It’s that time of year again, summer has sprung and the art & design students of Glasgow have collated the sum of 4 years experience into one eclectic whirlwind of a show. The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show began on 13 June and continues until 20 June, featuring work from graduating students across the schools of Design, Fine Art and Architecture.

Due to the fire which devastated the Mackintosh building this time last year the Fine Art show is taking place in the Tontine Building in the Merchant City while the Design show is running in the newly built Reid Building in Garnethill. Despite the physical distance separating the two shows, the work exhibited across the two venues maintains the strongly unique spirit that ties The Glasgow School of Art students together.

Entering the Tontine Building I was excited to see how the Fine Art students had adapted to their new space and curious to find out how it affected the work they produced. The first piece that caught my eye was Jess Kelly’s beautiful installation ‘Translucent.’ The work effectively acts as a walk-in kaleidoscope with seamlessly moving images projected behind a screen within the structure. The viewer becomes immersed within the installation and becomes part of the artwork itself.

Jess Kelly, Translucent

From sculpture I moved through to the painting rooms, this is where I found Anna Thomson’s work. Her large-scale paintings display serious skill with a deep understanding of texture and subtlety of palette, a perfect combination of bold and understated.

Anna Thomson

Anna Thomson

After leaving the bright white of the painting room, I ventured into the darkness of a windowless alcove where I bunkered down on a huge beanbag, intrigued by a voice that echoed around the small room. When the visuals began, I knew this was a piece worth getting comfortable for.

Jack Boutwood

The short film by Jack Boutwood explores collective memory through an intimate and engaging series of pondering thoughts and observations on modern existence. This skilfully written narrative is refreshing in its honesty and simplicity, nostalgically reminding the viewer of the beauty in the common everyday.

It was time to move on, although I could have stayed much longer revelling in the wonders of the fine art studios, I knew there was so much more to see. Entering the Reid building you cannot help but be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place; it is without doubt a fantastic building to exhibit within. As I enter the Communication Design Department I was struck by the vast array of varying styles of work, ranging from fine art style large-scale installations to cutting edge graphic design.

Romany Rowell, Time Through Colour

It was the work of Romany Rowell that first caught my attention, in this thought-provoking and frankly very clever piece of work, Romany investigates the way in which time is measured – in numbers – alters our perception of time. The aim of this project is to challenge the viewer’s perception of time by use of colour, light and movement.

Hannah Jane Nixon

At the other end of the Communication Design spectrum is the highly appealing and humorous work of Hannah Jane Nixon, her brightly coloured screen prints display a bravery and uniqueness all of her own. Obviously inspired by popular culture, Hannah has also made a comic book based on the childhood of tennis superstar Roger Federer.

Another Illustration graduate who stood out for me was Sam Russell Walker.

Sam Russell Walker, Bygone Magic Stone

‘Bygone Magic Stone’ is a double sided poster book born out of the idea that each generation looks to their predecessors for inspiration, imparting their own interpretations, creating a kind of Chinese whispers through time.

Calum Douglas, Only the dead have seen the end of war

From the Photography department of Communication Design I spy the work of Calum Douglas. Calum produced a series of powerful images as a response to the unseen and misunderstood aspects of war. The series shows a body of simplified and re-appropriated images that represent key events throughout the Middle Eastern conflict over the past three decades. The way in which the images are presented invites the viewer to question what they see.

Leaving the Communication Design department my head is spinning with all that I have witnessed but I am eager to see more as I venture into the fashion and textiles exhibit space. In this room I feel like a kid in a candy shop, the colours and textures of the work screaming out to be held, stroked and worn. Hardly knowing were to begin I am drawn, as if by a tractor beam to the explosion of pattern on display by fashion designer Luis Miguel Sanchez Garzas; nothing about this work is mundane, everything about it makes me happy.

Luis Miguel Sanchez Garzas

Luis Miguel Sanchez Garzas

There is a passion for abstract forms and playful use of scale alongside a surreal use of found objects, all of which speaks of a great humour that warmly invites the viewer to rethink both traditional forms and functionality within fashion.

I was also very impressed by the work of Elinor McCue, who, like myself is a great fan of fringes. Elinor uses a mixture of hand cut leather, laser cut mdf and acrylic to create her wonderful fringed panels.

Elinor McCue

All in all this year’s Glasgow School of Art Degree Show has been a great success with too much quality work to go through in one review, I have not even mentioned the work of Product Design or Architecture but I strongly advise taking a look at the intriguing designs of Cheng Zhai Wei and the exciting concept piece ‘Tent in the Tenement’ by Michael MacFarlane.

If you want to see more, the show will be running until 20 June from 10am-5pm daily. Information on artist and designers who are participating in the show can be found here.

See Emma’s work online here.

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For more events, see our Weekly Bulletin here.

The Last Days of Art School came about in quite chaotic circumstances. With just over a week to go before the final degree submission deadline my tutor suggested that it might be a good idea for me to produce another piece of work for my submission portfolio. At first I thought he wasn’t serious; but he was.

My major project was photographic, so I thought a contrast to that would be good. I had dabbled in film on and off over my degree and it was actually his preference that I make a film. In a week! Normally I ponder, deliberate and procrastinate quite a bit, but there was no time so a film it was, and a film about what was going on all around me was the obvious/only choice. I did briefly worry that it might not be that interesting, but little was I to know about the events that were about to strike the Art School.

Looking back I think the time pressure really helped, as I couldn’t afford to worry too much about what I was doing, I just had to go and do it. The structure of the film – the fact that there is no synced sound i.e. that what is being said does not match what you see, is the direct result of the technical restraints I encountered. It was just impossible for one person to film and record usable sound at the same time. I’d go in the morning and shoot for a couple of hours, record sound for an hour, edit for a couple, then shoot for a couple more in the afternoon, more sound and then edit again into the night. As I would be shooting right up until hand-in day, there was no time to edit after all the shooting was complete – I had to edit as I went. So the structure of the film developed as it went, one day at a time. Once one day was done that was it. There was no going back. And no knowing what would come next.

As well as this there was the ordering of frames for the degree show, the finishing of the making of my photobook (my main project), the incessant palaver of trying to book time on the digital photo printers, all to be done. I’d managed to get the bulk of the book done and kicked the frames off before the film started, so that was a massive help. Luckily, and I mean that sincerely, I hit no major snags in any of this which meant I was able to get those things underway as planned and complete the film on time. Not everyone had such a relatively smooth ride.

The other benefit of this was that I couldn’t really worry about the show and what was coming. There was no time. And then once we hit the deadline it’s all out of your hands and you can’t worry anymore. Then it’s the fun bit – putting up the work and stepping back and letting it exist for others to see. Apart from the actual putting up of the work which inevitably ends up with 50 people chasing one screwdriver round a gallery space. After that though, step back and relax.

For anyone about to go through this experience, I would offer some words of advice which may or may not help. It sounds obvious but the first thing is to plan what you need to do in advance. Write all the steps down and don’t underplay anything. Think realistically about how long things are going to take. One mistake we made early on is to think, ‘oh, I need to print X number of A3 prints, that should only take a morning’. It may well only take a morning under normal circumstances, but if you have 20 people trying to do the same thing on one printer, it could well end up taking the best part of a week. So plan early, talk to the other people who are likely to be in that queue with you (you quickly find out who they are) and negotiate and plan with them. And most importantly, figure out how long something will realistically take, and then double it. This is especially true of anything involving technology. Computers love to through up errors, printers love to throw a strop and refuse to print and exporting a film from an edit is never incident free. The second thing I would suggest is make sure you have access to your own spirit level, drill and screws – this will make the hang a lot less stressful.

To read more from Cliff and see some of his photography, check out his Life After Art School feature on Central Station.

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Barreirinha Beach Funchal, from social landscape series Saudade

Cliff Andrade is a Communication Design graduate from Glasgow School of Art. Here he tells us what he’s been doing since graduating last summer.

I am an artist, the majority of whose personal practice is currently made up of long-form, research based photography projects. Professionally, I am pursuing a career in the lighting and shooting of moving image.

I have a vision of myself in the future. In this vision, I work as a (probably world famous) cinematographer, mainly on feature films. In between shoots, my long and tough weeks/months on set earn me the right and opportunity to engage in self-initiated long-form documentary photography projects. The solitude of the photographer forms a necessary and valuable counterbalance to the highly collaborative nature of the cinematographer, and each one reinforces the other. My photography projects are well-received by the ‘Photography World’, although whether this is due solely to my skill as a photographer or whether I am trading on my reputation as a cinematographer I’m not quite sure.

The Taking of Old Flo 

In reality I am, of course, a long long way from this – a recent photography graduate working hard to gain any and all experience he can to progress in approximately the correct direction. However, that I am able to put together a semi-coherent idea of what I would envisage myself doing in the future, however outlandish, is encouraging. This is the result of spending the months since graduating working in a variety of freelance jobs and gaining work experience: anything from running for TV shows and short films to assisting photographers on an ad hoc basis. Some paid and, unfortunately, many unpaid. Some which people have been kind enough to recommend me for and others sourced after endless hours on the internet and hundreds of ignored emails.

Vanessa, from social landscape series Saudade

I have also been lucky enough to have my own photography work selected for a few exhibitions, and was an award winner of the annual Jill Todd Photography Prize back in October. More than anything, these things give you self-belief in your work and the invaluable opportunity to meet and converse with others in the industry, be they experienced individuals or others in the same position as you. Off the back of this and the positive feedback I received, I continue to plan and develop my own personal photography projects and plan to carry these out alongside paid work. I think it’s important not to neglect your personal work for the pursuit of paid work. In fact, I think it’s essential for my sanity.

After leaving art school most of us knew we wanted to work ‘creatively’. I knew that for me this work would be centred around photography, either moving or still. The trick is finding out exactly what the world out there is like and where you and your skills are best suited (and how to get there). This is, unfortunately, something art school cannot teach you. The only real way to figure it out is to get out there and work away at finding this out for yourself. Some days most of us will go through feeling like this is beyond us. The important thing to remember is that to feel this way is absolutely normal, and that it will pass.

Jill Todd Photography Prize Exhibition

Monte Bom Sucesso, from social landscape series Saudade

To see more of Cliff’s work check out his showcased work here and our GSA Degree Show review from earlier this year.

Comment below or on Twitter using #LifeAfterArtSchool & mentioning @CenSta with your experience after art school.

Stay tuned for updates from art school graduates all this week. In the meantime see a what to expect from the upcoming Life After Art School features here.

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Steven Swinney is a designer from Elgin, in Glasgow, not in London. He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art with a degree in Communication Design.

Since graduating from GSA, life has been super crazy and hectic. In the best way. Right after our Glasgow and London Degree Show exhibitions, I was employed by GSA to be in charge of coordinating and curating the Design School’s presence at the Commonwealth Games. My concept for this was an egalitarian art school which offered the public the opportunity to get involved with some of the processes involved in creative practice through a series of workshops led by graduates that I wanted involved in the project. I curated an exhibition of selected graduates’ work and this was available to buy at public-friendly prices – an attempt to further dispel the myth surrounding galleries and the cost of owning original artwork.

Since then, I have been nonstop grafting as a freelance designer, which is super, super hard work but really rewarding. I’ve been fortunate enough that I have had incredibly exciting cultural sector jobs come my way (hold tight Neil and Steve) that are rad to work on and keep offering up more opportunities.

I have been working as the designer for My Bookcase a new social initiative dedicated to the understanding, appreciation and dissemination of books. Being entrusted as the sole graphic designer and design advisor on a job as important as this has been really daunting but is really gratifying when you see your ideas being successfully implemented in the real world. This project has also led to off–shoot jobs, for example, myself and My Bookcase are running a collaborative workshop as part of Analogue Social’s 11 Mitchell Lane event at the Lighthouse in Glasgow – something which fits with my interest in design and education.

A recurring medium in my art school work was books and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to continue working within this medium since graduating. I’m currently working on two publications different cultural clients. Designing the book for the Fashion Cultures Festival has let me collaborate with the photographer Callum Rice and the illustrator Ailsa Sutcliffe, which has led to a really rich body of content to work with and the freedom the client has offered is crazy but great! I’m also producing a 3-volume series of books for the fashion designer Tommy Zhong whom I met whilst at GSA. There’s also the smaller jobs that you find out about through chatting to people in pubs or at exhibitions. I ended up redesigning someone’s business cards and a bar’s menus just through striking up a conversation with people.

I would like to offer the best advice I received in the run up to Degree Show, “Art School is a frame of mind.” – Neil McGuire, 2014. Big up.

Comment below or on Twitter using #LifeAfterArtSchool & mentioning @CenSta with your experience after art school.

Stay tuned for updates from art school graduates all this week. In the meantime see a what to expect from the upcoming Life After Art School features here.

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GSA Communication Design ’14 is a blog featuring work from final year Communication Design students at The Glasgow School of Art.

A selection of works from their blog:

Sandwiching negatives by Cecilie Osnes

Nancy Haslam

Their next upcoming event is their Work in Progress Show on 31 January at onecubeortwo in Glasgow.

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Saunterings by Glasgow School of Art Communication Design student, Peter Holliday

More: Cargo

Who:
Cecilie Osnes is a 3rd year student at The Glasgow School of Art, studying Communication Design, specialising in photography.

Why we like it:
Osnes is refreshingly honest about what she deems a ‘failure’ in the above work due to her negatives sticking together. However, often accidents have unexpected outcomes and in this case, it has added a poetic dimension to her photo.

Hidden treasure:
The works above and below were not exactly hidden in Osnes’ site… they just had to be shared.

Where to find out more:
Website | Twitter

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Want to take a look at more suggested blogs by artists? Look here.