- Design Innovation to support the visually impaired, improve fitness in young people and help understand epilepsy.
- Cutting edge sound and digital design, and visualisation to help medical, surgical and veterinary practice.
- Collections by international Fashion Designers.
- Five rooms of Fine Art and the first projects by students on the MLitt in Curatorial Practice.
The Glasgow School of Art 2015 Graduate Degree Show, which opens to the public on Saturday 12 September 2015, was unveiled today. A showcase of work by students graduating from a wide range of post graduate programme across Architecture, Design, and Fine Art, the exhibition will run in The Reid Building, McLellan Galleries, and a range of off-site venues, until Friday 18 September. An exhibition of innovative installations created in the Sound Laboratory and the 3D Visualisation Laboratory at the Digital Design Studio (DDS) will be held at The Hub on Pacific Quay on Wednesday 16 September.
Teaching resources for the visually impaired
Helping to understand epilepsy
Environments to help kinaesthetic learning
A game to help improve fitness in young people
Students on Design innovation programmes have proposed solutions to a range of challenges. Among the issues addressed are helping to understand epilepsy, teaching resources for the visually impaired, kinaesthetic learning, and helping improve fitness in young people.
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| Tactilise a design proposal by Aleksandra Kozawska which addresses both the technological and social needs of the visually impaired and their carers |
Aleksandra Kozawska immersed herself in the environment of the visually impaired, their teachers and support workers, to discover their assets and needs. “We live in a visually dominated world which is not accessible to the visually impaired,” she explains. “Most of the visually impaired own and use smart devices with voice-over readers. However, this solution is not always ideal as not everything can be described with words. On the other hand, tactile graphics and specialist educational aids can be very expensive or labour-intense to prepare, and currently there is no adequate centralised system to share aids and inspirations for the visually impaired, their teachers, support workers and parents who constantly reinvent ways to explore the world without the sense of sight.”
Aleksandra's design proposal, Tactilise,addresses both the technological and social needs of the visually impaired and their carers using innovative but, simple technology to give an intuitive tool for professionals, parents and the visually impaired themselves to create, manipulate and share audio-tactile graphics.
Catherine Farrarhas looked at how design can improve the understanding of epilepsy in children, and encourage strong support amongst the circle of care for the child. She worked directly with parents and additional carers to develop a service that brings connectivity, reassurance and confidence to manage the wellbeing of a child with epilepsy.
Philip Hughson, meanwhile, has approached design in rock climbing training. “Much development in design for rock climbing (training) in recent years has focussed on the acquisition of performance attributes such as strength and endurance rather than on quality of movement, despite the latter’s importance having been recognised,” says Philip. “Imitation is a very widespread process in human culture, a common means of transmission of kinaesthetic knowledge, and this suggested the possibility that it might applied in rock climbing.” To investigate this, Philip created and tested of an experimental system in the form of a “climbing roundel” for imitative kinaesthetic learning in rock climbing. Early results show it to be supportive of some forms of imitative learning in climbers.
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| Dynamics, a game devised by Paola Mejia Lizcano. that uses Minecraft™ as a platform, to encourage children to be active |
“Children in UK are having a sedentary lifestyle in front of a screen, and this is generating problems in their health, their behaviour and their academic performance,”says Paola Mejia Lizcano. “The challenge is how to improve the engagement of primary school children with sport.” Paola has developed Dynamics, a game that uses Minecraft™ as a platform, to encourage children to be active and develop their physical and digital literacy while exploring, building and using dynamic artefacts. Children collect Dynamic Blocks by doing physical exercises related to basic motor skills. The Dynamic Blocks are available to the players according to their age, weight, height and bone-muscle-fat proportion. (This data that is stored and tracked by a multi-movement sensor). As fitness levels and the mastery levels improve, advanced blocks are unlocked. In this way the game personalises the experience for each player. Using a see-through holographic headset (Hololens™), Dynamics can be played in any indoor or outdoor place. Dynamics also allows parents, teachers and coaches teach motor skills to children and track their progress.
Cutting edge visualization to help medical,
surgical and veterinary practice
Research students in the GSA’s Digital Design Studio have undertaken projects at the cutting edge of medical visualization and in digital sound among other work.
The Visualisation research in support medical, surgical and veterinary procedures embraces digital packages to motor skill training during the performance of a stereotactic brain biopsy (Laura Perez); 3D Reconstruction of Sylvian Fissure Dissection, utilised as an Educational Teaching Aid for the Training of Neurosurgeons in Aneurysm Clipping (Caitlyn Hart); and a 3D Reconstruction and Interactive Application for Veterinary Education (Hazel Raffan).
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| Victoria McCulloch has developed an App to encourage Type 1 Diabetic Adolescents to self-manage their condition. |
Victoria McCulloch has created a concept mobile application for Type 1 Diabetic Adolescents to help encourage their involvement in their self-management of the condition. “My design is based on the concept of an interactive avatar which the adolescent can customise through their learning about Type 1 diabetes,” Victoria explains. A related 3D animation explains the anatomical differences between the normal functioning of the pancreas and how the pancreas functions within an individual with Type 1 Diabetes.
Other projects in Medical Visualisation include the development of a virtual Online Library of Historical Surgical Tools at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (Kirsty Earley), and Photographic digitisation of a selection of pathological specimens of Dr William Hunter (Cecilie Osnes).
Sound for the Moving Image
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| Sound Souvenirs by ound Souvenirs Bryan Gonzalez – a concept that involves capturing sounds from an experience as a way to remember it |
In sound for the Moving Image the students have created pieces including Sound Souvenirs(Bryan Gonzalez) – a concept that involves capturing sounds from an experience as a way to remember it. The Sound Souvenir is captured in a similar way that in which people might use a camera to take photos while on holiday. This concept was explored while walking 130 kilometres of the pilgrimage of the Camino de Santiago and has been made into a documentary.
In Berlin: A New City Symphony, Mark Kelly has created a short experimental documentary which uses sound to immerse the viewer. The documentary is based on the works of Dziga Vertov in his film Man With a Movie Camera (1929) in that it borrows the City Symphony style film making techniques in its observational style.
Eleftherios Kouklakis has developed a project, Live Music for Film, to bring live music back into the film industry and evoke the days of silent movies. Musicians, bands and producers, with the use of new technologies and musical software, will compose and perform live music scores.
In The Sound SweepDaniel Mackay addresses the internal, hidden and unnoticed sounds of electrical power and electronic technology. Loose wires, cables and transmitters, electrical goods and obsolete technologies can creep and enter into many spaces in our urban and domestic environments. Seemingly silent, or at least inconspicuously quiet, machines blurt out intricate, mangled and evocative sounds when listened to closely. His film work creates a sound-world that brings these sounds to the fore in a dramatic and evocative fashion.
As well as presenting work in the Reid auditorium there will be a presentation of innovative installations created in the Sound Laboratory and the 3D Visualisation Laboratory at the DDSas part of Graduate Degree Show. The one-off exhibition will feature new work from students on the MDes in Sound for the Moving Image and MSc in Serious Games and Virtual Reality. Free but ticketed. To reserve a place
Senseless: a photographic project exploring urban legends and hoaxes such as Bigfoot and people’s obsessive fascination of these elusive beasts
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| Image from the photographic series, ‘Senseless’ by Masters in Communication Design graduate, Laura Thompson, |
Work by students on the Communication Design pathways – Illustration, Graphics and Photography - is on show in the Reid Building. Among the students featured is Laura Thompson whose work can also be seen on the Graduate Degree Show promotional material. ‘Senseless’ is a photographic project which is based on anthropological and scientific theories associated with human dislocation from the natural environment and the subsequent dulling of our senses. “I began to look into various mythologies from around the world and also the costumes associated with them, and observed most involved the covering of the face and many times the entire body to transform the person into a mythical being,” says Laura. “At the same time I was looking at urban legends and hoaxes such as Bigfoot and people’s obsessive fascination of these elusive beasts.”
“What interested me most was that many seemed to be based on existing mythologies and the fact that many of these creatures, seemed to be trapped between two worlds. Bigfoot being the prime example is not quite human or animal so wanders on the fringe of both, not really belonging to either”.
“From this research, I began to create modern day mythological narratives in which I explore themes associated with the dislocation of our senses. The images are centred on five constructed ‘yeti-like’ creatures, which are made up of hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of individual items, such as, disposable manmade plastic forks, earplugs, vinyl gloves, car air fresheners or compact mirrors. With each creature representing one of the senses with the proposition that they have become consumed by these modern, materialistic items and as such can no longer sense anything at all. Neither human nor animal, they wander between worlds fitting in nowhere, yearning to be part of a world they no longer belong to, and in so doing have become creatures of myth.”
Couture and bespoke fashion by International Designers
The 2015 showcase of collections by Masters of Design in Fashion + Textiles at the GSA saw fifteen talented young designers from across the globe unveil their designs in The Vic. Inspirations for the collections ranged from floral to Fine Art, Ivy League University rowing clubs to industrial machinery, sculpture to sweets, and with specialisms embracing print, embroidery, weave and knit. This year’s cohort includes designers from across Scotland and international students from Australia, China, Pakistan, South Korea and Taiwan. Full details
Five Rooms of Fine Art and off-site exhibitions
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| Norman Sutton Hibbert: The Adventures of Doll, Candy Dolls, Big Boys Don't Play with Dolls Do They? |
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| Will Kendrick: Between Love and Madness Likes Obsession |
Haining Liu: Miserable Life
Teresa Brown: Come And Stop With Me So We Can Meet Face to Face
Rennie Bunting: Yesterday Returneth Not
Work by students graduating from the MLitt in Fine Art Practice - Photography and the Moving Image, Painting, Drawing, Print Media and Sculpture – along with those on the MRes in Creative Practice is on show in five rooms in the McLellan Galleries. Among the pieces are Will Kendrick's colourful multi-media installation, the latest edition of Norman Sutton Hibbert’s interrogation of boys and dolls, Candy Dolls, Haining Liu’s Miserable Life and Alan Austin’s Amy, an audio visual work that takes a hauntological look at the life of Any Winehouse.
Meanwhile the first cohort of students from the MLitt in Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art) are presenting work in a variety of spaces. The exhibitions will be open to the public from 12 - 18 September.
In Intermedia Gallery at CCA the group have jointly curated an exhibition by Michael Barr. This newly commissioned work combines historical material held in the CCA Archives with documentation of an off-site performative intervention that took place in the days running up to the opening of the exhibition.
In Intermedia Gallery at CCA the group have jointly curated an exhibition by Michael Barr. This newly commissioned work combines historical material held in the CCA Archives with documentation of an off-site performative intervention that took place in the days running up to the opening of the exhibition.
September 2015 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Cildo Meireles' failure to make a temporary public artwork in Glasgow. He had been invited to propose a work for the TSWA Four Cities Project in 1990, but his intention to install a model of a typical Glasgow council house by the City Chambers was rebuffed by the then Glasgow District Council. Barr acknowledges the anniversary by reimagining Meireles’ proposal whilst preserving, or even furthering, the poetic potential of its failure.
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| Marcus Jack In TRANSIT #1: The Economy Experience |
Marcus Jack has curated a mobile cinema in the back of a van showing art-films by Caroline Campbell, Common Culture, Dennis & Debbie Club, Jean-Baptiste Maitre and Will Kendrick. For In TRANSIT #1: The Economy Experience, the van presents moving image work which negotiates the adventure of consumption in the era of the experience economy. Observing, subverting, and imitating the language, postures and signs of selling, The Economy Experience celebrates the mythology of honest commerce and the unsung heroes within it. This instalment of In TRANSIT is an elegy for late capitalism and its obsession with surface.
In the McLellan Galleries Grace Johnston has curatedWilliam’s Palm, work byJamie Kane, Lindsey McLean and Ewan Murray. The exhibition is assembled around the gesture of using two paintings as tools for sustained conversation.
At Virginia Gallery Ashley Holdsworth has curated The Language of Silence– work by
Lin Li (Hong Kong), Sulaïman Majali (London) and Tawona Sithole (Zimbabwe).The Language of Silence highlights the potential of silence as an active agent through which political exigencies may be explored. Through understated, sometimes deliberately obscured works, the exhibition presents poetic commentaries on current contexts which hold personal significance for the artists.
Architecture
In the ground floor corridor of the Reid Building students graduating from Dip Arch, Architecture by Conversion and Architectural Studies are showing their end of programme presentations.
The Graduate Degree Show is supported by Cass Art.
“We believe that being an artist, in whatever capacity, should remain a lifelong pursuit,” says Mark Cass, the Founder and CEO of Cass Art. “We are delighted to support The Glasgow School of Art Graduate Degree Show this year, as the graduates make the transition from student to professional artists.”
The Graduate Degree Show is open from Saturday 12 September – Friday 18 September.
Monday – Friday 10am –9pm; Saturday/Sunday 10am - 5pm. Entry free
Ends
Further information: Lesley Booth
0779 941 4474
Note for Editors
Cass Art
Cass Art is the UK’s leading art supplies retailer. They believe in the freedom and joy that art can bring, and want to put a quality pencil or paintbrush in the hands of everyone, to encourage people to make art as well as support those who already do so. They stock the best art materials from leading brands at guaranteed lowest prices, and they host regular events and exhibitions in The Art Space in Cass Art Glasgow.