Usama Al Kindi’s The Architecture of Olfaction – ECA Degree Show 2014

Over 500 graduating artists, film makers, designers and architects will show work as part of the Edinburgh College of Art’s 2014 Degree Show which is on display until 1 June. You can peruse work online from the schools of art, design, the Reid School of Music, and the architecture and landscape schools on the degree show website. With previous graduates now BAFTA and Turner Prize winners, there’s no time like the present to scope out new talent.

Here are some highlights:

In the sculpture studio are the 16 clay busts of Lionel Ritchie, which are Dylan McCaughtry’s playful response to the music video of the singer’s hit song, Hello. To create the work, he blindfolded himself and made the busts while listening to the 1984 song on repeat.

Elsewhere, Leah Pendleton has filled a studio with multi-coloured worm-like creatures, inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights. Jack Wrigley has placed several life-size puppets in formal wear around ECA, gazing upon proceedings. Faith Elliott has created a beautiful, glowing miniature universe inside a dark, ramshackle shed.

Painter Sophie Hopkins has taken strips of deliberately ugly wallpaper and made beautiful objects using only its edges. Beverley Hughes has created a tactile, reptilian surface by painstakingly attaching 100,000 individual grains of rice to a canvas.

Several students have produced work that creatively addresses everyday issues. In textiles, Jenny Ellery has worked with unusual materials to produce tactile products for fidgeters. Product designer Henry Collingham has devised a way to create a refrigerator from car parts cheaply available in the developing world.

Other students have created swimming goggles for the visually impaired and bird houses from waste carpet fibre. In Architecture, students show their designs – and some remarkable models – for their plans to transform neighbourhoods in Manchester, the Venetian lagoon and Japan.

Many students have looked to their own families for inspiration. Matilda Craston has brought to life the forgotten poetry of her great-uncle, who died in 1937 aged 17, using graphic design. In Film and Television, Stuart Edwards’ documentary, A Wee Night In, is about his 95 year-old gran finding love with a 90 year-old boyfriend who comes to stay at weekends. Jewellery and Silversmithing student Hazel Thorn has experimented with base and precious metals to create objects that look fragile but are deceptively strong.

Suzanne van der Lingen’s work in the Masters of Contemporary Art section splices together footage from 1950s adventure films set in jungles – such as The African Queen – to question the depiction of women and indigenous cultures.

Last minute preparations for the ECA degree show 2013

The ECA degree show is currently on display until 1 June. For more information see the degree show website.

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