eca Degree Show 2008
Art & Design: 14–24 June 2008
Architecture & Landscape Architecture: 21 June–4 July 2008
Mon–Thu 10am – 8pm
Fri–Sun 10am – 5pm
(29 June – 4 July 10am – 2pm)
Venue:
Edinburgh College of Art
Main Building, Hunter Building, Architecture Building and Evolution House
Entrance via pend at 74 Lauriston Place or via Lady Lawson Street
EH3 9DF
See visiting eca for directions
Free admission
The work of over 400 graduating students across 21 disciplines goes on show on 14 June as Edinburgh College of Art is transformed into the city’s largest gallery space. Top fashion designers, world renowned painters, filmmakers, architects and sculptors have passed through the gates of ECA and this year’s Degree show is an opportunity to take in the work of the latest crop of emerging artists. Up and coming Scottish and International talent will be on show in the fields of: Animation, Architecture, Art, Space and Nature, Combined Studies, Fashion, Film &TV, Furniture/Product/Interior Design, Glass, Graphic Design, Illustration, Jewellery & Silversmithing, Landscape Architecture, Painting, Performance Costume, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Tapestry/Intermedia Art and Textiles.
As ever this year’s show will be an eclectic feast of the visual, aural and tactile. With inspirational sources and influences as diverse and wide ranging as the plants and wildlife of Zimbabwe, the music of Arab Strap, hot air ballooning, an obsession with the Polar Regions and an old sheepskin jacket, Degree Show 2008 is a treasure trove of creative endeavor celebrating new techniques, ideas and viewpoints. Visitors to the exhibition will also have the opportunity to purchase or commission some of the unique items of jewellery, furniture, illustration, fashion, glass and more.
Highlights include:
Jewellery Designer Patrick Mavros looked to his Zimbabwean roots when creating bright vibrant pieces with a crocodile skin effect. Bracelets, brooches and nipple tassles get the jungle treatment.
Animator Julia Petitperrin’s short film explores the unseen dark side of our much loved cartoon characters and their nasty habits.
Graphic Designer Ross Colquhoun combines art and science with his work commissioned by MTV where the eponymous logo gets redesigned in a petrie dish with E. coli bacteria.
Furniture/Product/Interior Design student Mark Aitken has designed a chair that gets bigger as you do! The Obesity Chair is a dining chair that extends with one size fitting all so there’s always room for dessert.
Phillipa Headley’s glasswork takes inspiration from Southern Africa’s Bantu people and their storytelling tradition, creating around 500 bright colourful glass vessels representing secrets and stories.
Sculptor Gwen Thompson Marchesi takes fairytales and folklore off the pages and into the studio as her lifesize donkey tries to come to terms with its own reflection.
The above highlights are just the tip of the Degree Show 2008 iceberg. Awards and industry praise abound with numerous students having already been recognised by the RSA, V&A, MTV, Channel 4, the Edinburgh Film Festival and Scottish Screen.
Degree Show Filmhouse Screenings
Animation 17 June, Filmhouse 3, 6-8pm
Film &TV 18 June, Filmhouse 3, 6-8pm
