Usually after completeing a Degree, you would think it would be time to relax and take a break. This is something I am often not very good at, although I have found some time in the past few weeks to read more and enjoy the sunshine.
The days of digital work continued following my submission of portfolio for assessment earlier this month. In fact, it seems like I have been working behind a screen more than ever!
Gray's School of Art have been working extremely hard in collaboration with Design and Code, Look Again and RGU to put together an immersive and ambitious Virtual Degree Show. Each graduating student has been given their own space to curate and design to display their work from art school. With it being online, the artists and designers have had scope to be as creative as possible, pushing boundaries and creating spaces which defies any possibility in reality. The show is not a compromise or replacement of what a Degree Show could have been, but a totally new entitiy and chance for us to challenge ourselves whilst learning something new.
It has been a fast learning curve and challenging for us all including for the team pulling it together. However, I hope that once it goes live the hard work will be clearly conveyed and emphasise how great Gray's is as an art school. I found it fascinating to put together a show online, especially how immersive it can actually feel. Not only are we doing the challenging task of curating a show, but doing it whilst learning an entirely new programme at the same time. We used Glitch.com, to design the spaces and another programme for photo uploads. Templates were provided for us to use, but these could be changed and adapted in many different forms, an example can be seen in the image above.
I am really looking forward to showing what I have created and sharing my space when the Virtual Degree Show goes live on 10th July.
As well as curating my Virtual Degree Show, I was lucky to have been selected to take part in a Postgrad Level Short Course in Creative Entrepreneurship. This course has been set up by Look Again, Gray's School of Art and Robert Gordon University to support creatives in sustaining their businesses by providing entrepreneurial tools through various workshops. This course strives to help support long term sustainability for creatives, entrepreneurial thinking and a critical understanding of how to apply this in the broader creative industries context.
I am one of 20 creatives from across Scotland who meet every week to learn, share and inspire. One of the great things about this course has been expanding my creative networks and being able to share creative business ideas. We have also been introduced to people working in the creative industry, including Clive Gillman, director of Creative Industries from Creative Scotland. The opportunity to discuss and ask questions about working in the industry but also how to forecast the future of this industry is invaluable.
Each week we are given coursework to complete which is an opportunity for us to reflect on the sessions and apply the learning to our own practice and business. It is a lively learning environment and one I am very much looking forward to continuing with over the next five weeks.