Yesterday we had a really valuable session with our tutor, Vanda, where we critiqued the degree show of this year's graduates from the Contemporary Applied Art course. We had the opportunity to see the show, staged with all the supporting material, prior to it being put on public view.
Key learning points were:
- Don't be contrained by the domestic scale - try out huge/tiny versions too
- Make it contemporary - reflect the age we are in
- Don't make similar drapes of repeat pattern. One large draped piece, many samples in a lovely book and some samples made up into interesting things would be better.
- Stage in a contemporary way - ie contemporary china should be displayed on contemporary furniture (not retro fashion) or on a plinth
- Don't draw the whole object - give enough to represent it, but leave bits out
- Avoid turning into a commercial object - push boundaries - this is a degree show to demonstrate potential, not a department store selling stuff
- Stage samples as an imaginatively made object
- Pretty is not enough - must have a meaty concept
- Use artist statements to convey the message/concept
- Work out your staging to promote work to best effect. Use large photos to demonstrate the domestic application if nec. Don't stage the domestic application.
- Digital photo frames add to contemporary feel.
- Photo suspended in frame with no glass works well
- Don't be frightened of white space. If you have too much space (!) leave it clear.
- Don't put barriers (cabinets) between viewer and work.
- Match imagery to cloth - tough images/tough cloth; delicate images/delicate cloth
- Magnetic hooks are good to suspend cloth from ceiling. Each hook supports 10kg(!). They take a long time to order so good planning required.
- Cloth for a Contemporary degree should not be suspended by a wooden dowel rod. Consider stitched card ....? (Need to look at Applied Art galleries for answers here).
- Staggered depth of multiple hangings works well.
- Large white textile work needs a coloured background to be seen clearly. It is ok to paint a wall/broad stripe of colour to enhance your work. You can always paint the wall white again afterwards.
- Find a modern book in your discipline that displays your type of art well, and use their ideas for staging and mounting.
Generally the simpler the layout, the better the products worked. I am going to really struggle with getting the staging to be simple. I thought about my work on display for my assessment, which was in another room, and I just was not in the league of the best displays at the Degree Show. But it made me get out a digital photo frame that I had as a birthday present 7 years ago, and work out its functions, so I can use it at my degree show next year. This is a good example of how to make your staging feel contemporary.
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