Future stars shine at Degree Show
The colourful and challenging work of hundreds of graduating University of Edinburgh students is set to create one of the capital’s largest and most diverse annual exhibitions.
Ornate gothic spires sculpted from sand, vibrant jewellery inspired by the artist’s obsessive compulsions, and the reimagining of a Cuban cityscape are all part of the Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show.
For the first time the show will feature a closing concert, with new student compositions performed by Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) musicians.
Diverse work
For nine days in June, the Degree Show will showcase the latest graduating cohort of artists, designers, architects and landscape architects.
Work from 37 degree programmes will include architectural models, robots, animated films, photography, textiles, jewellery and interior design.
Visit the ECA Degree Show
The Degree Show is free and is open 11am-5pm from 2-10 June.
Late night openings will be held on Wednesday 6 June and Thursday 7 June, until 8pm.
Details of the exhibits and venues can be found on the Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show website.
Mysterious towns
Sculpture student Kirsty Paterson has used cardboard to create several life-size scenes – an office, a phone booth, a supermarket - from the fictional US town of Clearville. Each is full of small details such as radio broadcasts, emails and tourist brochures, which suggest something mysterious has happened to the town.
Elsewhere, Jack Handscombe has sculpted detailed spires from sand and, in a reference to the work of William Blake and Eduardo Paolozzi, kneeled a mannequin in a biker’s outfit over a laptop playing Minecraft.
Painting student Taylor Lyle has taken a name that bullies used to tease her about her dyslexia and hidden it within a series of colourful, geometric displays. Only by interpreting the world differently, as she does, can the word be seen.
Innovative practice
In Jewellery, Georgette Newman has created work that reflects how her obsessive compulsive disorder made her turn taps and switches on and off with almost religious repetition. Necklaces of her hands are presented on an altar and she has created a jewel-encrusted glove with cartoonishly long fingers featuring a tap icon.
Interior design students have imagined the renovation of a number of buildings, including a gin distillery where enthusiasts can rent a still to make their own, a lighthouse converted into a couples’ therapy retreat, and an immersive theatrical experience of the animated film, The Illusionist.
In Textiles, Hannah Rumsey has based her project on therapeutic materials. She has embedded natural substances with medicinal properties into fibres and fabrics. Her collection includes a knitted hat that protects against headlice and textiles focused on skin conditions and arthritis.
International focus
Emma Henderson, Emma Bennett and Shona Sivamohan, all Architecture students, have attracted acclaim for their conceptual interventions in the Cuban city of Havana.
From their fieldwork on location, the trio have designed a transient city for the displaced people of Havana as their city is being restored amid ongoing social, economic, and political change.
Work in Graphic Design includes a student running a pop up graphic design studio during the degree show and working for anyone for free. Another has created a satirical online service that creates an artificial party that only exists in your social media stream.
Closing concert
For the closing concert, InterConnect, professional musicians from the SCO have teamed up with 10 composers from the Reid School of Music to bring their musical ideas to life.
InterConnect will be held on 10 June, 7.30pm at the Reid Concert Hall. The concert is free but ticketed.
I’d like to congratulate all graduating students and thank them for helping us see the world through a variety of new perspectives, enabling us to learn and think differently through their innovative and stimulating work. This is the beginning for another generation of ECA graduates who will shape our future environments and ask the questions that need to be addressed. We all look forward to the impact their work will have culturally and socially in times to come.
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