Thursday, December 11, 2008

Staff Research Seminar

Jamie Dobson, Course Leader, Graphic Communication and Andrea Gregson, Senior Lecturer Fine Art. spoke about their practice based research.
Jamie spoke of his work with light, engineering and photography. Although he said that there can be a taint to commercial success I was extremely impressed to find that his Robot Trace (left) had been bought by Adobe and reinvented as the Trefoil logo on the Acrobat packaging.
The pieces that I found most interesting were those formed by three lengths of illuminated electroluminescent wire spinning, at varying speeds, from a central point. The idea is a simple one but the effects are myriad and the photographs that record the work are superb.(Below)

















Andrea Gregson spoke of her residency at the Garden Museum (formerly the Museum of Garden History) and her 'Peepshow Boxes'. The idea of peeping into hidden worlds has an element of voyeurism about it but we all love being let in on a secret. 'A World Within' (above and below) reminds me of a rough packing case from the outside but the inside is covered with soft buttoned padding which could be interpreted as luxurious upholstery or as the inside of a padded cell from a lunatic asylum. The contents of this piece resemble pieces of fine white broken porcelain the texture of which contrasts wonderfully with the padding and rough timber.
The piece in the garden cemetery (left) fascinated me as the broken ceramics stacked on the internal shelves reminded me of the way bones are stacked in charnel houses when, like the broken ceramics, they are no longer fit for their original purpose. There was also an element of 'grave goods' about the idea of objects inside a wooden box in a grave yard.