On Monday Camberwell Space hosted a workshop titled ‘Objects Stories’, led by Camberwell College of Arts BA 3D Design course director Karen Richmond and course lecturer Michael Hurley.

This workshop was based on constructed histories and narratives: where did objects within the exhibition Thingness: The Collection come from and what is their story? The process would form an alternative catalogue, featuring an image of each item along with its newly acquired title and narrative.

For more information about the gallery please visit the Camberwell Space website and follow them on Twitter @CamberwellSpace

My final project is a series of self-portraits all based on family photos from my childhood. Although they differ from my previous work both in the way they are made and their subject matter, I see them very much as a continuation from everything I’ve made so far this year. It’s funny how things come about: The work that will form my degree show is the result of several conversations with tutors and visiting artists, research carried out for my dissertation and lots of hard work in the studio. I feel as though my studio practice really fell in to place after I completed my dissertation.

I wanted to come to Camberwell to study painting for several reasons. I knew it had a great reputation as somewhere that encouraged students to develop individually, rather than impose a ‘house-style’ and some outstanding alumni to prove it. The full and part-time lecturers were also key: although some of the staff didn’t teach in the painting department, I valued the opportunity to access those whose practice I respect, such as Rebecca Fortnum. I didn’t know it before I came here, but I now know that contact time here is much better than that of well known universities near by. I feel that I have had plenty of opportunities to access lecturers and visiting artists for help and advice.

My advice to new students would be simple: make the very most of every minute of your time here. It goes so quickly. You are privileged to have secured a place, please don’t waste it.

Camberwell College of Art BA Drawing course director, Kelly Chorpening, will be presenting at an event at Paris College of Art entitled ‘The Foundation Course in Art and Design: A History Uncovered, A Future Imagined‘. A collaboration between ‘Art School Educated’ (Tate Research) and Paris College of Art.

Paris College of Art will host two events in June exploring the history and future of the Foundation course in Art and Design education:

“A History Uncovered”
June 5th at Tate Britain

This event features a closed, discursive forum with art educators who have helped shape the history of the foundation course since its implementation.

“A Future Imagined”
June 28th and 29th at Paris College of Art

We invite educators, artists, designers, writers, and historians to take part in a two-day event re-imagining the future of foundation teaching. Through practical workshops that include (but are not limited to) drawing, performance, writing, curating, code, collaboration, 3D making and video, we aim to discover new ways of thinking about how we teach.

Communicating Space

As part of the event Kelly will run a workshop on Saturday 29 June called ‘Communicating Space’ in which participants will work as a team of curators preparing an imaginary exhibition and will have to send the participating artists a scale drawing that indicates all important features in the exhibition space: dimensions, columns, steps and doorways, plumbing, power sources and light – both artificial and natural.

The participants will not have a camera, or any typical tools of measurement such as rulers, tapes or laser distance measures. Most early measurements related to the body, e.g. the size of a foot, length of a pace. Through consensus, communities agreed on standards. This exercise, through the embodied experience of a space, and collective decision-making, provides an opportunity to engage with drawing and measurement in unexpected ways, through the shared responsibility to communicate information accurately.

You can find more information about the events on Paris College of Art’s website

As part of our run up to the undergraduate summer show, today we chat to Joy Dan Yu Shui who is currently preparing for her BA 3D Design exhibition.

Hi Joy! Can you tell us about your final project?
My final project is a set of stationery organizers. They are made of newspapers. I mixed newspaper pulp with PVA glue, and they look like rocks when they dry. I make my own materials which are recycled newspapers. The aim of my final project is to improve clients’ recycling awareness.

Where did you get the idea?
I did a lot of experimentation on recycled newspaper, and in the end I found that they looked like rocks when I mixed them with PVA glue. I like the surface and color of them. I always put my stationery everywhere, making my desk very messy so I decided to make them into stationery organisers. I got inspiration from my daily life.

What do you have left to do between now and the end of year exhibition?
I need to think about how i’m going  to display everything.

Have you had much experience of preparing for an exhibition before? What kind of things do you need to think about?

I took part in a few exhibitions when I was in second year. I need to think about how to tell the story of my objects, which means the interesting processes and what are they, why I make them.

What are you hoping to do once you graduate?
I am going back to China when I graduate, and I would like to have a studio that I can keep working in.  Once I think my objects can be sold, I would like to open a small cafe where I can sell my work.

Why Camberwell?
BA 3D Design in Camberwell is one of the best courses for anyone who wants to be a designer or a maker.

What advice would you pass on to a student about to start at Camberwell?
Do not miss any of the tutorials, they are very helpful.

What will you miss about Camberwell once you’ve left?
The tutors and classmates. 

Designer of the Day Freya Faulkner, BA Illustration, chats to us about her final project and her Camberwell experience.

Hi Freya, Can you tell us about your final project?
For a brief second after the Big Bang, Matter and Antimatter co-existed in the universe. The Matter and Antimatter was irresistibly drawn to one another and when they collided they sent each other into oblivion. This is known as The Great Annihilation. The only reason we exist at all is because there was a tiny bit more Matter than Antimatter in the universe.

I’ve created a quasi-religious exploration of this phenomenon to communicate what Matter and Antimatter are. In my ‘religious’ manifesto The Big Bang is the creation myth and Matter and Antimatter are two warring twins fighting for control of the universe.

What was your inspiration?
It’s a magpie collection of reference points, everything from Oskar Schlemmer and The Tao of Physics, to The Home Altars of Mexico, WWE wrestling and the Greco- Roman ceramic tradition.

What do you have left to do between now and the end of year exhibition?
My to do list seems to be endless! The priority right now is getting my pots in the kiln for their second firing and I’ve got a couple more screen prints to pull. But the next couple of weeks will be mainly getting the studios ready for the show and installing my work. The other challenge will be collating all my development work into some kind of understandable sequence for hand in.

Have you had much experience of preparing for an exhibition before? What kind of things do you need to think about?
I was part of the team who organized the second year BA Illustration exhibition BI at Mother in Shoreditch last year. I learnt from BI that hanging always takes longer than you think it will. Curating a diverse selection of work from a large group of illustrators can be tricky but its very rewarding when you get it right.

What are you hoping to do once you graduate?
Keep going, that’s my main aim. Towards the end of third year you’re lost in this great momentum where you are making work and decisions all the time. I want to maintain that as I continue in my own practice. I’m also incredibly excited to be getting involved with The Camberwell Press and there are a few other things in the pipeline that I’m hoping will come to fruition.

Why Camberwell?
I was drawn to Camberwell because of the reputation and standard of the teaching. I was also excited by the emphasis on experimentation, pushing the boundaries of what illustration is and what Camberwell illustrators can become. I think we’ve been instilled with an attitude of open mindedness and tenacity that will enable us to apply ourselves and our skills in the ever evolving creative market.

What pearls of wisdom from tutors or other students that you’ll take with you?
Take every opportunity you can even if you think it’s not really for you or your practice. You just don’t know what you’ll learn or where it will take you and your work.

The other thing I’ve learnt is listen to your tutors and your fellow students, get opinions, get advice, but ultimately its your work, you have to follow your instincts and make your own decisions. Make your work, not the work you think you should be making.

What advice would you pass on to a student about to start at Camberwell?
Enjoy it and don’t worry about what ‘illustration’ is or whether you are an ‘illustrator.’ If you are enjoying what you do and you work hard, the rest will follow. And never go anywhere without a notebook/sketchbook.

What will you miss about Camberwell once you’ve left?
I’ll miss being able to collar tutors in corridors to bounce ideas of them. It’s something I think we all take for granted but having their knowledge, expertise and experience always at hand is amazing.

I’m definitely going to miss the support and advice of the technicians. They’ve taught me so much over the last three years and they are endlessly patient and forgiving.

And I’ll miss my studio space and the people I share it with. There’s a group of us who’ve been in pretty much everyday since Christmas and it’s great to be able to talk things through, have a moan, a giggle and a beer. Illustration can be a lonely discipline and I’m not looking forward to going back to working in my room.

Maud Craigie is in her final year of BA Photography. She talks to us about her final project, preparing for her end of year exhibition and her hopes for the future.

Hi Maud, can you tell us about your final project?
My project is an exploration of emotional and physical connections in an increasingly digital age. It’s a three-channel video installation, which records my interactions with people I have met online and the different types of exchanges that occurred. These include meeting with a ‘professional conversationist’ (sic), who charges £15 per hour to talk to you, hiring mourners, who are paid £45 to cry at funerals and having a free foot massage from a man off Craigslist. I have also been working with amateur actors, who have responded to adverts I’ve placed on Gumtree.

What was your inspiration?
My work is research based, so ideas for my final piece have come from a mixture of trawling the internet, reading newspapers or just overhearing conversations on the tube. Anything really.

What do you have left to do between now and the end of year exhibition?
I’ve got all my video footage, so now it’s just a matter of editing it together. I’m trying to do a number of edits, so I have multiple options to choose from.

Have you had much experience of preparing for an exhibition before? What kind of things do you need think about?
I’ve only done a couple of shows before and each time I’ve learnt loads through the process of doing them. Firstly, you have to visualise the ideal circumstances for your work and then it’s all about deciding how to compromise to the practicalities, without losing the overall vision. I’m showing my video on old TV monitors, so I’m having to concentrate on having an electricity supply for all the different monitors and making sure all the footage stays in sync between the different screens.

What are you hoping to do once you graduate?
I’m going to have a year out before applying to do a masters, also in Photography.

Why Camberwell?
Camberwell is great because you’re really treated like an individual, rather than a number. The amount of 1-to-1 tutor time is amazing, as are the tutors themselves.

What advice would you pass on to a student about to start at Camberwell?
Make the most of the facilities, sign up to every possible tutorial and get as much feedback about what you’re doing while you still can.

What will you miss about Camberwell once you’ve left?
The tutors, my classmates and the facilities!

What are you looking to do once you graduate?
Carry on making stuff.

In the run up to our Undergraduate Show in June, we have been interviewing final year students preparing for their exhibition. Today, we speak to Ritchie Xavier, BA Graphic Design.

Hi Ritchie. Can you tell us about your final project?

My final project is about developing a visual language to motivate people with respect to health, fitness and sport.

What was your inspiration?
My inspiration was standing on my scales one day and realising I was technically obese for my age. It spurned me on.

What do you have left to do between now and the final exhibition?
I have to make a development file, a book of visuals, some sculpture, and find some exhibition sponsors.

Have you had much experience of preparing for an exhibition before? What kind of things do you need to think about?
I helped organise my foundation exhibition at Camberwell a few years back, we had to consider our audience as being the entire public, spacial awareness, sensitivity, making sure work was clearly labelled, and that it’s safe!

What are you hoping to do once you graduate?
I hope to go into an advertising agency or any creative agency and create great fun interactive and engaging works.

Why Camberwell?
Camberwell is like the nice intimate organic shop for groceries amongst all the hustle and bustle of London. It has so many resources with the best technicians who are so friendly and the courses and course-mates are second to none

What pearls of wisdom from tutors or other students will you take with you?
Never rush things, dig deeper & explore further, take advantage of resources and opportunities, and have fun!

What advice would you pass on to a student about to start at Camberwell?
Don’t build a cocoon around yourself to make work you think people will like. Get out there and do the things you love, explore and research, embrace failure as a part of developing

What will you miss about Camberwell once you’ve left?
The building, the people, the great workshops and resources, the ever-happy vibe.

In the run up to our Undergraduate Show in June, we have been interviewing final year students preparing for their exhibition. Today, Sarah Froelich, BA Painting, talks to us about her final project and her experience at Camberwell.

Can you tell us about your final project?
I am currently working on a series of paintings which I have tentatively been calling ‘Synthesizer Frustration Portraits.’ They are depictions of synthesizers and other electronic musical equipment as animate characters to be negotiated with rather than empty objects to be used. It’s a very interesting project for me, because it manages to deal with my personal experience playing live experimental music to large (and often largely confused) audiences as well as engaging with my feelings about painting as a whole, which I view as a slightly more private -yet no less harrowing- preformative action.

What was your inspiration?
I take a great deal of inspiration from the excitement and terror of live performance. Because direct experience in the moment is by its very nature transitory, I had to find some way of working around those feelings: I began looking at the proxy which allows access to the aforementioned emotions, and in the case of a musician these gatekeepers would be one’s instruments. A reviewing of David Cronenberg’s 1991 adaptation of Naked Lunch really cinched the deal for me. In the film the typewriters which William S. Burroughs must use in order to write become monstrous animate agents with very distinct agendas of their own. This obviously cause a bit of friction, and ends up producing some very creative work-arounds.

What do you have left to do between now and the end of year exhibition?
Because of the way I work, I’m never really not working on something, but right now the main focus for the rest of the year is preparing the space and making the best curatorial decisions. Sometimes the most difficult choice is what not to show, but fortunately we have a bit of time to figure out the proper combinations and omissions.

What kind of things do you need to think about in preparing for an exhibition?
At this stage, the work is done (or at least halted for a moment) and the most important thing is presenting that work in the best possible way, so that you do the greatest justice to the work itself while at the same time not overtasking or insulting the viewer. Confidence and understatement are sometimes the most challenging things for me, but in exhibition they are the most important.

What are you hoping to do once you graduate?
I’ve accepted a place at Chelsea on their MA Fine Art program, so I know where I’ll be spending most of my time for the next 12 months. I’m also playing at the Wroclaw Industrial Festival in Poland this November, but other than that, it’s all up in the air at the moment.

Why Camberwell and what will you miss about it once you’ve left?
I chose Camberwell for so many reasons, but the main two have got to be the strength of its painting department as a whole, and the college’s over-all Punk Rock confidence. It has been a great three years, and I am going to miss absolutely everything, right down to forgetting my ID card and having to run back home really quickly so that I don’t miss anything. (Fortunately, I live across the street, so the whole running thing was never really that much of a problem.)

What advice would you pass on to a student about to start at Camberwell?
Make the most of it. The school provides a wealthy of talks, workshops, and events which strengthen the entire experience. You aren’t going to experience any of them if you don’t check your calender and get to the sign up sheet on time.

What pearls of wisdom from tutors or other students that you’ll take with you?
An overarching theme which keeps re-emerging in my tutorials is that it is alright if something you make in no way fufils your original intentions. If you were able to paint a picture which fully satisfied all of your desires and expectations then you wouldn’t have to paint again, you would just want to go home and take a nap, maybe watch The Voice. It is the mistakes you are fortunate enough to make on the way there which really enrich your practice.

I’ll leave you with Beckett: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Camberwell MA Printmaking and MA Book Arts students will be exhibiting at Proof - an interim show at Brixton East between 24-27 May.

In this exhibition, printmakers and book artists from the College work with traditional and contemporary techniques to question and investigate their medium and processes of making. Proof will serve to showcase these contemporary responses to fine art printmaking and book arts and bring these to a wider audience.

This term the Undergraduate Fine Art Programme at Camberwell College of Arts has held a series of 4 Key Ideas Debates that brought together leading practitioners to interrogate ideas of subject-specificity and the role of medium.

Each debate focussed on the work of 2 artists.

• Drawing – Cary Kwok and Laura Oldfield Ford.
• Painting – Dan Perfect and Alastair MacKinven.
• Photography – Kennard/Phillipps and Hannah Sawtell.
• Sculpture – Phillip King and Gary Webb.

BA Illustration have launched their website for their ‘Well Said’ show.

wellsaid2013.com

Make sure you bookmark it and follow them on Twitter – @WellSaid2013

Camberwell College of Arts Undergraduate Show 15 – 22 June 2013 .

For full list of events and exhibiting subjects visit the Undergraduate Show 2013 event page.

BA Illustration will also be exhibiting 4 – 7 July 2013 at the Rag Factory, 16-18 Heneage St, London E1 5LJ.

Degree show promo incoming!

First up – BA Graphic Design who kick off proceedings with this quirky clip for their ‘Most Likely’ show.

mostlikely.co.uk

Camberwell College of Arts Undergraduate Show 15 – 22 June 2013 .

For full list of events and exhibiting subjects visit the Undergraduate Show 2013 event page.