Central Saint Martins Snapshot blog

• Yve Lomax (Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths)
• Paul Harrison (of artist group Harrison and Wood)
• Dr. Adrienne Janus (University of Aberdeen)

We are now seeking proposals for 25-30 minute presentations; welcoming papers and artistic contributions on topics such as, but not exclusive to:

• The role of the body and gesture toward trace, limit and absence.
• Breadth; a form of space, or conceptual situations of ‘spacing’ as separation, dislocation and suspension.
• The ‘spanne’ in Nancy’s The Sense of the World (1993), and derivations from Blanchot’s later writings.
• Presentness or presence in live-art.

Submission:

• Approximately 500 words should be sent by Thursday, May 31st, 2012 to Robert Luzar (r.luzar@csm.arts.ac.uk) & Carrie Giunta (c.giunta@dundee.ac.uk)

Conceived as a compendium of video works varying between 24 seconds and 6.16 minutes, each segment of Drift is titled in relation to the time of day or night when filmed. When installed, Drift is constructed as a unique modification of the whole, created according to the scope and context of each space.

The installation arranged for Hollybush Gardens takes inspiration from the collaboration with architect Dominic Stevens in Drift: diagram xii at Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2010 (as part of This and other things) – where moving through a scaffolding structure formed the viewing experience. In the new configuration scaffolding will be constructed to make reference to the temporary in relation to architecture and location. Drift: diagram xiii engages the skills and knowledge of the workers depicted in the video material, whilst simultaneously exploring a process of construction and the constructed.Two new video sequences have been shot specifically for this presentation to further reference both the location and the build of the installation.

Since 2002, Tallentire has filmed workers within the financial district of the City of London, such as cleaners, painters and construction workers. The footage has been decelerated to draw attention to the minutiae of different ‘work’ activities transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. The beginnings of Drift came as Tallentire began to recalibrate her relationship to live performance – looking at the actions of others instead of her own. In Drift she considers the potential of gesture as an embodiment of agency, specifically in relation to the figure of the worker in public space. Tallentire examines the physicality of labour at the centre of England’s fiscal capital, where the products of human toil register simultaneously as visible and invisible, additionally abstracted into numerical expressions of ownership represented by the machinations of the financial sector. The agency of those portrayed is thrown into relief by the modernity of what geographers would call a time-space locale within the city. A site is constructed that reveals bodily comportment and gait bringing us to think about how we might occupy space differently depending on our subject position. Embedded too are references to seminal works such as Bruce Nauman’s Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square (67-68) that explored space in general by the occupation and delineation of space through performance.

Also on show is a single screen video Zero 58 (2007).The hand held camera moves in on an abandoned vehicle with red fabric woven through the wrecked van.The image seems ubiquitous, signifying a cityscape wrought with struggle. Filmed in London, the image plays with an ambivalence, as well as testifying to a chance encounter between site, artist and object – resonating with Tallentire’s itinerant modus operandi and her immersion in the materiality of things.

Anne Tallentire has shown widely nationally and internationally. She represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 1999 and most recently held a solo show This and other things IMMA, Dublin in 2010. She is currently included in At your service, art and labour, Techniches Museum, Vienna. Pervious shows include: A Pursuit of Happiness, Gallery 3, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin 2007, Arena Industriale (commission) in Storie Urbane, Palazzo Pratonieri, Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2006, Drift: diagram vii, Void, Derry, 2005, Instances, LUX, London, 1999. She is a Professor of Fine Art at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.

The exhibition is generously supported by University of the Arts, London.

Find out more

• Hollybush gardens

Over the past six months, students from Central Saint Martins’ MA Communication Design course have been part of an exciting collaboration with the World Shakespeare Festival 2012.

To Be Or Not to Be by Chris Kontogeorgos

Part of the London 2012 Festival (the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad), the festival is the biggest celebration of Shakespeare ever staged.

Students have been commissioned to ‘interpret, recode and remix’ Shakespeare, and their work features on the new digital platform, myShakespeare, alongside that of artists such as Kate Tempest, Brendan Dawes and Will Power.

Coloured Water by Konstantinos Mouzakis

Six projects have been selected to appear online and represent the impressive scope of ideas that were arrived at from one single brief. The results are diverse, visually compelling and at times beguiling: from Kate Brangan’s ‘Shakespeare by chance’, a generative design program which creates real-time visual translations of Shakespeare quotes, to Konstantinos Mouzakis’ installation ‘Coloured Water’, which uses water tanks and dyes to represent the complex network of relationships in Twelfth Night.

Talking Dots by Hanna Bischof

Sarah Ellis is the Digital Producer at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has been involved in this project since its inception. We caught up with her to find out more about the process – and the results.

How did it all start?

MyShakespeare originated from the World Shakespeare Festival. What it’s meant to do is to invite global audiences to participate and engage with the Festival, people wouldn’t be able to come to the UK and see the work that’s on here.

But also to ask the question ‘how do we interpret Shakespeare today?’ What we’re looking for is lots of different voices and people who are interested in Shakespeare and making their own work. MyShakespeare is an opportunity to share that work in a gallery space and to write articles about what you care about, on the blog space. It’s also an opportunity to comment as well, so it’s a democratic space, and the work with Central Saint Martins in particular came from a want to engage with the new generation of artists and designers and makers. To explore that question and specifically ask the question ‘so what would you do with Shakespeare today?’ And as a result, we’ve had some fantastic responses from people that may not have even read Shakespeare before. Some of the work that’s come from the students at CSM has been some of the freshest work I’ve seen in a long time, because they don’t come with any preconceived ideas. Some of them are genuinely exploring it for the first time.

Ophelia's Skull by Owen Woonyung Lee

Any favourite work?

Highlights include all the work that we’ve put on the site. What I love about it is that you get something like Ophelia’s Skull which appeals to certain audiences and then you get Talking Dots, which appeals to another strand of our audiences.

Are there any future plans for the work?

Yes, we’re going to do an exhibition. Some of the work will just work online but we’re looking to exhibit some of the work that works in a physical space at the end of July, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. I think it’s a brilliant opportunity for those artists to get a further profile of their work and also an opportunity to get a new audience for their work; and for us to get a new perspective for our core audiences.

The Systematic Crown of Cleopatra by Alma Iraldy Vivas Terrones

Might there be opportunities for other students to create work inspired by Shakespeare?

Indeed, if any other student from the University of the Arts London wants to get in touch, my details are on the site. We’d welcome and be really open to that. It’s about being diverse in your approaches and who you’re talking to. So we’re not just talking to the theatre world – we’re really expanding on that and I think we have a lot to work with there.

Anything else to add?

Just to say it’s been a really brilliant partnership and I think it’s fed both partners really well – it’s been really fruitful. I was delighted with the results and I think global audiences were in particular. If you go on to the site and see how many people have ‘liked’ some of that work, global audiences have been really inspired by that and I’m really pleased. We’ve got a series of commissioned artists who will appear throughout the festival but the Central Saint Martins commission was the first to appear on the site. They’ve set the bar really high.

See the work here.

Shakespeare by Chance by Kate Brangan

Find out more about the course at the MA Communication Design course page

We’re thrilled that our new home at King’s Cross by Stanton Williams has been voted building of the year by the Architect’s Journal

More:
- Read the Architect’s Journal page [PDF, 1.2mb]
- Visit the Award website

Check out our new film about MA Fine Art.

It’s got some great footage of the course’s recent interim show at V22 in Bermondsey, as well as interviews with students.

Find out more:
- MA Fine Art interim show
- MA Fine Art course page

Nadezhda Fedotova with her winning design

The competition is part of Swarovski’s decade-long sponsorship programme with CSM. It involved students on BA Jewellery Design working within one of four themes, Berlin, Istanbul, Fiction and Luminescence.

The panel of judges included Nadja Swarovski, jewellery designer Hannah Martin, and In Detail blogger Beanie Major who reviewed the finished work last Friday at King’s Cross.

Nadezhda Fedotova prize-winning design was inspired by ceremonial African masks and Voodoo relics. She created a multifunctional magnetic bracelet/necklace in brass and carved wood, set with Swarovski Gemstones. Second prize went to Joann Hong (Istanbul) for her feathered neckpiece, set with Swarovski Elements, which wraps around the wearer like smoke tendrils from the sweet tobacco smoked in Turkish harems. The award for Best Use of Gemstones and Best Use of Crystal went to Eleonora D’Ottavi and Esna Su respectively.

Giles Last, Senior lecturer in Jewellery at Central Saint Martins said:

“We have been delighted to work with Swarovski over the last ten years, developing an excellent example of a collaboration between Education and Industry. It is always fascinating to see how the students respond to the challenge and we look forward to continuing this productive and meaningful collaboration in the future.”

All the winning pieces are on display at Central Saint Martins until May 18.

Visit the BA Jewellery Design course page

Zuleika Penniman showcases her Berlin-inspired neckpiece

Credit: Catwalking.com

Last month students of Central Saint Martins’ MA Fashion presented their collections as part of London Fashion Week. Amongst the eclectic and exciting designs, the work of Luke Brooks stood out.

Joint winner of the L’Oréal Professionnel Creative Award 2012, Luke’s first look relayed distinctly Olympian references and so the UAL 2012 HQ team quizzed him on just how much the impending Games have inspired him…

Credit: Catwalking.com

‘I’m not really sure what to say in relation to the Olympics and what I just showed. It isn’t something I have been focusing on per se but it is looming all up in our grills here in London and I’ve been touched imaginatively by some of its tentacles, so to speak. More than the actual event, I suppose it is its epic nature and the hysteria that often goes with epic things that I have responded to there with that first look. Looking back I see that the ultra-graphic nature of all things Olympic related must have played a part, as it renders the competition easy to make reference to. The imagery, the colours alone, are ingrained, evocative and therefore pretty powerful. The Olympic dream however, is only one current of discussion that has been affecting me recently. So have all the manifestations of apocalyptic or mega-change stories surrounding the year 2012. They are exciting. As is talk of extraterrestrial life. For example, I thought for a few minutes recently about what kind of display (fashion and otherwise) we’d put on if we knew aliens from some neigbouring planet were coming down for a chat, a variety show and a cup of sugar. That scenario in my mind would probably involve romantic united-folk-of-earth head-gear. But maybe they’d relate more to our work-a-day clothes as some of them are said to be grey all over anyway. They might take umbrage at some of our ritzier styles and zap us. It could be best to play it cool in Calvin Klein and loincloths. Who knows?

Credit: Catwalking.com

On a practical level, that Olympic look came about quickly and without preparation. I had already made the body covering element a couple of months before and then it occurred to me that the colours of the rings sort of went with it. I am always pondering ideas of Gods and halos and related stuff, and the Ancient Greek/Olympic vibe connects with all that to me. I also saw that my rings were a bit like dream catchers, which felt poignant; having five catchers on one’s head. Like the title of that basketball film ‘Hoop Dreams’. By happenstance I already had the right yarn colours and wire and kit. If I hadn’t it probably wouldn’t have transpired, because I was working fast and kind of impatiently. I was in reveller mode that day and I couldn’t wait to get to the party.

Credit: Catwalking.com

But all said and done, that first look is a potential solution to the pressing problem of what we will be wearing when we toddle, bound or rollerblade down to Stratford in the summer or to any of the associated knees-ups.’

Credit: Catwalking.com

Find out more:
- UAL 2012 blog
- MA Fashion course page

The MA Art and Science interim show “Experiments” opens on Wednesday 23 May 2012

Celebrating the first year of the MA Art and Science course at Central Saint Martins, ‘Experiments’ showcases research spanning astrometry to autism, dying languages to fractal geometry. Diverse artworks including digital animation, drawing, video, 3D construction, optics, site specific, painting, performance and installation are presented.

Dates: 23-25 May 2012
Times: 10am – 5pm
Location: Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, Byam Shaw Building, 2 Elthorne Road, London, N19 4AG
Tube: Archway

Private view: Wednesday 23 May 2012, 5pm-8pm

Works by:

Agnieska Tamiola
Anita Chowdry
Christiana Kazakou
Ellie Fawcett
Freyja Dean
Lauren Franklin
Liz Hainsworth
Louise Beer
Luke Franklin
Marta Santuccio
Mehri Imani
Melanie Kathryn King
Mona Choo
Myrianthe G. Sozou
Nedyalka Panova
Rafaela Miranda Rocha
Rebecca Lyddon
Rose Alys Pickles
Serena Porrati
Xiuyu Qiu

Find out more:
- MA Art and Science course page

Sensing Obscurity (I, II, III) is a project by Erika Tan that questions ‘what happens to symbols of cultural dominance when the world order shifts?’

The project seeks a post-colonial reclamation to the possibility of telling stories through the use of a multiplicity of narrative devices. The premise is that it is in the way that histories/stories are told that produces and re-produces untold stories, narratives and events. Set in Saltram House, an English Manor House (now National Trust property), the film takes place ‘some point in the not so distant future’, at a moment in time when Chinas ascendance as a global power has given rise to an opportunity to re-visit history differently. Using a mixture of documentary and narrative film tropes, the cut and paste aesthetics of hip-hop and chinoiserie; Saltram House, history as we know it under-goes a slippery transition in an attempt to remain relevant and shore-up its status as cultural capital. References to past events, unfolding archaeologies, recurring cinematic specters (Ang Lee’s Sense & Sensibility was filmed here in 1995) and the re-enactments and enactment of relational positionings.

Sensing Obscurity (I, II, III) is a work in three parts. A 2-channel installation, which is located entirely within the hermetically ‘sealed’ interior of Saltram house. The second, a spatio-temporally deferred work disseminated through a form of digital bootlegging; and the final work which explores the format of citation, reproduction, mimicry, piracy and uses the motif of spinning encountered within each work to contemplate the continuities of history and the impossibilities of dis-entanglement.

Works:

Sensing Obscurity I: The Manor House; English Literature; artefacts and the performativity of objects; contrapuntal readings; and looking inwards backwards. Duration: 28.31min. Medium: 2-channel HDV projection, 4 track audio, looped

Sensing Obscurity II: The Chinese Chippendales. Duration: 1.30min. Medium: streamed video with bootleg DVD http://thechinesechippendales.blogspot.co.uk

Sensing Obscurity III: “After” Chinoiserie. Duration: 5.40min. Medium: single channel HDV. A collaborative work with Neil Rose.

The work will be shown for the next 12 weeks in Plymouth as part of Sinopticon.

Find out more:

• http://www.sinopticon.org/exhibitions/

Cinzia Ruggeri, Homage to Lévi-Strauss dress, Autumn/Winter 1983-4 * V&A Images

Curating Postmodernism is the first Ideas in Progress seminar from the Fashion History and Theory Research Group at Central Saint Martins. It was held at Kings Cross on the 16th May 2012.

In this seminar Dr Glenn Adamson, co-curator of the recent V&A exhibition ‘Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 to 1990′, discussed the central place of stylisation in the history and theory of postmodern design. He described the process by which the show was put together, including collaboration with external designers, and his experiences working with living artists, architects and designers to reconstruct narratives of the 1970s and ’80s.

Dr. Adamson is Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Adamson is co-editor of the triannual Journal of Modern Craft, and the author of Thinking Through Craft (Berg Publishers/V&A Publications), an anthology entitled The Craft Reader (Berg, 2010), and the forthcoming book The Invention of Craft (Berg, 2012). His other publications include the co-edited volume Global Design History (Routledge, 2011). Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 to 1990 was on view at the V&A from September 2011 to January 2012 and is now touring in Europe.