insights from the field

First hand accounts from the world you are about to enter.

Preparing to leave the nest

Over the coming weeks we have organised a series of opportunities for our students to have their work reviewed by leading practitioners from the creative industries.

Here is a rundown of what we have planned:

22nd April. Shortlisted students to visit Bear.
25th April. Studio visit to Pearlfisher.
27th April Portfolio reviews by Jonathon Hedley Debut Art
27th April. Portfolio reviews for selected students by Sean Murphy. Creative Director, Moving Brands.
28th April. Portfolio Reviews by Sam Blunden.

We are also waiting on a confirmation of dates from David Breen, Design director at Sampson May and two local agencies C&Co and Marmalade on Toast

We will post these dates as soon as we find out.
Meanwhile, some work by the practitioners we have coming in is featured below…

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Supermundane

On Wednesday the 2nd of March Supermundane (Rob Lowe) came in to talk to the BA Graphic Arts students about his work, process, thoughts, and research. Not only did Rob talk through lots of interesting and exciting work, the students were treated to an exclusive, never before seen in public, treat at the end of the talk. Rob played a casio keyboard, in front of a video of himself dancing, whilst reciting a poem about the future. What a talented man. After the talk/dance/performance Rob went into the studios to answer questions and look through students work. Lots of tips, and advice was passed on. It was an inspirational day, with music, laughing, and dancing.

http://supermundane.com

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Toby Smith 9th March

Photographer Toby Smith will be visiting WSA on Wednesday to deliver a visiting practitioner talk in LTA starting at 10am.

Toby embraces a range of traditional photography and innovate video techniques tailored to the subject matter.   Moving between large format photography for exhibition and print, full production video for broadcast and also Ultra HD Time Lapse or animation for web and new-media usage. Toby also has a special interest in the online mapping and geo-location of his research leading to grants from National Geographic, The Royal Photographic Society and partnerships with NGO’s on numerous field trips.

His work is exhibited internationally and editorial clients include National Geographic, GEO, The Sunday Times Magazine, TIME, Fortune, The New York Times, Guardian, Intelligent Life and Stern. Broadcast credits include the BBC Natural History Unit, Al Jazeera, Sky News, BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service. Notable exhibitions and awards include the V & A Gallery,  The Barbican and PDN

http://www.tobysmith.com

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Andrew Lister

On Wednesday 17th February, WSA teaching fellow, Andrew Lister will be talking about a new journal he has edited, designed and produced with Matthew Stuart, ‘Bricks from the Kiln’.

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BRICKS FROM THE KILN #1
Edited by Andrew Lister & Matthew Stuart
170 × 224.764mm, 138pp. + 2 inserts
Edition of 700, ISSN 2397‐0227
TTC‐090, December 2015, London

FRAGMENTS OF A CONVERSATION WITH RON HUNT
Andrew Lister, Matthew Stuart & Ron Hunt (pp.1–20)

RALPH RUMNEY: THE SHAPE OF HEADS TO COME
Natalie Ferris (pp.21–34)

THE LEANING TOWER OF VENICE
Ralph Rumney (pp.35–38)

OBSERVATIONS FROM A FIXED POSITION
James Langdon (pp.39–44 & insert #1)

VAPEGAZE
Mark Owens (pp.45–55)

WORDS FALLING FROM THE SKY LIKE BLOSSOM
Jamie Sutcliffe (pp.56–64)

WESTERING
Iain Sinclair (pp.65–88)

PICKING UP, TURNING OVER, PUTTING WITH
Traven T. Croves (pp.90–107)

“STAY HUNGRY. STAY FOOLISH”, SAID THE ACADEMY AND FED US TO THE LIONS. OR: STARVING WITH A LOT OF LOVE IN YOUR STOMACH
Parallel School (pp.108–117)

MUSIQUES D’AUTREFOIS, ÉCHOS D’AUJOURD’HUI: A STUDY ROOM ON THE WORKS OF PIERRE FAUCHEUX
Catherine Guiral (pp.118–136)

GRAND COUPES
Max Harvey, He Pianpian & Li You (insert #2)

ASIDES TO OUR TIME AND TO OUR CONTEMPORARIES
Andrew Lister & Matthew Stuart (inside cover folds)

ASIDES TO OUR TIME AND TO OUR CONTEMPORARIES

(An Afterword from the Editors)
Between 1917 and 1921 Ret Marut published thirteen issues of his anarchist, satirical magazine Der Ziegelbrenner (The Brick-Burner or The Brick-Maker). It was ‘the size, shape and colour of a brick’,1 and appeared at irregular intervals from Munich (and later Cologne) before Marut escaped to Holland, London and eventually Tampico in Mexico, where he would become the elusive author B.Traven. As former BBC Television Managing Director turned literary detective Will Wyatt notes, ‘the bricks were fired by Ret Marut to comment upon the corrupt society in which he lived and to begin the rebuilding of a new and better world.’2Der Ziegelbrenner included ‘sporadic laconic news glosses’,3 which were listed on the cover of the second issue under the heading, ‘Ziegeln aus dem Brenn-Ofen: Randbemerkungen zu unserer Zeit und zu unseren Zeitgenossen’ (Bricks from the Kiln (or Combustion Furnace): Asides to our time and to our contemporaries).4

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For us, ‘Bricks from the Kiln’ implies something in flux and liable to crack. A piece of a larger structure. A part of a sum. Fittingly, many of the bricks included here stem from larger bodies of work and ongoing research. Some are chapters lifted from forthcoming books, or investigations begun but forced aside. Others are unrecorded talks, or previously unpublished autonomous editions in their own right.

In preparing BFTK#1 we were keen not to arbitrarily hang the issue on an overarching theme before the fact, but rather to adopt a more responsive approach, allowing connections to develop organically through both the editorial and design processes. In particular, the conversation with Ron Hunt that opens the issue, has begun to shape much of our thinking, and here a number of threads and recurring characters begin to emerge.

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Guy Debord and the Situationist International loom large. Explicitly in Ron Hunt’s lapsed anarchism (pp.1–20) and in Natalie Ferris’ essay on the ghostly presence of the artist Ralph Rumney (pp.21–34). And more tangentially in the rural psychogeography of Westering (pp.65–88), in vaporwave’s détourned ‘music optimized for abandoned malls’ (pp.45–55) and in ‘photographs of grand coupes and synthetic sweets’ captured on dérives around Beijing (insert #2).

Ron also identifies a preoccupation with the peripheral and the overlooked, touching on the difficulties of recuperation. Again, this sentiment seems to run throughout these pages, peripheral characters and locales a constant presence. Marut, Rumney, Breakwell, Viollet-le-duc and Faucheux. Langcliffe, Hastings, Newcastle, Changsha, Dorset, Uxmal and Brno. A ‘necessary otherness’, as Iain Sinclair puts it.

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An interest in ‘the picking up, turning over, and putting with’5 is discussed in more physical terms in our own talk from the Brno Biennial (pp.89–136) and also extends to some of the structural considerations for the issue as a whole. An initial plan had, in fact, been to produce the issue a signature at a time, as and when money was available.***** A production model not dissimilar to that adopted in Phil Baber’s first Cannon Magazine or Dieter Roth’s Copley Book: ‘a kind of visual diary squirted out during three years of spasmodic labor’.6 But as the inevitable financial holdups, printer bankruptcies and editorial concerns played out, this model seemed less and less appropriate to our needs. In this first collection of bricks we have thus attempted to maintain some of the ‘oddities’7 and specifics of original contexts, whilst still working within a cohesive structure. From Westering by Iain Sinclair, produced to exist as a standalone edition for publishers Test Centre, and to be bound into the issue as signatures I, J and K. To the decision to allow the formatting of footnotes and references to alter from piece to piece, in keeping with their original settings.

Of course, there are precedents for this kind of exploration of the periodical format that have come before and greatly inform our approach. The likes of Typographica, Icteric, Dot Dot Dot, Dieter Roth’s Collected Works and Jacqueline De Jong’s Situationist Times being of particular note. Perhaps the strongest affinity for us, though, is with Theo Crosby’s Uppercase, which ran for five issues between 1958 and 1960.

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Crosby was facilitator-in-chief for a specific brand of post-war British design and architecture, initiating the hugely influential exhibition This Is Tomorrow in 1956 and later co-founding the design studio Pentagram. He published Uppercase whilst working as Technical Editor for Architectural Design under Monica Pidgeon, and would subsequently take the editorial reins of Living Arts: a ‘documentary magazine’8 published out of the ICA in London. Despite its short lifespan and modest format (close to pocket size at 5.5″ x 7″), Uppercase intended to ‘deal with the whole field of visual communication’.9 Striking a balance between historical research and current work—and drawing connections between the two—it featured the work of Crosby’s own cast of recurring characters, including among others, Edward Wright, Richard Hamilton, William Turnbull, Eduardo Paolozzi, Kurt Schwitters, John McHale, Magda Cordell, Nigel Henderson and Alison & Peter Smithson. Each issue was, as Crosby put it, ‘an experiment in type within the same overall format’, an attempt at translating ‘a mass of material from an artist’10 into the specifics of print production.

Ultimately, and perhaps selfishly, BFTK#1 presents a collection of texts and projects we simply wanted to read and see more of ourselves, and that we felt would benefit from wider circulation. The hope is that it finds an audience of likeminded readers and that this first iteration provides a platform upon which to build. Inevitably—in the same way that Crosby notes in his introduction to the inaugural issue of Uppercase—‘it will be tentative, incomplete and inconsistent.’11

AL & MS

Notes

1. Wyatt, W., ‘Introduction’, in Marut, R., To the Honorable Miss S… and other stories by Ret Marut a/k/a B. Traven, 1981, Cienfuegos Press, Orkney, p.viii.
2. Ibid.
3. Carr, G., ‘Lion’s heads—or just bricks and tiles? On satirical motifs and chance’, in Rasche, H. & Schönfeld, C. (eds.), Denkbilder: Festschrift für Eoin Bourke, 2004, Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg, p.188.
4. Marut, R., Der Ziegelbrenner, Heft 2, 1 December 1917, cover, in Marut, R. / Traven, B., Der Ziegelbrenner, facsimile, 1976, Verlag Klaus Guhl, Berlin, p.23.
5. Lichtenstein, C. & Schregenberger, T. (eds.), As Found: The Discovery of the Ordinary, 2001, Lars Müller Publishers, p.8.
***** The signature marks included at the bottom of the first page of each 8-page signature (eg. BFTK#1—A) are a remnant of this initial model.
6. Hamilton, R., ‘Introduction: Diter Rot’, in Roth, D., Copley Book, 1965, William and Norma Copley Foundation, Chicago.
7. This approach to typographic detailing and phrasing is particularly well exemplified in Richard Hamilton’s Collected Words, (Hamilton, R., Collected Words: 1953–1982, 1982, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London) of which there is a more in-depth discussion in our talk from the Brno Biennial (pp.100–102).
8. Crosby, T. & Bodley, J. (eds.), Living Arts no.1, 1963, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, p.1.
9. Crosby, T., ‘Introduction’, in Uppercase no.1, 1958, Whitefriars, London p.1.
10. Ibid., p.2.
11. Ibid.

ustwo x Moving Brands x WSA

On the 3rd of Feb, recent BA Graphic Arts graduate Dem Gerolemou, returned home with some of his friends from the design industry. 

The text for this post is written by Moving Brands copywriter, Louie Zeegan:

Dem from ustwo, and Steffan and Louie from Moving Brands visited WSA. They started the day with a talk that touched on everything, from how they met and their journey into industry to what they’ve worked on in their first 18 months and the side projects that keep them sane. The three then ran through some key points on stuff they’ve learned along the way – a one liner on screen, they discussed their interpretation of the point and how it could help students into industry.

After a Q&A session, the afternoon was about helping the students explore their ‘creative core’, with the objective of informing their online presence / self-promotion. The guys asked the students to choose an artefact (which they described as literally anything – an object, story, picture) that would help them articulate why they wanted to be a creative.

In attempt to destroy all signs of ‘I am a graphic communicator’ on new designers’ websites, the informal brief encouraged students to think less about the title of their jobs, and more about the purpose of it. The group then sat and chatted through their artefacts, asking questions and discussing why they’d chosen those particular things – it was an eye opener for the students and the three ‘professionals’.

One student spoke about how a series of images helped her articulate the power of photography, another student read the manifesto of Japanese design agency Nendo. One student used an origami fortune teller to discuss playfulness.

The last destination was the Mucky Duck, where a more informal workshop continued over a few beers…

Since the day, the discussion on Twitter has been positive and encouraging – many email addresses were exchanged so stay in touch! Their inboxes are open doors.

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Insights schedule for Semester 02.

A new semester dawns for the BA in Graphic Arts at Winchester School of Art and we have another exciting schedule of events for ‘Insights from the Field’. As our year 3 students approach graduation, we have tried to tailor the programme to support this process, offering opportunities for students to talk to key industry professionals to help them shape portfolios that meet their needs.

Sessions will be on Wednesdays from 10 to 12.00 in LTA and many will be followed by a workshop in the third year studios.

Here is the full programme;

03rd Feb. Dem and Steff, recent graduates working at Moving Brands and ustwo respectively share their post graduation experiences.

10th Feb. Programme Leader, Derek Yates, provides tips on developing a professional Portfolio.

17th Feb. BA GA teaching fellow, Andrew Lister, talks about the development and publication of his new critical journal, Bricks from the Kiln.

24th Feb. Studio visits in London. So far we have confirmed visits to Sennep, Kin, SomeONE and the Heart illustration studio. We also hope to visit Bibliothéque, Design Studio and After the Flood.

02nd Mar. Designer turned illustrator, Rob Lowe A.K.A Supermundane, talks about his work.

09th Mar. A specialist photographer, to be confirmed.

16th Mar. Typographer Tom Foley, from international typeface designers, Dalton Maag, talks about his work.

After the Easter break, we will be running a series of 1:1 portfolio surgery days run by some previous contributors to the Insights programme. These will include the likes of Tim Beard, one of the founding partners at Bibliothéque, Russell Holmes strategy partner at ico, and representatives from Heart, Debut Art and Mr President.­

These sessions are open to students from all pathways on the BA Graphic Arts programme.


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James Langdon

Graphic designer, curator, researcher & writer, James Langdon will visit Winchester School of Art on Wednesday 9th December to deliver our last Insights talk of the year.

Here is an extract from his biography:

‘As one of six directors of Eastside Projects—an artist-run exhibition space dedicated to promoting cultural growth in its home town of Birmingham, England—Langdon designs and edits many of the organization’s publications and is responsible for creating a series of experimental manuals that explore its mission through ideas as varied as urban renewal, adhocism, and public engagement. In 2013, Langdon founded the itinerant School for Design Fiction, working with students to investigate the storytelling inherent in the design process, the emotions embedded within an artifact, and the benefits of living in speculative worlds.

As a curator, Langdon organized Arefin & Arefin: The Graphic Design of Tony Arefin, an exhibition celebrating the overlooked but highly influential British graphic designer; Book Show, exploring the form of the book; and a restaging of Norman Potter’s In:quest of Icarus at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Langdon has been guest lecturer at schools around the world, including Werkplaats Typografie (Arnhem), Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht), and Konstfack (Stockholm). He is the recipient of the 2012 Inform International Award for Conceptual Design, presented by Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Germany.’

http://www.walkerart.org/calendar/2015/insights-james-langdon

James’ talk will start at 9.30am in LTA and be followed by a workshop in the Publisher Space. 

To find out more visit: http://jameslangdon.net

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Rose Blake 18th Nov.

BA Graphic Arts welcomed Illustrator Rose Blake today to Winchester School of Art, today. Rose gave a brilliantly open and honest review of her own work, as well as providing insight into the world of working freelance. Rose talked us through her working process, interactions with clients, life after university, and what it is like today working freelance. Rose mentioned the importance of keeping a visual diary to help you understand your view of the world, and to practice your interpretation and communication skills. In conversation with the third years she advised “ When working freelance you get out what you put in, the more you put in the more you will get out. You must persevere, and keep trying until you succeed. Do not give up.  Be professional and polite, PUNCTUAL, and friendly and people will use you again.”

After her talk Rose answered questions from students in the studios, as well as looking at their current project work. Rose said she was ‘very impressed with the quality of the work’ she saw, as well as taking home one of the posters designed by third years Joe and Joe from Sundae School. During a quick tea break Rose was questioned by students visiting from Sparshot College, who were so impressed and excited to meet her that some had their pictures taken with her! Rose has left a real buzz and excitement in the studios as she heads back to her studio in London.  

http://www.iamroseblake.com

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Alexandra Lethbridge on the 25th November

As a change to the advertised Insights programme, we will now be joined by Alexandra Lethbridge for our 25th November Insights.

Here is her biog:

“Alexandra graduated from the University of Brighton with a Masters in Photography. Previous education has included Winchester School of Art and the International Center of Photography in New York.

Her work has been exhibited widely with an upcoming group show in Portugal as part of Encontros de Imagem Festival, in China as part of Pingyao International Photography Festival and in India as part of PhotoUKIndia.  

In 2014, she was shortlisted for the Paris Photo Aperture Foundation First PhotoBook Award for her first publication, The Meteorite Hunter and was awarded the Professional Choice winner of the Danny Wilson Memorial Award in association with Brighton Photo Fringe.

Most recently, she has been selected for Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed 2015, as well as being selected as a winner for Flash Forward Magenta Foundation 2015 and a finalist in the Renaissance Photography Prize 2015.

In 2015, The Guardian recognized her as ‘a rising star of British photography’ with her work featuring in magazines and online publications such as HotShoe, Source, Der Grief, Photoworks, Self Publish Be Happy, Pik magazine, Float magazine, Introdex magazine, Wired Magazine and The Telegraph online.

Between working on personal projects and commissions, Alexandra also works for photography development agency, Photoworks.

http://www.alexandralethbridge.com

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Max Gadney ‘Look at the World’

Students on BA Graphic Arts were lucky enough to experience a fantastic presentation from leading data experience designer Max Gadney on Wednesday 4th November and in an hour packed with insight, humour and extremely useful reference points he let us into new areas of design that are emerging and evolving as a result of the growth of big data.

Data design he said was about “Showing not telling” and “Exposing what is actually there” He talked about the importance of content & function “Its not just what the thing looks like, it’s what the thing does”

He showed the work of Palantir who create experiences related to security intelligence data. He talked about the growing importance of digital products and how designers increasingly need to create films that explain their projects rather than simply making the projects. He urged students to learn to sell and read, ‘Why do we buy’ by ‘Paco Underhill. He stressed the importance of contextual research and learning how to talk to users. Designers he pointed out should “Be ignorant of the problem and have humility. Be curious.” And there should be “zero creative distance between the technology and the designer”. Like many of our speakers he stressed the importance of learning to use digital technology, asking the simple question, “If not digital why not?” He talked about selling, coding, risk & reward, T- shaped designers, designers needing to ‘understand what they like and are like’, working within parameters, drawing and the “need for designers to keep the dignity of themselves in what they do.”

After the lecture he kindly gave 1:1 critiques to students working on the National Air Traffic Control live brief. As he set off back to London, all agreed that it was an extremely enlightening and insightful morning. Insights now takes a short break for reading week but will return with the visit of illustrator Rose Blake on the 18th November.

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