Unlocking Interdisciplinary Practice

Written by Evie Harman, Student Arts Programmer

Between October and January, the cohort will benefit from a shared studio space at High Holborn, professional development opportunities, collaboration and mentoring, with a focus on interdisciplinary practice.

UAL students from all colleges were encouraged to apply, and each candidate was selected based on their interest in collaborating with students across courses and colleges. Those involved will not only gain access to the residency space but will also be provided professional Development Funding, a crit session with Peer Sessions and an exhibition at Camberwell supported by Arts SU's Exhibitions Coordinator Aisling Ward.

This term's residency is made up of students, all of whom have never met, from a combination of courses. The following artists will collaborate to produce an exhibition ready for January!

• Aylin Leipold, BA Fine Art, Yr 2, CSM
• Hannah Wilkinson, BA Fine Art, Yr 3, Chelsea
• Jacqueline Ito, BA Fine Art, yr 2, CSM
• Kirsten Tingle, MA Biodesign CSM
• Layla Smith, Foundation Art & Design, CSM
• Lily Wood, MA Applied Imagination, CSM
• Lou Lassailly, Design for Branded Spaces, LCC
• Martin Del Busto, MA Fine Art Photography, Camberwell
• Palak Garg, BA Illustration yr 3, Camberwell
• Precious, BA Fine Art yr 1, Chelsea

Between now and the final exhibition, I'll be following the residency cohort as they run peer-led skill-share workshops to share knowledge across their varying practices and participate in Crit Sessions - a chance for everyone to present their work to each other and gain feedback in an inclusive environment. Join me, Evie, Student Arts Programmer, as I dive into this residency and explore what it's like to work on such an interdisciplinary project.

Image: Ideas diagram from first session with collaborative residency students - the students drew upon what they would like to get out of the residency, thinking about ways they can work together and establish a space of mutual care and support. 

Crits & Inclusive Learning

Written by Evie Harman,  Student Arts Programmer

Since November, ten UAL students from different colleges have immersed themselves in an interdisciplinary collaborative residency at High Holborn. In a bid to further advance how their work is explored by new audiences, the group were invited to partake in a Crit session, characterised by UAL as "a fundamental teaching and feedback method of arts education."

For a lot of artists, subjecting your work to critique can be a formidable experience, often fostering creative stagnation and the spectre of imposter syndrome. What should be a meaningful dialogue is sometimes misconstrued as a personal assault, triggering waves of self-doubt and eroding confidence.

As Catherine North articulates, "Kindness without honesty is not true kindness to an artist because it denies them the opportunity for growth. And while honesty without kindness may contain some useful truths, it can also cost the artist their motivation to carry on."

Arts SU, driven by its professional development initiatives, aims to avoid creating a harmful environment like this and believes "Crits have the potential to facilitate great discussions, learning and growth for students. For this reason, it is vital that we are committed to ensuring these spaces evolve for the better.” In an attempt to provide this support to the residency team, Arts SU partnered with Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas from Peer Sessions to deliver a crit session to the students.

CSM student Aylin Leipold presented us with a piece titled Pushbuttons. Quite objectively, it was a palm-sized artefact reminiscent of a pebble you'd find on Brighton Beach, only it had a red plastic push button, a bit like a children's toy. This object would sit strategically (?) on slender, metal, industrial-like shelves alongside other 'pebbles' with similar red or green buttons.

We began to collate our first impressions as we huddled around the artwork outside the residency studios with our coffees and teas. Housekeeping and small talky introductions were delivered first, alongside gentle (but crucial) reminders of the subjectivity of these discussions, the inherent, unconscious bias we all carry and the position of the crit team: unveiling the narrative, decoding potential contexts, and discerning the rationale behind specific creative choices.

Collectively, we were drawn to distinct, nuanced themes—discourse surrounding interaction, play, and innocence juxtaposed against ideas of destruction, the military, and even the film 'Space Odyssey.' Either way, the piece seemed very active: we deeply questioned the intended audience's relationship with the button and the dynamic this created within the platform of the 'pebble.'

What seemed like only twenty minutes quickly expanded to an hour. Having attempted to navigate the 'friendliness' of the grey pebble, the conflict of temptation and the feeling of personal responsibility, we turned to Aylin, who had been mostly quiet during this discussion to avoid exposing any preferred interpretation. A method described by Peer Sessions as the "Silent Crit Model”; the presenting artist initially provides relevant practical details (title, media, context) about their work and then remains silent while they listen to the feedback generated during the discussion. This gives the opportunity to hear unmediated and honest reactions to the art and build a nuanced and dynamic collective response."

Aylin shared that the piece was indeed intended to manipulate you into "thinking you had a choice about button pressing when you don't - an exercise of frustration." Through these conversations, she noted the prevailing debate regarding 'Nature' vs 'Nurture' that could be assumed in the oppositional use of her materials and the unintended questions that having different coloured buttons could lead to: all things that quickly had the potential to go unnoticed amongst the chaos of assignment deadlines and independent studio working.

Such candid conversations open up space for crits to authentically share how they experience the art piece without the layers of performativity one might feel in a 'high class' and commercial private viewing. Beyond this, it highlights to the artist what part of their creativity makes the most noise. Working on projects for so long can lead to a disconnect from your initial expectations, desires, or intentions, and it's challenging to keep track of what the outside world is thinking - if that's something that even matters to you.

Although the artist's perspective is the closest and arguably most faithful to the work, their perspective is, at the end of the day, only one perspective. These sessions provide a platform for genuine, unfiltered discussions about the artwork, underscoring the importance of facilitating a supportive environment for creative exploration. A reminder of the multifaceted nature of artistic interpretation.

Exploring the 'Body of Earth': A Creative Collage of Nature and Artistry

Written by Evie Harman, Student Arts Programmer

In January, Camberwell College of Arts opened its doors to an exhibition titled "Body of Earth," a collaborative residency project by ten UAL students. This exhibition invited viewers into an environment where art intertwines with nature, blurring the boundaries between the human experience and the essence of the non-human. Standing as a testament to our complex, often messy relationship with the natural world.

The journey of "Body of Earth" commenced in November when ten UAL students connected on an interdisciplinary residency at High Holborn. These students were selected for their unique perspectives and diverse skills, gathered from various UAL colleges and united under the guidance of Arts SU. With invaluable curatorial support from the Exhibitions team, the students found a safe space to critique each other’s works and share skills, fostering a productive space to develop "Body of Earth" - a collective manifesto and tribute to the beauty and significance of the natural world enveloping us.

The exhibition’s central theme revolves around our symbiotic relationship with nature, both internally and externally. Through a diverse array of mediums including photography, installations, sculpture, and various two-dimensional forms, the artists embarked on an exploration of the botanical, the biological, and the ethereal spaces in between.

Each artwork displayed encouraged a variety of discourse regarding the semantics of our relationships with the earth -  a narrative influenced by the personal experience and hometowns of the artists as well as the new, shared wisdom gained during the residency. "Margate Chamomile," a mixed media piece by Lily Wood (CSM), fills the air with the delicate scent of chamomile, blending seamlessly with the stormy vulnerability of "The Tempest," captured by oil painting within a vintage tin by Aylin Leipold. Meanwhile, "Green on Green" by Palak Garg invites viewers into a vibrant series of landscapes, each brushstroke a reflection of diverse positionings of the natural world around us. Representing a range of disciplines such as fine art, illustration, and applied imagination, these artists brought forth a kaleidoscope of perspectives to the exhibition. The evolution of ideas for "Body of Earth" was a collective journey marked by mutual influence and inspiration, drawing from the rugged landscapes of their hometowns to the skills honed through their courses and interactions.

As we bid farewell to the immersive experience of "Body of Earth," we are left to reflect on the many approaches and angles within even just one landscape, as well as an appreciation for the diversity of the botany on earth. This leaves us with a compelling question hanging in the air: How do we continue to honour our "Body of Earth" in our daily lives?

Body of Earth Photographs