Communication Art & Design MA pop-up shop; Printing at Home, Xavier Antin
For the graduates from the Communication Art & Design MA at the Royal College of Art, the emphasis is on ideas as the key medium, through visual intelligence, thoughtfulness and playfulness, whether the work be photography, film, video, print, wood-block type or any kind of software. The graduates were also selling their work through a pop-up shop.
The use of software applies to the work of Xavier Antin, whose graphic designer background has led him to an interest in the process of publishing and playing with the scale of production. Xavier looks at historic economic means of production from large to small scale, leading to a book entitled Printing at Home, and a series of photographs depicting DIY publishing effects by the low-fi hacking of standard printers, e.g. the Potato Printer that prints potato prints automatically.
Fancy Fence, Jean Jullien; Attack of the Kraken, Jan Lun Lee
Jean Jullien’s large scale Fancy Fence wall of posters forms part of his series of images aimed at a mass audience. Jean says, ‘Rather than produce solely for a crowd of visua arts connoisseurs, to be viewed only in specialised spaces and publications, I try to use the commercial and public domain to create a visual language that aims to make people laugh and think.’
Jan Lun Lee creates drawings, prints or physical objects that combine the real world with the imaginary. The designer explains: “When producing work I like to think about the world we inhabit, drawing influences from architecture, old folk stories, love, shapes, fear, the mundane, the extravaganza….all of which creates a world where I am able to stretch my thoughts and pull them together again, creating solutions to any given brief.’
Arc Magazine Poster, Mark El-Khatib; Odd One Out, Molly Kyhl
Molly Kyhl displayed a series of lithographs in editions of 10, entitled Odd One Out Nrs 1,2 and 3. The posters were created for a sporadic periodical called AHA that focuses on non-linear games and puzzles. Molly says, ‘I like to approach things in a light and playful way, and it most often starts from simple ideas. ..The work presented in the exhibition circles around seeing things from different perspectives, without there ever being just one answer to a question.’
At the RCA, Mark El-Khatib showed a Arc Magazine poster, created using a bespoke typeface called Twin. Mark explains his graphic design work: ‘A common thread throughout both self-initiated enquiry and briefed tasks is an interest in the physicality of graphic design and its place in the world, alongside an enjoyment of typography and the alphabet.’
File Under, Mark El-Khatib & Ray O"Meara
Mark also collaborated with Ray O”Meara on a series of posters entitled File Under. Using letterpressed laser-cut plywood, inkjet print and marker pen, the posters were created to promote lectures at the college.
Englishes, Geetika Alok
Geetika Alok ‘s project Englishes explores the duality of attitude towards english as a language by inhabitants of countries who have acquired english though colonialism, with Geetika looking especially at her home nation of India. Geetkia says, ‘South Asia presents a unique case of language contact, convergence and assimilation: the voices of ordinary people in India betray a tension between the indigenous language of identity and authoritative english, the language of the economy. My series of typographic works draws inspiration from the Indian decorative arts exploring this love/hate relationship.’
More than a logo, Alistair Nash; Untitled 1, Materiality and Space, Paul Scattergood
Two MPhil projects were also on display. Alistair Nash’s More than a logo is a research project that ‘explores the complexities of modern branding. It examines the commercial world’s approach to the subject and asks what it could learn from the Royal College of Art.’ Alistair continues, ‘I conducted interviews with fifteen RCA tutors, graduates and students to explore how the RCA takes a different and potentially enlightening approach to branding. I identified common areas of thought and used cluster analysis to provide qualitative data, which I interpret and summerise. A central component of this project is a series of twelve mind maps which visualise answers and connections to interview questions, bringing out commonalities, themes and conclusions.’
Mphil Paul Scattergood’s project Materiality and Space studies how the illusion of space is created by the flat surface of a picture. Paul’s research has covered a wide spectrum of eras, from Caravaggio through to Bridget Riley and contemporary digital media projection. Paul has ‘experimented with geometry and form to affect the material and virtual surface of illusionist pictures and lens-based light projections.’
Royal College of Art
Xavier Antin
Jean Jullien
Jan Lun Lee
Molly Kyhl
Mark El-Khatib
Ray O”Meara: ray.omeara@network.rca.ac.uk
Geetika Alok
Alistair Nash
Paul Scattergood: paul.scattergood@network.rca.ac.uk
