I visited Plymouth in January for the open day and loved it! The one thing that stood out for me was the facilities. The glass making and ceramics workshops were amazing! The fine art block in across the road from the main college and is right next to a shop and car park. They have two galleries in the college and a cinema. The lady that did the talk was lovely and the course sounded really interesting.
INTERVIEW DATE: 10th February 2020 (DONE)
Application Status : UNCONDITIONAL OFFER
Pros of living in Plymouth:
- The college facilities
- Hoe and the Barbican
- Quiet city
- Cheaper than other cities
- Plymouth has pretty good employment rates, with 73% of people in work.
- 99% mobile phone coverage
- high broadband speeds averaging 31.8Mbps.
- “Plymouth is now officially the optimum place to buy a property in Britain, with the best balance of schools, housing, culture and scenery.”
- Plymouth is a spectacular waterfront city
- lively cultural scene
- stone’s throw from Devon’s rugged coastline and wild moors.
- With 40% green space, Plymouth is the greenest city in the UK
- sits on the edge of Dartmoor National Park and the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
- Plymouth is also THE place for watersports. Sailing, scuba diving and surfing are among the many activities on offer at schools and clubs in the city and dotted along the local coastline.
- excellent beaches around Plymouth, including Plymouth Hoe – East and West - and Mothecombe in Devon, and Portwrinkle and Downderry in nearby Cornwall.
- Barbican is home to art galleries, boutique shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants – and more than 200 listed buildings
- Drake Circus shopping centre, which boasts more than 70 top brands all under one roof. For arts, crafts and more independent stores, opt for the Barbican.
- Tinside Lido, a beautiful Art Deco outdoor swimming pool
- Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment163.68 £ - Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre £553.75
- Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre £466.67
- Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre £844.44
- Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre £733.33
Cons of living in Plymouth:
- Location: It's quite far away from Bournemouth and even further from Cumbria.
- A lot of poverty in some places
- Not as much of an art scene
Fine art talk
Auntiginey - tutor (aunty)
Fine art block is separate from the main college
Freedom
3 women tutors and a male technician
Work across all 3 buildings
The tutors practice what they teach
High contact time with staff
1st year - 15 hrs a week contact time
2nd year - 12 hrs a week
Each student has own space
Professionals in creative sector
Tailored student help
Trips - every year
Every 2 years - Venice viounava
National and regional
Community of like minded people
Inquery led
Theory and practice
Thinking and making
Big studio space which turns in an exhibition space - Hugh ceilings and natural light
Experimental projection workshop
Technical workshops
Body and space - painting with bodies - gestural painting workshop
Peer crits / support and advice
Lots of experimenting
Elenor crook - anatomical face reconstruction workshop
Clay bust workshop
3D rendering & arduino workshops
Trips - Berlin barcalona Venice Amsterdam Bristol Birmingham st ives London Glasgow
● Why have you chosen this University/ Course?
- Access to dedicated studio space – When I visited the studio space was nice and open, lots of space.
- The support from tutors ( 1st year 15 hrs per week contact time, 2nd year 12 hrs per week contact time)
- That it’s a small college just dedicated to creative arts.
- Professional practice opportunities.
- The course layout covers everything from developing personal practice, critical analysis, contextualisation, and contexts of practice.
- Most diverse ecosystem of materials, technologies, processes, practices, and exchange of ideas of any art school in the UK.
- The opportunities for cooperation and exchange.
- ‘Workshop Wednesdays’ gives students a chance to encounter unfamiliar technical processes, strengthen existing skills, and engage in broader learning opportunities in the college. ( Drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, video, sound, printmaking, critical writing + more).
- Facilities
- Fab Lab - research / development / digital design technologies: 3D printing / 3D scanning / vinyl cutting / CNC milling / CNC routing / laser cutting
- Material Lab - ceramic / glass / plaster / metals / wood / plastic
- Multimedia Lab & Equipment resource centre - darkroom / specialist / darkroom / scanning darkroom / rostrum / Steenbeck / green screen / lighting / sound / media studios / edit suites / infinity cove / interactive media / Equipment Resource Centre
- Fabric Lab - dyeing / sewing / cutting / tufting / knitting / embroidery / millinery / textile silk screening / digital embroidery / sublimation printing
- Imprint Lab & Digital Print Bureau - drawing / monoprinting / etching / engraving / intaglio / silk-screening / lithography / letter pressing / Digital Print Bureau
- Learning Lab - Library / Study Zone / learning technology / collections
- Opportunities to exhibit in public domains & exposure to public exhibitions in onsite exhibition space ‘The Gallery”.
- Dynamic Community (experienced & active researchers & makers)
- Graduates – land residencies & exhibition opportunities @ KIRST (Plymouth), Spike Island (Bristol) & Ocean Studios (Plymouth).
- Erasmus + programme – Study @ European partner Uni – 3 months – Spain/Finland.
● What do you know about this course?
Year 1
Defining practice (Induction, short projects, intros to fundamental techniques)
Thinking through practice (development – chosen artistic, socio-cultures/process-based theme, tutorials & group crits, self evaluation)
Personal Practice project (personally-defined project, testing practical & critical skills)
Production & Professional practice 1 (working with other – peers, industry or institutions)
Contexts of Practice 1 (Theories & ideas & concepts) Interdisciplinary studies (expand, introduced to new approaches)
Year 2
Active/Reactive (studio practice & integrated theory)
Praxis (develops sustained & substantial body of practice)
Production & Professional Practice 2 (research & practical development)
Contexts of Practice 2 (extends & develops themes, ideas, concepts & critical discourses, lectures & seminars)
Year 3
Research & Experimentation (risk-taking & critical reflection)
Creative & Professional Development (taking from the last module and producing finished outcomes) Creative & Professional Conclusion (build body of work for exhibition)
Contexts of Practice 3 (2 pathways, critical thinking & contextualisation, 1 – Written research project, 2- Contextual enquiry project).
● Who/what inspires your work?
- Dadaists – Hans Arp (chance) , Tristan Tzar (poems) , Hannah Hoch (gender)
- Dreams - Michael Vincent Manolo (photomanipualtion), Salvador Dali (paranoic- , Carl Jung
- Abstract & Colour – Jackson Pollock, Kandinsky, Sophie TEA, Jack Coulter
- Techniques – Sammy Gorin (inks), Richard Serra (verbs), David S Stern (photoweave), Hockney (joiners),
- Concepts – Michael Landg (‘The breakdown’), Joanna Chamouli (social masks & mixed media)
- Work – Freya Jobbins (toy sculptures), Terry Richardson (RAW photography), Maude Fernhaut (RAW photography), Rebecca Naen (NPG ‘Learning to love’, RAW photography)
- Grayson Perry (his research methods & concepts ‘All Man’) – society & Culture
- Songwriters - David Bowie, Dermot Kennedy
- COLOUR, SOUND/MUSIC, MOVEMENT, PEOPLE (SOCIETY & CULTURE)
● What are the strengths of your work & where would you like to improve?
Strengths:
- Photography – capturing emotions
- Photoshop - I envisage, manipulate and communicate a message well with the photos I take.
- Use of colour
- Willingness to throw myself into experimentation to develop ideas further
- Excited to explore and see how I can take it further and learn how to use these skills in different ways through fine art to produce different outcomes that convey different messages, moods and meanings.
- Printmaking – repetition and layering
- Fluidity throughout my work
Improvements:
Critical Analysis. Artist research – my research is wide and good, but it needs to be deeper looking at the methods, meanings and messages behind artist’s work. Self reflection and evaluation.
● Are there any projects which have been important to you, if so why?
- Inside Outside – Due to looking into mental health and the masks people wear
- Gendered Objects – opened up my mind and let me explore on a deeper level something that I hadn’t thought of before.
● What galleries, exhibitions or festivals have you been to?
- Arts by the sea Festival in Bournemouth x2
- Lakes Alive Art Festival in Kendal x2
- Russell Cotes Museum and Gallery (William De Morgan, ‘Sublime Symmetry’)
- Surf the Wave Dance Platform (Zoielogic and others)
- National Portrait Gallery (Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize)
- The Photographers gallery (Food)
- BEAF (Bournemouth Emerging Arts Fringe)
- The Louvre in Paris
- Cookhouse gallery in The Lake District
- The Brewery Arts Centre in The Lake District
- Blackwell House in The Lake District
● What is your understanding of the relevant industry/jobs market?
Jobs I could get after degree:
Fine Art Graduates
A fifth of fine art graduates working in the UK are employed as artists.
Employed : 66.8%
Further Study: 14.4%
Working & Studying: 6.3%
Unemployed: 6.7%
Other 5.9%
Type of Work
Arts, design & media: 29.9%
Retail, catering & bar work: 24.2%
Marketing, PR & sales: 6.5%
Secretarial & numerical clerks: 6.1%
Other: 33.3%
● Where do you see yourself in three/five/ten years time?
3 years – graduating and applying for a masters in Art therapy, also applying for different creative jobs
5 years – graduating from master in art therapy and hopefully going into full time work
10 years – own practice for self employed work / art therapist within the community
● How would you describe yourself?
- optimistic, open minded, tenacious, personable, organised, forward-thinking.
● What are your main interests?
- fine art photography, sound art, print-making, sculpture & ceramics, glass making, people, society & culture.
● What achievement are you most proud of?
- Completing the foundation diploma so far
● What are your career plans?
Art therapist
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