Studio philosophy
Human beings are wired for social and sensory connection and when we do so, our lives are more meaningful, engaged, productive and joyful. Craft practice embraces this primal need to connect, with place, with material, with self and with others. This studio will work through the disciplines of textiles and jewellery to explore the maker's capacity for making and facilitating human connection through individual practice and through cooperation, collaboration and collective participation.
As designers, we work to adapt, interpret and invent, to be a part of culture and propose new forms of experience. In an increasingly "context aware" world, movements, such as the Slow Movement, Craftivism, Indie or DIY Craft, Raw Craft and the New Domesticity are reflecting changing values and offer alternative ways of (and platforms for) sharing. The output of today's most dynamic craft collectives (60I40, Manifold, Intelligent Trouble) are constructing alternative environments for craft to be made, shown and debated. A new field of experimental craft is taking shape.
This studio seeks to enhance your potential to develop resilient and sustainable future craft practice, as an independent or in the world of employment, placing human life, experience and materiality at the centre of the design process, seeking out new modes of practice.
In a world where we are surrounded by automated, soul-less artefacts, you will find ways of engaging the public with craft interventions, performances and installation. In the spirit of the SLOW movement, the studio will work locally, exploring the Genius Loci, East London, "the depth and intensity of which, is the stuff of dreams".
Project
The studio will evolve in response to a series of projects and interactions which allow for a broad spectrum of imaginative, conceptual, visual, material and social investigation, underpinned by discipline-specific and cross-disciplinary technical activity blocks.
Using East London as a starting point, the resulting research and experimental practice will be brought together through curatorial experience, to inform further development.
An interim exhibition will encourage debate and act as a catalyst for further practice. Personally identified and self-directed outcomes will lead the final phase of the studio and culminate in the studio exhibition, within The Cass Summer Show.
Whilst ideas will be explored through drawing, photography, sound/film, experimentation, testing and making, emphasis will be placed upon working directly to discover the latent potential of materials and processes, locally sourced.
Individually driven projects will benefit from cooperation, collaboration and collective participation. Through short group projects, the studio will investigate the potential of exploration of one discipline, through the eyes of another. You will be asked to investigate and connect with leading, contemporary and emerging "zeitgeist" craft communities, cooperatives and networks.
Through virtual and real-world collaborations, you will both initiate and respond to live projects. Through understanding this changing craft territory, you will hone your individual design philosophy and broaden the scope and context for your practice.
Details
| Course | Textile Design BA (Hons) Jewellery & Silversmithing BA (Hons) |
|---|---|
| Tutor | Heidi Yeo Mah Rana Claire Gill |
| Where | Studio 9, 4th Floor, Commercial Road |
| When | Tuesdays, Thursdays |
| Website | thinkpersonalmakepublic.wordpress.com |