Two weeks ago saw Edinburgh College of Art’s third year students collaborate for a night of celebration and performance dedicated to their work this year. As an ECA student it’s rare to see the grandioseness of the Sculpture Court taken advantage of, even during exhibitions – Like Tiles in a Pool was a clear exception. Colourful, at times amazingly irreverent but overall inviting; the space was full to the brim both with towering installations and one of the biggest turnouts in recent years.
Upon talking to Curation Leader Rosie Hodgson Smith, familiar to some of you as one of our music editors, she told me that she had been keen to “give the year group a place to reflect, socialise, and plan collaborations” and that her goal for the instillation was to “allow performers to use a more professional space, which was reflected in the range and experimentation of Ishrat Rahim and Alice Borovets’ pieces.” The intention for creating a conversational and collaborative space was so well arranged that in every direction there were stories being shared and plans being made.
Rosie’s work hangs proudly on the court’s centre wall; grand in scale and equally vivid. From speaking with the artist about the ‘But I’m right here’ series of oil and acrylic medium paintings, it felt refreshing to know that their subject was completely up for interpretation. The two artwork’s distorted familiarity are lacking in clarity yet pull it off so well.
Another clear standout was Maria McStay’s Shroom Series, a collection of bold yet almost translucent-appearing fragile ceramic vases set up on complimentary pedestals. As with many of the pieces on show, McStay’s work looks as though it is rippling underwater and quite intentionally imperfect. The vases are clearly inspired by natural forms though appear almost alien, too. McStay crafted these designs using “the ancient ceramic ‘colombino’ technique,” revelling in the absence of a traditional pottery wheel or slip casting to create organic forms.
It is difficult to compare a student exhibition to a professional one, if anything because of the usual incoherence between approach from such a large group of individuals. However, a careful balance was struck in curation which prevented this, and so the dissonance between media and style felt quite intentional. It is also important to acknowledge that we find these students in the middle of learning their craft, though this doesn’t feel obvious when walking between many of the works on show.
There was room for improvement with some of the pieces on display admittedly, where each artist was given space to present their work there was undeniably a visual difference between some of the more painstakingly detailed work and artwork that was passable – but who am I to say? I believe that every installation had at least taken experimentation to the next level in one form or another, and so taking in this mammoth of an exhibition was not once uninteresting. The unique perspective that University student artists are able to bring to Edinburgh’s usually tourist-ready, commercial art scene is something that you won’t want to miss next time we see an exhibition hit the Sculpture Court.
Photo taken by Ewan Bootman
