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Category: Student work

Joan Snyder: Body & Soul at Thaddaeus Ropac

Published March 4, 2025

The following review was first published by CAPetc… Year 1 student Beth Cockerline on her personal blog on 15th February 2025. We are delighted to re publish the post on the CAPetc… website.

Joan Snyder, exhibits her first retrospective in the UK with Theddeus Ropac. Covering Snyder’s 60 year career, a vicissitude of work explores abstract expressionism with a unique and spirited amalgamation of the autobiographical.

Fresh Flock Painting with Strokes and Stripes 1969

Facing the sweeping staircase, of the floodlit gallery, I was instantly drawn in by the light and ephemeral abstraction of Fresh Flock Painting with Strokes and Stripes 1969. On first appearance a delicate depiction of the female figure, Snyder’s joy of the flesh is palpable in a subtle blending of the paint to create form and structure. The flame hot pink of a wound reminds us of the vulnerability of the body and as the eye travels down the composition the hourglass figure appears emptied out: sharing every trauma and horror on the canvas. The flocking, a tactile, oozing wound or growth? A pulsating organ? A centrepiece reaching out to us from the violet blue background which floats the body in space celebrating all the agonies and beauty of the flesh.

Flanking this piece are two similarly sensitive works, recalling Frankenthalerian soak-staining (Veiled Strokes 1969) and an exciting, but economical use of impasto against glowing areas of pastel. Despite invoking elements of colour field from the likes of Rothko, Snyder highlights the singularity of her work in the intertwining of the autobiographical in her work: “It’s an undecipherable abstract language. It’s my language that is speaking and my soul that is being bared. It is my pleasure and pain…”

A Letter to My Female Friends, 1972, and other work of this period speak in a very distinctive language of truncated, heavy marks, cut off before they’ve had the chance to convey their full story; a stumble of stuttered utterances recounting an incomprehensible tale. In other works, Wild Strokes, Hope 1971, given more room to breathe and converse, the marks tell a more intriguing story: a marbled universe of dark blue enrobed in wax; a diversity of tone; a stain here, a splatter there; a lightness of pigment lifting the darker tones.

Summer Painter 1994

When Snyder experiments with more representational imagery, the work wanes. In, To Transcend/ The Moon 1985 fat glutenous ripples of pure black, white and peacock blue suffocate one half of the canvas while incongruous sweeps of astral gold and vertical graphic slices of cracked, deep purple, blue and green eclipse the other half.

However, exploring her later work Snyder returns to abstraction and a playfulness which is both joyful and experimental. It’s hard not to grin at the space age knobs and naivety of Summer Painter 1994 and in other works, Theddeus Ropac’s use of the architectural features, fully embrace and highlight the nuance of Snyder’s work.

An artwork by Joan Snyder displayed on a wall in an elegant gallery setting, featuring textured and colorful elements arranged in a wavy rectangular shape.

The final room of the exhibition, and presentation of Snyder’s most recent work, is crammed with joyful abandon- a celebration of nature, experience and life! The recurring motif of the organic ‘pond’ is a dark abyss (Roses for Souls), a portal into another realm and a mystical lagoon luring unsuspecting viewers to a world inhabiting sirens (Come to the Pearl Pond). The energy and confidence of Snyder’s work is palpable and the use of collaged, 3D elements speaks to her earlier sculptural work. While the work can drift into the quaint and sentimental at times, it bounces back with gusto in Man Leaping- a rapturous and flamboyant triumph of freedom.

Body and Soul is an exquisite journey through Snyder’s oeuvre highlighting an energy and passion for the materiality and infinite possibilities of paint that is unequivocal.

“For Reasons Unknown to Me”

Published January 31, 2015

The images below are from the opening of “For Reasons Unknown to Me” a group exhibition at Edinburgh’s Whitespace Gallery that featured new paintings by Beth Carey of CAP1 and sculpture & performance video by ex Foundation student Michael Kay.

Changes: Settlement Projects

Published November 27, 2014

In yet another foray into the community CAP2 recently embarked on a project in collaboration  with the Settlement Projects community shop in Leith Walk. Participants in the project were tasked with selecting an object or objects from the shop and through a process of research and development effect a change in relation to their chosen object.

The intention of the project was to bring a new, alternate or enhanced understanding to the selected object. The change could be physical, conceptual or contextual.

At the end of the project the transformed objects were represented in an exhibition organized by the participants.

We would like to thank the Settlement Projects Shop for their assistance, patience and continued support for the Change Project and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

The Edinburgh Settlement is a multipurpose organization with a rich history spanning more than 100 years of active local involvement. They are part of the international settlement movement; a global network of social action centres which aim to work closely with communities, representing and responding to their different needs and aspirations to promote social and environmental welfare and help bring about effective and lasting community development.

Find out more: https://www.facebook.com/settlementprojectsedinburgh/info?tab=page_info

CAP1 ESW Residency

Published November 24, 2014

A few weeks ago it was the turn of CAP1 to take up residence at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. Although an annual event for 7 years this was only our 3rd year in the new Bill Scott Sculpture Centre as part of our formal partnership with ESW. Since the new premises opened in June 2012 ESW and the college have had a formal partnership which has ESW designated as an Edinburgh College Employability Centre. The partnership allows students to undertake their Introduction to Sculpture course in a purpose built professional studio & workshop environment for the research, development and production of sculptural practice.

As well as the formal sculptural practice developed during the residency a number of Professional Practice events took place including wood workshop induction and a talk by ESW Curator of Research Dan Brown who spoke to the residency participants about the facilities, history & philosophy of ESW as well as the education, exhibition and residency programmes. Other events included a studio visit with studio holder Kate Ive and a talk by RSA/ESW International Residency winner Norbert Delman whose exhibition Sweat / Suffer / Success was open in the gallery space. All the talks took place in the new multi function research space at ESW which is flexile enough to have round table talks and discussions as well as presentations. Having access to the space and resources meant we were able to have our annual Moving Image event curated by #exCAPer and regular guest lecturer Benjamin Fallon which was held over two evenings at ESW.

Next May we will return to ESW with CAP2 for their Diploma Exhibition by which time the second phase of the multi £million capital project ‘Creative Laboratories’ will have been open for 6 months and we are looking forward to spending a week working and exhibiting in the new spaces.

Click on the links below to see  blog posts by CAP1 ESW Residents:

Szabolcs Fricska:  http://sfricskacap.tumblr.com/post/101630305745/the-week-that-we-spent-at-the-edinburgh-sculpture

Yulia Vitten: http://iuliiavittencap.tumblr.com/post/101836631621/my-final-sculpture-from-the-week-at-esw-and-small

Magdealen Gunkowska: http://mgunkowskacap.tumblr.com/post/101166933302/my-experiments-with-plaster-and-construction

http://mgunkowskacap.tumblr.com/post/101171457022

Elena Cheltsova: http://echeltsovacap.tumblr.com/post/101429925954/esw-day-3-modelling-with-plaster-thought-of

Freya Taylor: http://freyataylorcap.tumblr.com/post/100831352454/collaborative-installation-lots-of-fun-i-was

Bothy Residency at SNGMA

Published November 16, 2014

In late September #CAPetcY2 undertook a 5 day residency in the Pig Rock Bothy at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Located within the grounds of the gallery Pig Rock Bothy is the 3rd of 3 residency spaces developed and produced as part of the ongoing Bothy Project. Having the opportunity to develop and produce work in such a prestigious location was daunting for all of us but despite what felt like significant pressure to make productive use of the space a decision was made to take creative risks and adopt a fluid and responsive approach to the residency.

A loose skeletal plan was developed by staff for each of the 5 days with each day beginning and ending with a group discussion around the table in the bothy. This allowed for the days activities to be developed collaboratively and for reflection of the days events. It was quickly established that the source for the weeks work would be the location, context and content of the gallery. The resources provided were purposely limited and basic in order to reflect the residency experience the bothy will offer when relocated thus stretching the participants to produce innovative and creative responses. Throughout the week a variety of group and individual responses were made to exhibits in the gallery including, sculpture, drawing, photographs, creative writing, installation and performance.

On day 5 the residency culminated with a full day of installations, performances and presentations developed over the week all of which were open to the public. The particular highlight for all the participants was the performances made in response to the works in the galleries by Charles Avery, Graham Fagen, Roderick Buchanan, Lucy McKenzie and Ross Sinclair which were performed live in an around the works often to the delighted surprise of the public who believing they were in a particularly busy room of fellow contemporary art enthusiasts found themselves in the middle of a live performances examining the nature of art and our relationships with it.

The entire week was thoroughly documented, some of which is shown on this post but much, much more including sound recordings and video documentation can be found on the tumblr blog created by the CAP2: http://etccapbothy.tumblr.com

We would like to thank the Scottish National Galleries, The Bothy Project and in particular Julie-Ann Delaney Curator at SNGMA for supporting and facilitating the project.

Surveillance Gallery at NEA

Published November 15, 2014

Film by Electric Lime Productions

The Surveillance Gallery is a project conceived and developed by local artist, film maker and #CAPetc graduate, Bob Winton in collaboration with North Edinburgh Art Centre.  Just a few hundred yards from us at Edinburgh College the gallery project provides an exciting new public exhibition space the heart of the Muirhouse community of North Edinburgh. Nestling neatly in the public walkthrough space between the Pennywell shopping arcade and North Edinburgh Arts Centre Surveillance Gallery launched with an exhibition featuring a range of work from artists at varying stages of their careers including Erin Colquhoun, Mariola Albinowska & Georgia Thornton all #CAPers past and present.

All the works were pasted or painted  directly onto the exterior walls of both the Art an shopping centres enlivening an otherwise blank seldom considered space with a variety of 2D artworks. In mid september we took a walk round the gallery with Bob and Kate Wimpress, Director of North Edinburgh Art Centre, both of whom gave really informative and enthusiastic talks about the centre and the Surveillance Gallery project.

The Surveillance Gallery is an ongoing and we are really delighted to have been asked to continue with out participation and support for the project.

Skinny Review CAP @ESW

Published November 9, 2014
Jay Easton ESW
Extract from FEATURE BY ROSAMUND WEST.
PUBLISHED 04 JULY 2014

“The Contemporary Art Practice course has a fine art focus, offering students the environment to experiment, to investigate processes and challenge themselves. Says lecturer Alan Holligan, “We offer a very broad range of contemporary practices so people can specialise in sculpture, 2D practices, 3D practices or mixed practice. Usually they make decisions based on the courses they specifically want to go to, wherever that might be. They’re encouraged to work into areas that we as lecturers don’t necessarily have expertise in. I think in some courses they’re supposed to stay within the knowledge of their lecturer, which is why there’s often an emphasis on painting, an emphasis on sculpture, whereas we’re very clear that the students’ ambition shouldn’t be set by our skillset. They need to outreach that and often we have to keep up with them, which is good for everybody concerned.”

This year’s class first exhibited in the working professional environment that is the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, before transferring a pared-down version of the show to Summerhall. They’re a mixed bunch, exploring a wide variety of disciplines with varying degrees of success. Still at an experimental stage in their practice, this is to be expected. However, some students display a striking level of ambition, notably Jay Easton, who delves into the realms of technology to present work which aims to pose challenging questions. In ESW, two iPhones communicate with one another, displaying the mundane chatter between a couple. With the human protagonists removed from the equation, the relationship is reduced to two screens interacting eerily.

In Summerhall, Easton displays two QR codes, one on a slate (redolent of history, sculpture, early man) and one on a box afixed to the wall. A hasty download of a QR scanner (the technology seems a bit retro already, ironically) reveals the works to link to texts on his blog meditating on the dangers of an unconsidered embrace of technology, and the parallels of Pandora’s box, respectively.

He’s now off to GSA to delve further into his research. Like many in the Let’s Glow showcase, Easton is at an interesting point in his development. The bright prospects each has before them suggests this will not be the last we hear of them.”

Read the full article here: http://www.theskinny.co.uk/art/features/308272-edinburgh_college_lets_glow

Anjila’s Glasses: 2014 Diploma Show ESW

Published November 9, 2014

It has been a while but finally we’re getting round to some blog updates. Although there have been a few updates over and since the summer there are a few gaps that need filling so we’ll start with some images from the 2014 Diploma Exhibition Anjila’s Glasses which took place at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in late May. The exhibition was fantastic of course and extremely well attended on the opening night and the following days is was open to the public. This year the exhibition was shorter than usual, open only 2 days for public viewing but that was due to the need to relocate much of the work to Summerhall as the students were taking part in the general Edinburgh College Creative Industries HND Diploma Exhibition at the city centre arts venue.

A week into the Summerhall show an additional room became available which allowed our CAP1 colleagues to show a work each from their recent projects and you can see them installing in their work in the image below.

CAP1 Summerhall

You can see more of the CAP end of year exhibitions and the openings in this slide show:

LOCAL: An exhibition by HND Contemporary Art Practice students

Published February 18, 2013

LOCAL: Heather Lane & James Howden LOCAL 7

Local is an exhibition by HND Contemporary Art Practice (CAP) students from the Granton Campus of the Edinburgh College. The artworks that can be seen in the exhibition at North Edinburgh Arts until February the 23rd are the culmination of a project which was instigated in September 2012 by ourselves, Alan Holligan & Jennie Temple, course lecturers on HND CAP, with priceless support from Lynn McCabe and the North Edinburgh Social History Group.

The Contemporary Art Practice course has been running very successfully since 2007. The course provides a range of excellent opportunities for students to develop a broad understanding of artistic practice.  Alan and I had for some time been discussing how to develop a strong working connection between the CAP Course, the local community and surrounding areas of North Edinburgh. Beyond the college location, and the students who came to us who lived locally, we recognised that although we were part of a Community College (then Edinburgh’s Telford College: a stalwart of North Edinburgh for many years) we felt professional connection to our immediate surroundings could be stronger. We acknowledged that we bussed in and out of work every day, passing through the community in which our workplace was rooted, and also acknowledged that this was something we did not feel entirely comfortable about. As a result we started to discuss the possibility of a project for our HND 2nd year students that we hoped would, at the very least, begin a dialogue with some our neighbours.

We initially approached a couple of local groups to see if they would be interested in meeting with us, and subsequently our students. We couldn’t have anticipated the warmth with which we were greeted and quite quickly we were able to establish links and visits with (the amazing) North Edinburgh Social History Group and North Edinburgh Arts (with whom we already had some links). These visits were incredibly informative and allowed us to immediately understand the local area more fully, and in a way that we had never before: An area steeped in history; an area that had once been rich farmland; an area that had been home to a post-war camp; an area that the Duke of Buccleuch had happily called home, and much, much more. The students were instantly engaged and brought a range of rich contributions to the discussions: amongst the group of 11 students the majority was similar to us; they did not know the area very well. However, there is one current student (and we have had several prior) who grew up in the area and who has been able to give a very subjective insight into his relationship with North Edinburgh, alongside a few other students with friends and relatives in the area.

After these initial meetings and an amazing guided mini-bus tour of the area, generously facilitated by members of the Social History Group, we set the students the project. They were to spend two weeks responding to the local area and draw on the information that they had received from the experts. We would then present the resulting artworks to the Social History Group at the College.

At this point, we were all very excited, but could not have anticipated just how successful and stimulating the project would be. The students worked exceptionally hard from the moment the project started and responded in meaningful, thoughtful and sensitive ways. In retrospect, we realised that the students’ sense of responsibility to the Social History Group and the residents of North Edinburgh meant that they approached the project with a strong sense of integrity and a determination to make artworks that did not patronise or misrepresent the (sometimes sensitive and personal) issues that had been discussed within the meetings. The provision of a very unambiguous context for the artwork allowed the students to work in a way that was fundamentally different to normal project work: they had an audience that they did not know very well, and they were making work which they would themselves present to their audience.

As the initial stage of the project drew to a conclusion, we arranged a date for some members of the Social History Group to come and lunch with us and to view the works. The students were understandably nervous and worried: What if they didn’t like what we had done? Quickly it became clear that there was no need for nerves and all of the artworks were exceptionally well received and prompted lively, important and some emotional discussion amongst everyone present. The success and positive reception of the artworks went far, far beyond our expectations and we all knew immediately that we had to take the project to its next logical step: to exhibit the works, beyond the walls of the college and within the local community. And that is where we are now. The exhibition is an exciting opportunity for the staff and students to continue to engage with our local area and we are privileged to be taking part in what we hope to be the first stage of a long and prosperous collaboration between the students and staff of the HND Contemporary Art Practice course and the local residents and communities of North Edinburgh.

Jennie Temple.

The exhibition will run until the 23rd of February at North Edinburgh Arts, Tuesday-Friday 10am-8pm Sat 10am – 1pm, with a day of discussion and art-workshops to take place on Wednesday the 20th February from 10am until 3pm. Places are free but limited and booking is essential. Please book a place by emailing admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk or call 0131 315 2515

Recruitment is currently taking place for HND Contemporary Art Practice Course at the Edinburgh College, Granton Campus. If you are interested please visit the College website for further information and online application.

www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk

North Edinburgh News Article 1

Malcolm Chisholm MSP opens LOCAL Exhibition

Modern Edinburgh Film School & HND Contemporary Art Practice Link up

Published February 15, 2013

Guest blogger Alex Hetherington presents: Modern Edinburgh Film School

Alex Hetherington Modern 1    Alex Hetherington Modern 5    Alex Hetherington Modern 3    Alex Hetherington Modern 4

Images Courtesy of Alex Hetherington: Modern Edinburgh Film School

Modern Edinburgh Film School – a temporary participatory film school, combining themes of the sculptural screen, film and poetry, narrative and space, event as image, and acoustics and noise as form – is curated by the visual artist Alex Hetherington in association with Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.

It acts as a kind of prism, reflecting, connected and transparent surfaces – where one thing can be seen through another – on the activities, functions and architecture of the Sculpture Workshop’s

new building and outward to contexts, processes and activities externally, as satellite disparate engagements. It is informed by propositions and practices by a range of national and international artists demonstrating concerns between improvisational, meticulous and sensitively drawn associations in poetry, film, moving image, space and sculpture. It hopes to work as a season of projects, appearing and disappearing, being seen discreetly, at spaces and venues across the city in 2013.

Its propositions, which are elusive and allusive include a series of essays, of indicators of historical and contemporary activity, a slight curriculum: Edgar Schmitz, Anne Colvin, AA Bronson, Tom Marioni, Trisha Donnelly, Samantha Donnelly, Rachel Harrison, Martin Kippenberger, Harry Everett Smith, Marcel Broodthaers & Aurélien Froment and traits found in contributors, influencers and cameos such as Stephen Sutcliffe, Anthony Schrag, Anne Colvin, Lyndsay Mann, Hazel France, Sarah Forrest, Ute Aurand, Sarah Neely, Lauren Gault, Debi Banerjee, Benjamin Fallon, Zoë Fothergill,  Raydale Dower, and others.

The project, meanwhile is informed by the free school, and alternative learning approaches, inhabiting an arc of combined themes of the sculptural screen, film and poetry, narrative and space, event as image, and acoustics and noise as form. Education here becomes an obstacle, articulating thoughts on commitment, graduation, qualification and drifting attention, and the possibilities of promiscuous coincidences, synchronicity.  Meanwhile it contains two considerations of time, Modern and School, and the meanings of those in abrasion to a city with faint film vocabularies, traditions, establishment and authority and museums. In turn it contains thoughts on exhibitions, fictions and contrivances: outputs, alongside the essays are, transparent letter texts on black glass (solid film credits), zines and print, and a series of events and talks: Green Screen, Group Show, A Party for Young Artists, Edinburgh Homosexual, The Hand that Holds The Desert Down, A Library.

From the outset the School sought practitioners from different stages of their careers, including students in formal education, as well as those working at a professional level in contemporary art. After an open discussion on the work, and its ambitions, at Contemporary Art Practice at Edinburgh College and an open call, that followed  the conventions of applying for work in that professional setting: 4 images, statement and moving image samples,  two practitioners were identified to become part of the project, to attend works, and respond finally with a time-based submission for a portmanteau film for a screening at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop’s appearance at the Edinburgh Art Festival in August 2013.

All the applicants in this process responded to different aspects of the shaping of Modern Edinburgh Film School, some revealing questions on the political status of such an undertaking, others looking at the subject of the poetic and the sublime, how literature and words give potent expression to filmmaking, how the digital might inform the sculptural.

The two successful candidates are Shareen Sorour and Kaitlyn Walker-Stewart whose applications both alluded to the symmetries, echoes and architectures of film, poetry and sculpture, while containing experimental and diverse approaches to the screen, the performative, time, the object, surface and representation. While still very early stage visual art practitioners their portfolios contain intriguing enquiries.

Shareen Sarour- Inside - Outside     Kaitlyn Walker-Stewart

Sharren Sarour: Outside: Inside; Still from Video.                 Kaitlyn Walker-Stewart: Barriers; Still from video

Modern Edinburgh Film School commences 15 March with a screening at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and a group show, Green Screen, co-curated with Embassy, followed there by performances and talks during March, and later a discussion on this collaboration at Edinburgh College of Art.

I would like to thank Alan Holligan, Jennie Temple and Colette Woods at Edinburgh College for their continued generous support of my practice in general and the work to be carried out for Modern Edinburgh Film School in particular.

Alex Hetherington, Edinburgh, February 2013.

CAP @ Edinburgh College Review of 2012:

Published January 11, 2013

There is little doubt that 2012 was among the most eventful years for us at #cap_etc. Multiple highs have been followed by occasional but necessary lows, necessary in so much that they help us recognize and appreciate the highs.

Paul Diamond Installation copy
Here There; Exhibition by AIRetc… Paul Diamond at ESW. Click on Image for more details

In January the year began with the mixed emotions due to the departure after an extremely successful 4 months of Artist in Residence Paul Diamond who ended his time with us with a fantastic site specific project with students and an excellent exhibition of work developed and produced during the residency at Telford college. The exhibition at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop was very well received. Since completing the residency Paul has gone on to even better things but more of that later.

As January turned over to February the devastating news of Mike Kelleys untimely departure filtered through the studios promoting gasps of disbelief and sadness, we had so enjoyed his exhibition at Baltic during a field trip just a few months before. CAP student Charlie Wilkie-Sullivan who  was a particular admirer of Kelleys work wrote a piece for this blog in response to the news. http://contemporaryartetc.com/?s=mike+kelley

Spirits were soon lifted however with the arrival of our next AIR resident Natalie Wilson who began her occupation of ‘the studio next door’.

Natalie Wilson
AIRetc… Natalie Wilson Setting in to studio. Click on Image for more details.

Natalie’s impact was immediate as she struck up conversations with students and staff, always inquisitive and helpful Natalie had a significant impact on the

course sharing her enthusiasm, knowledge and occasional frustration for all things digital.

Spring saw us embark on the annual CAP trip to a foreign city beginning with the letter B. So far we have only managed Berlin and Basel and until Berlin stops being; the centre off the european if not world contemporary art scene, almost, unbearably cool and wonderfully inexpensive it is doubtful we will revisit Basel or see Budapest, Barcelona, Boston, or Bogota  any time soon. Highlights of the trip included, finally getting more than one member of the CAP team on the trip and once again the Boros Bunker.

Natalie Doyle copy
Diploma Exhibition: Image by and of Natalie Doyle.

Spring is always a tense time in the studios as both years are working on their Graded Units and expectant applicants are hammering away at the refresh button on the UCAS website as news of interviews and offers start to permeate the building. The stress although unavoidable, was misplaced however as 2012 will go down in the CAP history books as the most successful year ever as 100% of those applying got an unconditional offer for 1 of their top 2 choices. All applicants got places on degree courses in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Dundee. 1 applicant who already had a degree in a non art related subject was offered and is doing very well on a combined master course in Art & Philosophy in Dundee.

As the tension of anticipated futures subsided thoughts turned to the end of year exhibition. Unfortunately due to the transition between the old and new buildings it wasn’t possible to hold the CAP2 Diploma Show at our usual venue of the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. Instead the show opened at the Old Ambulance Depot in late May to excellent reviews and record attendances.

Natalie Extract
Natalie Wilson: Installation View of ‘Extract at ESW. Click on Image for more details.

The OA Depot is a great venue that has some really strong shows throughout the year, is affordable, well supported and we would certainly recommend to anyone looking for a mid sized exhibition space in the city.

Soon after the show however the disappointment that we couldn’t exhibit in what had become something of a spiritual second home faded as staff and studio reps were invited to the opening of the brand new Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and it was announced that after a 7 year informal partnership with the CAP course at Edinburgh’s Telford College the 2 organisations had signed a formal partnership agreement which would establish ESW as an Employability Centre for CAP students studying at Edinburgh College guaranteeing students full professional membership, supported access to the workshops facilities, exhibition and professional practice workshops and opportunities. This milestone deal with the course will last for 10 years! Not a bad way to end the 2011/12 academic session!

More good news followed as we attended the fantastic degree shows of many former CAPers throughout June.

ESW Growth Project
CAP1 Growth Project Collaborative Construction & Exhibition at ESW . Click on Image for more Info

In July and August things took a slower pace but soon picked up again with the influx of a new CAP1 group who were madesuitably welcome by the CAP2 devised and executed induction week project! Billed as a tea party it turned into a something more akin to riot in a charity shop! Excellent!

It wasnt long before we were taking advantage of our new parnership with ESW as AIRetc… Natalie Wilson exhibited the work she had developed and produced during her residency with us. The show, only the second ever in the ESW Eduardo Paolozzi Project Space was beautiful and articulate. A very fitting outcome to very successful residency.

Talking of fitting outcomes, I did say we would come back to our previous AIRetc… Artist, Paul Diamond, who started work as the Graduate Studio Assistant at the University of Edinburgh’s world renowned School of Architecture in October.

Gregor Morrison; Development Detail
Gregor Morrison; Development Detail. Click on Image for more Info.

October was also the month in which CAP1 started their 7 week project at ESW. After 7 years of working with successive CAP1 groups in the old ESW building, which wasnot without its charms, you can be assure it was an absolute pleasure to be in a building with floods of natural light and heating. The outcomes which were exhibited in a staff student collaborative exhibition and review by 2 of the CAP1 participants can be found in the post immediately below this one or by clicking HERE

The third and final AIRetc… Participant for 2012 Gregor Morrison arrived at the the start of October and has been vigorously carving, drawing and printing away in the studio next door ever since. His energy and enthusiasm for printmaking with the the FAD12 students has been infectious providing group and 1-1 support to a range of students. We hope to have news of an exhibition of Gregor’s work very soon.

If anyone is wondering why no mention has been made of the momentus October 1st event that was the merger of the 3 colleges into the newly formed Edinburgh College.

North Edinburgh History Group and CAP2 discussing the work produced for LOCAL
North Edinburgh History Group and CAP2 discussing the work produced for LOCAL. Click on Image for more info.

The truth is that other than the momentary consideration being given changing the name from CAPetc to CAPec the truth is that so far at least the course has been unaffected. Whether that remains the case or not, remains to be seen.

The final months of the the year were packed full of activity in and out of the studio particularly particularly for the CAP2 students who participated in an new LOCAL

project. The premise of the project was to engage with the Political, social and geographical history of the area local to the Granton Campus of the college and to produce artwork in response to the engagement and subsequent research. The, ongoing project involved meetings and presentations for and by the North Edinburgh Local History Group at the North Edinburgh Art centre in Muirhouse. News on the next phase of the LOCAL project will be announced very soon!

Rachael, Kirsty & Rhona at the opening of their exhibition 'Crit'. Click on the image for more info!
Rachael, Kirsty & Rhona at the opening of their exhibition ‘Crit’. Click on the image for more info!

Not satisfied with the with the already significant demands of Year 2 of the course the CAP2 group took it upon themselves to initiate an exhibition of their work entirely unsupported by the college or the staff. Having been inspired by the previous CAP2 group who graduated in June the show, entitled ‘Crit’, took place once again at the Old Ambulance Depot. The show was a genuine triumph and testimony to the groups talents and ambition.

So, thats about it really in terms of the high points of the 2012, there have been many,  indeed the only thing missing has been a wedding! Perhaps this year…………?

Alan Holligan, Edinburgh, Jan 2013

LOCAL: New art / community project launched in North Edinburgh

Published October 26, 2012

NESHG & CAP_ETC first meeting at North Edinburgh Arts

LOCAL is a recently launched ongoing collaborative  project which seeks to establish community links between Contemporary Art students and staff from  Edinburgh College (Granton) and the local communities of North Edinburgh. The project was launched at North Edinburgh Art Centre in September when we met with the North Edinburgh Social History Group (NESHG). The group and local  Community Learning and Development worker Lynn McCabe, gave a fantastic presentation about the ares surrounding the Granton Campus from its time as land of gentry as part of  the Duke Buccleuch Estate, through the industrialisation of the forth ports, the relocation of the Leith Street slums through to the rent strikes and activism of the last 40 years. After a lively Q&A session which spilled over into lunchtime the group brought the history to life during a bus tour of the local area.

At the end of the tour students were given the task of developing artwork/s in response to the presentation the tour and their discussions.

This week the group; Roberta Blaikie, Brian Eddington, Anna Hutchison, Ian Moore, Brian Robertson and Lynn McCabe joined us at the Granton Campus for lunch followed by a presentation of the work the students had produced. The response from the group was overwhelmingly positive and the discussions were fantastic. Speaking on behalf of the group Lynn said;

“We were all blown away by the creativeness of the students work and the relevance of their art  to many of the issues which North Edinburgh has experienced over many years.  It was a really inspiring afternoon and great to see such a positive relationship flourish between the college and  the community”.

Everyone at ContemporaryArtETC is equally delighted with how the project is developing;

“The students have responded extremely well to the brief and we are very happy that everyone has resoponded so well to the project. This is only the first part of what we all hope will be a long, strong and creative relationship”. Alan Holligan Lecturer at ContemporaryArtETC

Images from the initial meeting and the presentation by the students are viewable below. LOCAL will continue and we hope the next stage will involve a public presentation of the work and workshops within the community.

[slideshow]

AH

HN Diploma Annual Exhibition

Published May 23, 2012

This years Final Year HN Diploma Exhibition ‘A Motley Assortment of Things’ opens tonight at the Old Ambulance Depot 6pm – 8pm.

As always the show features a wide variety of artistic practice and concerns including ‘Raunch Culture’, social housing and environmental issues.

The show is open daily between 10am – 5pm until Sunday 27th May.

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Lectures and Chats with Benjamin Fallon: By Claire Briegel & Kirsty Leonard

Published February 17, 2012

CAP students have had the chance to spend a day with Benjamin Fallon who led us on an excellent curatorial tour of artist moving image work from very early movements to contemporary interventions in digital time-based practice. The first half of the day provided an excellent overview (could have lasted a week if we had had Ben with us for long enough) of video work, situated in its historical and cultural context. We watched snippets of a wide range of video from the anxiety-inducing repetition and conceptual minimalism of Bruce Nauman’s Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square to the sensual aesthetics of Pipilotti Rist’s work and Bill Viola’s ‘high definition’ video interventions, exploring juxtaposed celebratory / dystopian visions of past / future realities.

The second half of the day led us towards a set of video works influenced by Ben’s curatorial practice featuring work responding to network culture and digital interaction, exploring ways in which the contemporary artist re-appropriates new spaces of culture brought about by the virtual and digital world, regaining agency with which to speak about the new subjectivities emerging within it. More information available here: http://curatorial.theopenseas.org/

This latter part of the day also included works by CAP’s very own Alan Holligan from Ben’s curatorial project The Warehouse of Horrors: http://curatorial.theopenseas.org/?portfolio=warehouse-of-horrors

We caught up with Ben after the lectures to have a wee chat with him about his (career) so far, his curatorial practice, and what he’s up to at the moment:

So, how did it all start for you?

How did it all start?  Well, at Telford College – yes I came here!  Well, I mean I suppose I left school at 16, failed my highers.  I ended up doing art as default because… I’m lazy.  And then, I gradually realised that I was properly interested in it, so I did what was the equivalent of prep and then the HND Public Art.  It took three years instead of two.

Was that just the time it took then?

Well no – I failed in my second year! (laughs)

But Public Art wasn’t a particularly inspiring course was it, from what Alan said…?

No – it’s very, very different now to how it was then – now the course has been re-written, Contemporary Art Practice allows for a lot more development.

Yes, we’re lucky to have such energetic and engaged lecturers… and you didn’t go to art school after?

No.  I applied a number of times after Telford.  I think for two years I applied and then I got to the point where I was active in the Sculpture Workshop and other places and I realised I didn’t necessarily need to go to art school, so I didn’t apply that year and the years progressed and I just went oh well, that’s not happening.

That’s sort of encouraging.  You know that you feel maybe you didn’t really miss out on anything, and that you can make your own way – especially with looming fee rises etc.

No I mean I think, obviously it’s quite nice to go to art school.  A lot of my friends were there – I got the nice side without the bad side!

So was there something that sparked your career?  

Um…Career is quite a grand word for it.  Yeah, um, I don’t know I guess it’s just an interest.  I mean, like I said I failed the second year of the HND because I just didn’t care at the time, I wasn’t interested. But I readjusted.  I thought: ok now I need to do this properly.  I became interested in the theoretical side a lot more.  It was just because of an interest in that which led me to organise shows myself and then –

So you did your first shows independently?  Did you apply for funding…?

Oh, it’s only very recently that I’ve had funding for anything.  It’s always come out of my own pocket.   But working with, you know, young local artists and art students, which… is cheap.  It’s not something that pays a lot of money but…

So your first curatorial project… how did you initiate it?

Um, well I guess it was kind of working with a group of people who I knew about the arts…  Yeah so it was just about finding people around me and I was very fortunate in that I was living in a house that had a spare room: gut that out, paint it white and you have a gallery.  I think that, we could look back at it at that time and there was an emerging active artist-led scene in Edinburgh up to that point but it was never that visible. The Collective was there but it had been institutionalised years ago so I guess all that sparked me off a bit.

There are a lot more artist-led happenings now in Edinburgh aren’t here…

Yeah – there seems to be more and more, which can only be a good thing.

We were wondering about Alan: we want to know what influence he had on you…

Me and Alan didn’t get on for a long time because I wasn’t that committed for a while, but now we’re very good friends! Yeah it was kind of in my final year here that we found that we had lots of the same interests and yeah I think he’s very useful… in a grumpy way.

He’s very um, non-committal you don’t get a straight answer, it’s good…

Yeah it’s good because he makes you do the work – makes you answer your own question effectively.

Yeah, he’s good at that… I like to think of him as like a philosopher’s touchstone or something… So what are you doing at the moment?

At the moment I’m working on a project which is a non- public based, theoretical project.  There are seven of us who are meeting once a month for the next six month to discuss institutional practice within Scotland which is, which sounds like a dry topic but…  It’s through people who have worked within institutions of differing levels and we’ve tried to bring the group on one plane.  So that’s the main one.  I might be on another exhibition but there’s not really space for it.  This is the big thing that you come up against.  You get a certain position within the contemporary art world but that doesn’t necessarily equate to being able to do anything.  I think that maybe it’s specific to Scotland.  My friends in Europe have a bit more opportunity to get things going.  I think Scotland is a very artist-centred country which is good, in a sense, but –

Do you think it’s more difficult to self-organise here?

Yeah, like actually getting a space to do a show, getting funding together, as a curatorial project, rather than as an artist.  It’s still not easy to be an artist but there’s a lot more opportunity.  If you look at exhibitions across Edinburgh, you know, it’s always generally solo exhibitions.  You don’t see very many group exhibitions… I’m interested in doing group exhibitions, and pulling in wider ideas.

That’s interesting… this might be a bit of an annoying question but, we were wondering what you feel the ‘contemporary artist’ needs to be doing just now?

I think that… That’s a very difficult question.  I think if you want to go down one route and do the commercial artist thing you need to be chatty or produce work that looks like every other work you see.  Um…  I don’t like the question because it makes it seems like there is such a thing as the correct artist- which I don’t think there is.

That’s a good answer.  Why do you do what you do?

Um…  God knows!  I think because probably I’m curious.  I think of art as a source of knowledge production, rather than entertainment or any other conceived views of art.  And I think it’s about building my own knowledge and trying to share that knowledge and work with things that interest me.

(another equally difficult question we had noted down, but…) What about the role of a curator?

Well for me it’s about knowledge production and… just trying to work things through.  Yeah…well  I don’t like the idea of a job.  At a recent show I did I was described as an early career curator; I hate the idea of a career because it comes with the idea of a hierarchy and climbing the ladder and I’m not interested in that.  I want to be doing what I’m doing.  I understand the pragmatics that I have to earn some money at some point but at the moment I’m doing that through web design.

That seems like quite an interesting point: making artwork, curating and doing something quite different to that on the side to make money, so as not to have to give up part of your practice to do that.  Whereas if you were trying to make your living as an artist through funding or commissions or in the arts in general…

You have to do a commercial kind of thing.  Most of the artists I know just take up a job and don’t even think about trying to sell their work I do know a few people who sell work, but…

(pause)

Any regrets?

 Um… Oh, am I going to say the really trite thing?  I probably am, yeah.  Not really, no, because you learn from everything you do, and I try not to think back and regret things because, you know, it got me somewhere.

 That’s good to know. Thanks Ben, and thanks for a very interesting day!

 Ben Fallon, Kirsty Leonard and Claire Briegel

For more information on some of the artists mentioned above see links below:

Bruce Nauman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qml505hxp_c

Pipilotti Rist: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2011/oct/05/artist-pipilotti-rist-eyeball-massage-video

Bill Viola: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-V7in9LObI | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szc8dWQf3zc

As well as a wealth of artist video and sound work here: http://www.ubu.com

Telford College Final Year CAP Exhibition now open at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.

Published May 28, 2011

Press Release:

Ceci n’est pas une orange

    

Edinburgh’s Telford College is delighted to be returning to the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop for the College’s annual HND Contemporary Art Practice’s Final Year Show which will be exhibiting at the Newhaven workshop from Saturday 28 May to Wednesday 1 June 2011.

Edinburgh’s Telford College has had a long relationship with Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, connecting Telford’s art learners with a professional art environment for a number of years.

Through the years, the art learners from the College have held exhibitions at the prestigious north Edinburgh art space, which has given rise to a number of collaborative initiatives between the Telford learners and the ESW staff, such as professional practice days and learners from the College also receive ESW membership to allow them not only access to exclusive exhibitions, but also to a range of professional development opportunities and employment.

Telford’s Lecturer in Fine Art, Jennie Temple is a former member of the Board of Directors and Telford Curriculum Leader, Alan Holligan is Chair of the ESW Artistic Sub Committee. Commenting on the forthcoming exhibition, Jennie Temple said:

“It is always a great pleasure for the College to be showcasing our students’ work within the professional surroundings of Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. This year’s HND Contemporary Art Practice graduates are an exceptional group of learners who are finishing on a high note.

“Our largest final year group for some time will represent the diverse range of work being made on the course. From painting and sculpture to film, photography and installation, regardless of method you will find work that is intelligent, thought-provoking and very much at home in the professional surroundings of ESW. We look forward to welcoming audiences to what we hope will be a stimulating exhibition.”

The exhibition will run from Saturday 28 May to 1 June 2011. There is a launch evening from 6pm to 8pm on Friday 27 May. If you are interested in attending this, please email Alan Holligan at alan.holligan@ed-coll.ac.uk.

For Further Information and Images

Aoife O’Sullivan, Marketing Executive                                                            0131 559 4072

 

Superclub Presents: Pop Up Housing an Exhibition of work by ContemporaryArtETC… students.

Published May 2, 2011

Pop Up Housing is a project led by Edinburgh’s Telford College Artist In Residence and Alumni Stephanie Cairns and features the work of current HND Contemporary Art students.

Stephanie  invited the Contemporary Art Practice students to explore the term “housing”, and respond using a media of their choice. This exhibition is the result of these explorations.

Featuring work by:

Kimberley Blackadder
Erin Colquhoun
Natalie Doyle
Natasha Kemp
Lynne McBride
Kieran Milne
Jenny Muirhead
Teri Polson
Mairi Singleton
Jill Sives
Bob Winton

The exhibition opening is on Tuesday 3rd of May from 7pm to 9pm.
The exhibition will run from the 3rd to the 5th of May.