_ l \
Art‘
School cnfi
it.
_ , _. \ Claire McLachfllan
t
denfial
Knitwear designed around motorbikes, little books of atheism, Jo Brand in a hole, ethical jewellery and mystical paintings inspired by William Blake. Kirstin Innes jumps feet first into the range of art and design on display and for sale at this year’s art school degree shows
im Lambie. Douglas Gordon.
Simon Starling. David
Shrigley. half of Travis. a quarter of Franz. Ferdinand and all of Found. (io further back: Peter Capaldi. Robbie Coltrane. (‘allum Innes. Sir liduardo Palozzi. Liz. Lochhead. Alistair Gray. John Byrne. Further still: Elizabeth Blackadder. (‘harles Rennie Mackintosh. Over the years. graduates from Scotland‘s four art schools have shaped our art. literature. music and theatre. the ways in which we live and think. and. arguably. our national identity.
and the almost continual flow of
new Scottish talent suggests that they‘ll continue to do so.
The institutions themselves have proven to be fertile breeding grounds for much more than punky guitar bands and asymmetric haircuts. too: Jordanstone is frequently ranked as one of the top art schools in the UK. Glasgow‘s MFA course does a fine line in Turner Prize winners. Edinburgh (‘ollege of An has been churning out some of the most exciting young fashion and textile designers in the country recently. and the emphasis on cross-
96 THE LIST 7-21 Jun 2007
Duncan of
disciplinary new media work at Gray’s School of Art has fostered a pioneering sense of innovation and experimentation among Aberdonian art graduates.
With such a wealth of talent to display. the end of term degree shows can be a little overwhelming for the uninitiated. so The List asked staff at the three schools with shows this month to identify some of the most interesting students amongst their current crop.
Glasgow School of Art DEGREE SHOW:
SAT 16 - SAT 23 JUN
‘There‘s just such a brilliant atmosphere about the place.‘ enthuses (‘laire McLachlan. 22. who is graduating from USA this year with a BA in Textiles. ‘liverybody might be working in completer different creative
disciplines. but they all bounce off each other — you can get a lot of
inspiration from watching the way that someone in a completely different field to you is working. There‘s this sense that you‘re not closed off. too — the art school is part of a bigger Glasgow. an art community. It's great.‘
McLachlan is a bundle of nervous enthusiasm in the run up to her degree show. Her delicate. 1960s- ish dresses. which have already picked up a great deal of acclaim. started off. incongruously. with the heavy. masculine. greasy lines of the motorbike. which she translates into knitted textiles.
Almost in testament to the diversity of work being created. her classmate. Edinburgh-born lvor Williams. describes his work as ‘a small atheist book series‘ — which at
Ivor Williams
first sounds more like the eventual outcome of a publishing course than an art degree. However. Williams. graduating in Visual (‘ommunication. is interested in digital and analogue developments in print and book- making. His hand-bound books. with quotes from the works of Darwin. Bertrand Russell and Richard Dawkins. are intended as ‘set text‘ equivalents to the Bibles and Korans of organised religion. but are also art works in their own right. experimenting with contemporary typography and forcing their reader to appreciate the art of the words before the sense.
Painter Jack Frame produces landscapes across huge canvasses. but his creative process is as unconventional as Williams and McLachlan’s. Frame's stripped down. often eerily stark. works