only involves hard work on our behalf, but also the support of other groups and individuals through donations, sponsorship and advertising so it is important to thank all those that are involved.  

Dear Sir/Madam

Lancaster University final year art students would like to thank you for your generous donation to our fundraising raffle. 

Every year students in the third year of their Fine Art degree organise events to raise funds for an exhibition showcasing their talents. The show is the culmination of three years hard work and, for many, a crucial opportunity to launch their career after university. Due to the students self funding the exhibition they are especially grateful for the support and generosity of local businesses such as yours. 
The degree show will be open to the public between the 22nd and the 29th of June in the Peter Scott gallery and we would like to invite you all to attend.

Kind Regards
Lancaster final year Fine Art students

Time to get into the nitty gritty of the degree show organising I think.. Being involved in fundraising and promoting the degree show should hopefully give everyone the chance to pick up skills that could be useful in the future for promoting our own work, organising group shows or working in a gallery. Because we are a big year group the task is made easier in some ways because of the people power available, but more difficult in others because there is a large group of people to coordinate. This job falls to the two presidents Alex and Izzy. The rest of the management committee looks something  like this - Secretary and Treasurer Two heads of events and Fundraising Bake sales canvas bags hoodies events One head of publicity Catalogue team general publicity Some of these smaller groups also have a key member who manages the group and many people belong to more than one group, for instance most people have been involved in the bake sales in some way. Also this over-simplified diagram makes it look like the group has a very hierarchical structure, so I should mention that meetings are held regularly with the whole year group, where votes can be taken on key decision. My main role is in the Publicity team is helping to promote the degree show as widely as possible. This provides a good opportunity to improve communication skills through liaising with the media. I guess in a broad sense my art work is about communicating ideas and concepts to an audience so the two activities are not so dissimilar. One of the first tasks I was involved with was drafting a press release (above) which has now become the official press release for the degree show. 

Time to get into the nitty gritty of the degree show organising I think.. Being involved in fundraising and promoting the degree show should hopefully give everyone the chance to pick up skills that could be useful in the future for promoting our own work, organising group shows or working in a gallery. Because we are a big year group the task is made easier in some ways because of the people power available, but more difficult in others because there is a large group of people to coordinate. This job falls to the two presidents Alex and Izzy. The rest of the management committee looks something  like this -

Secretary and Treasurer

Two heads of events and Fundraising

Bake sales

canvas bags

hoodies

events

One head of publicity

Catalogue team

general publicity

Some of these smaller groups also have a key member who manages the group and many people belong to more than one group, for instance most people have been involved in the bake sales in some way. Also this over-simplified diagram makes it look like the group has a very hierarchical structure, so I should mention that meetings are held regularly with the whole year group, where votes can be taken on key decision.

My main role is in the Publicity team is helping to promote the degree show as widely as possible. This provides a good opportunity to improve communication skills through liaising with the media. I guess in a broad sense my art work is about communicating ideas and concepts to an audience so the two activities are not so dissimilar.

One of the first tasks I was involved with was drafting a press release (above) which has now become the official press release for the degree show. 

What I make

It’s probably necessary to give a little more background on my work to make sense of my thoughts on the exhibition.  It’s also helpful to go back to basics and think about exactly what it is that I want to present in the final exhibition. From the images you will start to see the similarities to the artist I blogged about last week.

I have become increasingly interested in political and social issues during my time at Lancaster. Studying a minor in politics and becoming involved in activist and campaigning groups on campus has all fed into this and eventually led me to a point where I wanted to incorporate these concerns into my work. I have been looking at the plight of illegal immigrants via the case of the Morecombe bay cockle pickers who tragically died in 2004. Although I am interested in social rather than personal issues I feel it is important that the work has some connection to my reality, in this case through links with the local area.

My work in the area of sculpture, object making and instillation is often concerned with the properties and connotations of materials. I pick forms which can act as a symbol and help the viewer to make an initial connection with my themes. After that I try to stretch the symbol as far as possible through the use of materials and techniques which add layers of meaning.

I began working with nets and shells as symbols of the Morecombe bay disaster. I have now reached a point where I am knitting the nets out of shredded plastic bags and making shelter like structures with the nets. I then hope to combine video with the sculpture by projecting moving images through the netting. My work has evolved from simply being a memorial to the Morecombe bay disaster, into something which  comments on the relationship between the exploitation of labour by large corporations (in this case supermarkets) and such tragedies.