FINE ART: lunchbox lecture - Emily Pope News from the School of Art, Architecture and Design

School of the Damned - Alternative Education in the Arts, a lunchbox lecture by the artist Emily Pope

Date: 7 December 2014

Emily Pope is an artist and writer living in London. She studies at School of the Damned and coordinates the arts campaign for the East London Fawcett Group. Forthcoming exhibitions; Weekend at Milcote House and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Leeds. Emily will speak about the School, how it was formed and how it will continue to run as a protest against the cost of higher education. 

The School Of The Damned is a course run by its students, supported by visiting lecturers and tutors. It challenges the funding structures within the current HE system, at the same time providing the opportunity to study in a space allowing for critical discourse and a sustained re-assessment of student art practices. The course aims to establish a new network of artists, academics and institutions, not only advocating free education, but also a universal acknowledgment of education as a fundamental right. This action is a response to the increasingly precarious work-life situation - lack of time and space is a reality for many artists today. With contemplation and critique of each student’s art practices in a constructive framework, the course demands the rigour and commitment of an accredited MA. The course constantly re-assesses itself via outside advisers from a range of auto-didactic and academic backgrounds. Integral to course ethos is the labour exchange. Trading time for time subverts the current monetary corruption of the educational system. We rally against the present free labour model and exploitation in the creative industries. The School Of The Damned does not advocate or condone an independent system of education based on entrepreneurial values, philanthropy, libertarianism or self-reliance. This is about protest.