This second group tutorial was a chance to catchup with a a number of the people on the cohort namely Jo Sutherst, Josie Purcell and Philip Singleton.
Jo’s work has evolved significantly over the last few months to focus very much on portraits of herself where she has used different techniques to modify her appearance. If I understood correctly she has used analogue and digital techniques to achieve that transformation. What was interesting was that as part of her research she has used online sites that analyse our facial features to either calculate a score for the face or allow people to swipe right as per Tinder. Jo showed a large print of with portraits shown in a grid of 6. I felt that if it had been shown as a Grid of 4 it would have played to an enlarged version of the passport style aesthetic. That could have been interesting as people never appear to like their passport photographs which become an enduring simulacrum for a period of 10 years. Jo shared details of her exhibition layout.
Josie’s work has evolved and since I last saw her work she has been focusing on lumen prints a technique that I have not explored. The images I felt were very powerful when printed large have a real impact. It was interesting to hear that Josie was considering using a deckchair as part of her exhibition as this is something I am considering for my own exhibition. Josie’s work is backed up by a strong research practice in both the environment and alternative printing techniques.
Philip provide an update on his Birmingham Dust project which is a project that I am most familiar with though I really like the decision to introduce different surfaces for the display of his work especially the concrete tablets that partly remind me of the commandants being passed down on tablets.
