PRE* opening night (Monday 23rd
April) was hugely successful with a heavy footfall that (in the pouring rain) paid
tribute to the promotional efforts in the lead up to the event. Although the evening did not host much group
discussion, the one-to-one type conversations between visitors and artists
alike set the tone for the communication driven events of the coming days. Elisa Heikkila and Carol Sowden’s
participatory installations were particularly engaging exploring audience
contributions/responses to bodies of work broadening the scope of
experimentation and feedback. The
informal discussion was rich with quality criticism and interesting ideas
triggered by the various displays/installations and became a valuable element
of the programme’s process.
Common
room (Tuesday 24th April) offered a second opportunity for a public
exhibition opening with the addition of the consistent input from fellow third
year degree students. The atmosphere was
lively and vibrant as the accessible nature of the ‘Enjoy’ art space encouraged
the flow of people and interaction, with some featured artists taking the work
from the space out into the street attracting much intrigue and positive reaction
from passers by. One visitor to the
exhibition said:
“I’ve never been
to an exhibition before and I don’t understand why people sit at home watching
TV where everything is told to you, when you can come to an art exhibition and
you can look at a piece and not necessarily understand it but you can look at
it all day and find your own interpretation.” (Hell Boy. PRE* day 2)
Following the process theme, the exhibition
space transformed as developments and reflection followed the opening
night. Discussion groups (Wednesday 25th
April) instigated much debate that often swayed from the proposed subject
matter, however the relevance of the tangents reinforced the evident connection
between individual practices and the PRE*/POST* proposal. Tutorials were relocated to the exhibition
space and took place within the central seating area so that the critical
discussion and tutor input became a background conversation to the wider
communal studio atmosphere. One of the
biggest developments taken from the experience of PRE* in its entirety has
been the strength of the studio culture derived from the unsegregated space,
allowing a visual conversation between both work and processes, that has begun
to describe the underpinning narrative between the Interdisciplinary year of
2012 artist collective.
By April Suzanne Comer
