Marg's 4th entry - Mastering the art
Classes are almost over and a few of the European exchange students have already gone home. I have my last class on Monday which is a critique for Silkscreen Extended. I'll be silkscreening figures onto a cricket bat that my friend made in the wood studio. I've really enjoyed taking subjects that require me to use more traditional art techniques. It's been a nice change from sitting behind a computer and has given me many ideas for new media projects.
This last month has gone by very quickly. I went to a farm an hour north of Helsinki to help my Belgium friend with her art installation. Five of us spent the weekend sculpting a section of earth into an ever changing geometric form according to the models we were given. It was hard work but a lot of fun and very satisfying. In the evenings we washed off the mud with a traditional sauna and cooked some hearty Finnish meals washed down with Belgium beer.
Since then we've all been busy with final projects, critiques and exhibitions. End of year exhibitions have been in full swing. MOA (Master of Arts Festival) provides an opportunity for final year Masters students to showcase their work. Students are heavily involved in the organisation of the event, undertaking the identity design, exhibition space design and co-ordinating events. During the exhibition weeks many talks and seminars are held which is open to students and the public.
My department, the Media Lab had an exhibition in the centre of Helsinki called Demo Day where students presented the projects they'd been working on during the semester. TaiK invited various companies to attend including Nokia and Greenpeace which provided excellent networking opportunities for the students.
Next Friday evening I leave for Denmark, Sweden and Norway with two friends. It will be so nice to get out of Helsinki for a while and go travelling before undertaking some freelance design work over the summer.
Until next time,
Margs