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 degree shows 05 roundup
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.We take our pick of this year’s design degree shows. Art has always been seen as the eccentricly cool or disapprovingly aloof aunt to design’s poorly bred nephew. “Bastardised” by commerce and devoid of “creativity”, graphics has been viewed by critics as the discipline of corporate reports, and industrial design as a vocation for teapot-and-table-makers.Not so, say the nation’s three largest degree shows: Free Range, New Designers and The Royal College’s Like Nowhere Else. The RCA’s title wasn’t far wrong - work at the other shows was often too vocational to inspire. Notable exceptions were, ironically, pieces that aspired to a more artistic bent. Camberwell’s consistent graphic prowess and St Martins’ latest batch of Jarvis-beaters impressed at Free Range. New Designers followed suit with Sam Bakewell’s inverted feet, reminiscent of Marc Quinn’s best, and Angela Parry’s glorious chintz owing more to Koons than Rams.  Pink Couple by Angela Parry and Untitled (detail) by Sam Bakewell. RCA students were, predictably, streets ahead. Vikings conquered Fashion yet again as Tove Christensen’s planar rhomboids mixed Blousy Brown with Bladerunner. Caroline Noordijk’s witty dildo juicer fulfilled her aim of “f**king the iconic celebrity of Starck”. Overall it was the wry playfulness of the work that most impressed, showing designers clearly liberated from a suffocating modernist dogma. Not everything was great, however. Animation was far from vintage, with films either woefully overacted or descending into glitchy, self-obsessed nonsense. Architecture was truly dire, with students resorting to vertically hung strip lights and “Untitled” pieces in a vain attempt to salvage attention. In a sense, though, it’s not really fair to compare the three, given the RCA is a finishing school for the world’s brightest sparks. But the best “applied art” across the shows, whether 2D or 3D, wasn’t afraid to combine the seemingly polar opposites of functionalism and conceptualism. This year’s crop shows a new generation who’ve picked up the Campana Brothers’ copo and run with it. Daniel West 19 August 05 Your best of the rest of this year’s art degree shows… Fine Art BA, Glasgow School of Art As always it's a mixed bag, but when it's good, it's very good. When it's bad, though, it's down right stinking. Globalisation, world politics and the media are all in Darren Cullen's sights. His 3D vision room is incredibly inventive and laugh-out-loud funny. Read all about his attempts to put up a billboard poster in Glasgow telling everybody, “Santa gives more to rich kids than poor kids” at www.spellingmistakescostlives.com/santa.  Tribesman Triptych (details) by Emma Semple and Santa Gives... by Darren Cullen. Some would argue that it's been a bad year for painting, but three ladies have done themselves proud. The paintings of all three deal with the otherworldly, the disfigured and the hidden. Emma Semple's paintings are frenetic - objects burst out from the canvas. Jill Russell's are filled with a deep longing for something, dark and atmospheric. While Nina Miller's fabric heads are disturbing, yet strangely beautiful.  read weegie's review in full
Fine Art BA, Central St Martins, London There are always fashions in the art world. People become preoccupied with similar ideas and degree shows can be great places to see what fashions are emerging in art, as well as what's great but has nothing to do with what's popular.  Textile Instillation by Valentina Dorsa and Crossing Of... (detail) by Rea Zekkou. If CSM’s BA Fine Art is anything to go by, we're going to be seeing built environments with projections everywhere in the next few years. But between the pieces bustling up against each other it's often the things which are different that appeal. Meena Ayittey's graffiti-style drawings were good examples of a current trend, as were Nathan von Boventer's street-art pieces. Valentina Dorsa's large beanbag-esque sculptures of Oxo and Alka Seltzer packets are humorous and unique. And, as ever at CSM, there was some great video on display, notably this year from Chiakara Shimasaki's beautiful figurative abstractions. read rowan's review in fullalso read review of rea zekkou’s csm showFashion BA, Manchester Metropolitan University The grass catwalk and cabbage-printed backdrop gave the MMU fashion show a quirky and distinctive vibe: yet the collections on show were largely characterised by wearability and professional polish rather than theatrical eccentricity. Collections were commercial rather than outrageous. Nonetheless, this was an exciting and dynamic show.  Dress (detail) by Claire Nall Smith and textile by Abigail Brigg. Amongst the more adventurous pieces were Louise Crawford's sculptural knits, featuring oversized collars, exaggerated bustles and huge Victorian-style muffs. Moving from raw-edged rustic to surreal and futuristic, Crawford's collection was undoubtedly one of the most exciting and directional on display. Clare Nall-Smith's beautiful, draping jersey pieces were understated but arresting, teaming fluttery balletic skirts with unusual Japanese-style sashes inspired by traditional kimonos. Printed textiles were one of the show's greatest strengths. Amongst the most exciting printed pieces were Abigail Briggs', whose colourful and exuberant collection, bursting with zesty yellows, oranges and turquoises, opened the show. read kwoodfine's review in full
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related info
 useful linksnew designers site new designers online rca: like nowhere else gsa: degree show 2005 www.csm.arts.ac.uk www.mmu.ac.uk
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degree shows 04
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