Frontrunners and Leaving Essex

By Simon Kaye

September 2014 marks the end of a journey and the beginning of a new one. This year has changed me as a person in various different aspects. The experience I had at Essex was unexpected and extremely rewarding for a young graduate. The course of this year was unique for me, considering the more practical background that led me to the postgraduate program in Art History and the career I am now heading towards. I have much to look forward to and a lot of amazing memories to base my expectations on.

In the various activities I have done over the course of this academic year, most of them rewarded me with other favourable circumstances. As my friend and former lecturer Duncan Wooldridge told me: it is more important to make the most of small opportunities rather than waiting for the big ones. Being a frontrunner at the University was one of these opportunities, which helped me to enhance my academic CV with more professional experience. Over these past three months I have gained various transferable skills not necessarily related to the study of art but highly prized by employers. Marketing the department has allowed me to step on the working ladder whilst marrying this new expertise with my studies.

Being on the frontrunner scheme whilst doing my dissertation was also helpful to manage my time and study harder. Instead of focusing all the time on my writing and turning into an art historian freak, working alongside other frontrunners in the library put a routine in place and created a break from my study time. The three mornings per week when I took the bus to go to campus did not feel like I was going to work. The placement was designed to be as beneficial for me as it is for the department to hire an extra pair of hands. Even though my role involved a greater deal of marketing activities I was not aware of before, I still had the opportunity to apply in the job what I have learnt during my lessons. Working on the art history student blog, writing exhibition reviews and designing the Art History Newsletter have nurtured my knowledge, and allow me to practice it in a professional environment.

Not only I am grateful for this opportunity, I would also like to galvanise forthcoming students who are starting in September to consider such activities offered by the university.   Rather than being an extra income on the top of the loans, they allow you to set yourself up straight away with a professional background alongside your studies. You will finish your undergraduate or postgraduate program with a lifetime experience of working with lecturers in a professional environment and finally you will leave Essex with more than one string on your bow. 

For more information about frontrunners, and the placements available, visit their website. 

Exhibition Review: Masters at the Minories

By Simon Kaye

Masters at the Minories runs from the 26th of July until the 23rd of August, 2014, at The Minories Galleries, in Colchester.

 

On Friday 25^th of July, The Minories Galleries opened to the public its new exhibition entitled Masters at the Minories. The exhibition features the work of students graduating from three MA courses run the by the Colchester School of Art and taught at the art gallery.

Having done a practical degree at the School of Art, I know how hard it can be to curate a show embodying such a large variety of unique pieces. As well as being successful individually, they also need to functions together to create a unique experience. The MA students and the curator overcame this difficulty impressively. They used the space very distinctly. Whilst it seems to be divided between the three professional practices, the exhibition also juxtaposed work from different area of expertise.

I first entered the Morning Room featuring the installation, What are we doing today? by Rosie Wilford and the art of Joanna Marlow from her series Being Bound. This first encounter gave me an overview of one of the overwhelming themes the exhibition implements. By looking at Joanna’s maps, not only did I relate them to my personal experience, but also the visual format of the work reminded me of a sculptural practice. In-between the flatness behind the glass and the 3D effect of the work, I questioned whether the work was a sculpture, or another, as yet undefined medium.

Most of the sculptural pieces challenged the space and hence my experience, as I had to adapt my journey through the gallery. When I stepped in The Girling Room, I did not feel alone. The ceramic works of Liam Henessy (Doppelgangër) made me feel uncomfortably overwhelmed by their presence. Despite this busy yet lonely atmosphere, I walked around these exotic humanoids to then look at the very emotional work by Samantha O’Kelly. When I first thought I was looking at a photograph, Spatium, I soon realised that again my preconceived notions were in question as the work almost entered the sculptural realm.

Katarzyna Babinska and her work Third Impression also recalled the characteristics of the medium used. Potentially made on purpose, the title reminded me of Roland Barthes acclaimed essay, “The Photographic Meaning” in which he expressed to potentiality of creating a new valence from a first and a second term (Barthes, 1977). Although focused around photography, those ideas seemed to have been a ubiquitous theme underlying most of the works.

In the Front Room and the Garden Room, Bernie Stephens and Poppy Wallis both used the ceiling as the anchor of their work. Albeit sharing visual similarities, the two projects remained extremely distinctive in their form and content. Whilst Bernie’s work disputed painting as a sculptural form, Poppy’s installation felt multi-sensory.

Finally, Karen Cooke’s work diverged from book making, to photography and silkscreen printing. The seats displayed welcomed me to sit and engage with what she had provided for the visitor. Mainly aimed at children, this particular work almost brought me back to my childhood. Overall, she achieved creating a very personal atmosphere by not using only one visual format but varying her pieces.

The Final Show of the MA students appeared to me as a must see for anyone who engaged with Bruce Mclean’s exhibition at Firstsite. During one of his talks, when Mclean spoke about his practice, he expressed an everlasting reconfiguration of his subject of study. The MA students both individually and collectively provide a fresh outlook to such debate around medium specificity.

Bibliography

Barthes, Roland., Image, Music, Text London: Fontana Press, 1977.