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If architecture is frozen music, have I created Devices of thawing? – Reflections on moving a design project from academic to professional terrain

Article by BA Design alumnus Matthew Edgson

When I was notified on the 20th June last year – whilst exhibiting my third year project at the 2016 Goldsmiths BA Design show – that I had the opportunity to expand the work for a more public platform, I was initially apprehensive. The nine months spent developing the project had been a fatiguing coalescence of enjoyment, frustration and discovery. Was I prepared to endure that once again whilst subjecting the work (and myself) to a much wider, and possibly harsher, field of scrutiny? It turns out I was. In fact, all of the enjoyment, frustrations and discoveries that shaped the recent developments of my project have actually galvanised what I learnt whilst on the Goldsmiths BA Design course – not just regarding design as a practice but how I, as a designer, should operate as I transition from the academic landscape into professional terrain.

The project in question, titled ’Building The Cinematic’, stemmed from analysis of existing cinematic work, the majority of which has an anthropocentric (human based) focus. Architecture exists in the background. A large part of the project looks to shift this paradigm; teasing out the sensual, encompassing qualities of architecture using the format of cinema. Buildings are reframed as filmmaking resources through a series of camera rigs, manifestos and films projected directly onto architecture. Architectural input defines cinematic output. Alongside this, the project navigates a series of legislative frameworks regarding filming in London (particularly around the built environment), establishing a critique of those regulations. Continue reading “If architecture is frozen music, have I created Devices of thawing? – Reflections on moving a design project from academic to professional terrain”

Design Summer School for students of Miriam College, Philippines

On 19-24 June, Liboni Munnings (Technical Tutor at Goldsmiths Design) and Hefin Jones (Associate Lecturer) ran a Design summer school for a small group of students from Miriam College in the Philippines.

The aim of the summer school was to introduce high school students to a diverse set of skills and practices that can be used across art and design study. Over a week, the students were exposed to a diversity of design ideas and specialisms, through practical workshops, visits and lectures, and they were engaged in a wide range of creative methods and processes.

The workshops acted to stimulate discussions about the role and function of design as a social, cultural, economic and environmental practice.

HYPHEN show 2017: Tasreen Rahman turns difficult debates into comics

Comics are generally not taken very seriously as an art form, outliers such as Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer-winning “Maus” notwithstanding. But perhaps they should be: visual storytelling is an excellent tool for making a wide variety of topics more accessible and easier to understand. For her BA Design graduation project, Tasreen Rahman created a comic book based on conversations about difficult, controversial issues:

Continue reading “HYPHEN show 2017: Tasreen Rahman turns difficult debates into comics”

Music, catbots, saliva beer at the Goldsmiths BA Design show Hyphen

Last week, the BA Design class of 2017 exhibited their graduation work at the Truman Brewery. The show, called Hyphen, brought together a wide range of innovative projects, exploring themes from technology to our relationship with nature, from social issues to surprising twists on everyday items.

The exhibition included a number of live presentations, such as a cello performance for Imogen Piper’s project which turns data on airstrikes in Syria into music.

A couple of the graduation projects have already attracted attention from the press. Sydney Schaefer’s alcoholic drinks brewed with the help of her own saliva were featured in The Times; the development of Leah Thompson’s cat-inspired robots made an appearance on BBC One.

You can find more photos of the exhibition on our Facebook page. Videos and interviews with graduates will be coming soon to the Design blog.