Student work

Changes: Settlement Projects

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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Skinny Review CAP @ESW

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