Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Art inspires at MA degree show
The four-day event, entitled Art in Twelve Parts, was held at the University's City Campus, Broadcasting Place building.
Student Elizabeth Chadwick's project Electroknit showcased an installation about the hacking of an electronic knitting machine made in the late 1980's. She said the idea promotes the importance of knowledge, self-cultivation and self-expression through the medium of textiles.
Elizabeth, who has recently launched the website www.electroknit.co.uk, said: "I got a knitting machine a couple of years ago and started to look at other artists who had used knitting machines in their work. I came across a tutorial online which showed you how to 'hack' into an electronic knitting machine using a bit of simple programming. A few other artists and computer hackers across the world had already used the hack to produce some amazing work and I thought it would be a really interesting project to undertake to expose these types of collaborations."
Student Marianne Springham, who designed the event publication, said the opening launch night was a great success, with a bigger turn out from the public than expected.
"We had an incredible mixture of art in this MA show. The exhibition was curated by both students and staff and split into 12 parts: 11 students exhibiting, eight graduating students and three year one students. The twelfth person referred to in the title - Art in Twelve Parts - references our collaborative projects, including a project in partnership with Leeds Art Gallery and a trip to London where we visited artist Simon Tyszko's home-based installation."
Marianne's exhibition project showcased a collection that referenced famous contemporary art. She added: "Amongst other things I exhibited some balloon dogs, a reference to Jeff Koons, a contemporary artist known for his mass produced, reproductions of banal objects. There were also other well-known names in my collection, 'Hirsts Biscuits' - a contemporary biscuit selection box with shark and cow shaped biscuits for the mass market and dirty pillowcases from Tracey Emin's bed as tombola prizes. My work is basically about the contradiction of the contemporary art world, it is such a difficult place for a parent such as myself to feel welcome, but I can go out and buy a Damien Hirst lampshade for a few quid. So it is everywhere but inaccessible at the same time. I work from home and make my work from materials that are readily available to anyone."
Part-time student Roy Wood's project focussed on photography and symmetry.
"I wanted to look at symmetry and how I could make a series of images through reflection, carefully grouping them together to see the impact of how they would look together - and that's exactly what I did," he said.
"Each object was photographed in such a way that they had reflections, and then that image was also mirrored. I am now going into the second and final year of my MA and I'm very interested in concentrating more on the drawing and illustration side of art. The project I have just exhibited was very good preparation for this and it has inspired me look at depth of field."