How did you enjoy remote week? The use of technology in teaching can be used as a great tool. In art, this blog was spawned from a necessity to share practice with the cohort whilst not seeing them face to face. The video demonstrations on all our teams show you how to work. The library of good practice at your fingertips in the Class Materials folders will allow you to see how successful learners developed their ideas. The pandemic also meant many galleries and museums now have much better online access and create content to show the importance of the work on show. You might wonder why we need to do it in college, you might wish we had more of it. Certainly, as you move into work online learning/ working is much more the norm, so it is good practice to get yourself set up with a space to work from home and access the big wide world. Last week we had lots of opportunities and competitions, this week we have a huge range of inspirations and influencers to show how you can be inspired by creatives to create your own content. Enjoy the varied selection, from Grime artists to The Bard himself!
NEW TV: SHAKESPEARE RISE OF A GENIUS
The BBC has launched a new show about Shakespeare, part biopic part tribute. It's great to see the dramatisation of his story of his rise in the theatre, then the significance of his contribution to the arts spoken by some of the great actors of our day.
Fantastic to see their insight and to understand why his work is still so influential today.
If you like this, you might also like Bill written by the Ghosts and Horrible Histories team, or Upstart Crow. A more silly, irreverent and anarchic portrayal of the Bard! Both available on IPlayer too!
NEW EXHIBITION: ROBOT
A fun exhibition showcasing a wide variety of Robots from Films and Tv. Some Film Props, some TV models, Toys and Promotional work.
Definitely worth a visit if a Sci Fi fan or potential model maker, Robotics engineer!
Big Boi: "I'm that Kid out of Stranger Things!"
Last week I showed my Year 1 Fine Art class this fantastic video where Big Boi from Outkast,explains his love for the music of Kate Bush. It's a joyous video and a fantastic insight into the workings of a creative. Many will see the differences in the musical styles but Big Boi and Outkast, were inspired by the themes and approaches Kate Bush explored and used them themselves. THAT DAY! Big Boi inducted Kate Bush into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. His speech is very fun and reiterates many of the points raised in the video above, but he explains more too. You can see the love for the art. Fantastic to see.
There only seems to be this bad copy on YouTube. I watched it on instagram, so you might be able to find it there! Or you can read most of it via Pitchfork, here!
NEW ALBUM: SUFYAN STEVENS: JAVELIN
Listen to it via the youtube video below to see Steven's incredible collages and visualistaion of his tracks. All made by himself, according to the credits. Or find it wherever you listen to music.
Javelin is Sufyan Stevens' 10th Studio album and it is fantastic. I've only just found out it had been released. It's been out a month. Great for chilling out too. His plaintive vocals over layered musical vistas are incredibly beautiful as always. This album reflects upon his previous works and sounds a bit like a best of but is all original music. It's reviewed very well too, so don't just take my word for it.
The video on youtube and the album art are all designed and made by Stevens and give you a scene of the joy in the music alongside a reflective mood with pops of colour.
LAST CHANCE TO SEE: FILM: WOMAN IN GOLD
You have until Sunday to watch it here, on IPLAYER!
A very interesting film about how Art work was stolen during the war and how some people had to fight harder than others to get it back. In the film, I watched last weekend. In this true story, Helen Mirren plays Maria Altmann who employs Ryan Reynolds' Lawyer character to try and get back her families portrait of her aunty Adele Bloch-Bauer. The Austrian museum know it is hers but do everything to try and keep this incredibly important artwork for themselves and the Austrian people.
Ryan Reynolds plays a role I hadn't seen him play before and is pretty good too. It's a fantastic depiction of the saga and all the insight into why/ how the artwork got into the hands of the Gallery first.
If you like the artwork, you can learn more about it here....
PODCAST: BUGZY MALONE GRANDEST GAME
This podcast was heavily trailed on the BBC so many of you may have already listened. It's a great podcast, with some adult themes, about how the game was made and it's influence and how it developed. Well worth a listen, if you like the game but also if you want to know how games like this are made. You will here from Rockstar Games designers as well as promoters who saw the games potential and sold it to the world!
The BBC Poster has been designed by Manchester Graphic designer Stanley Chow too, have a look at his website. Some present ideas on there I am sure.
LISTEN TO ALL EPISODES HERE, OR FIND THEM ON YOUR DEVICES.
THE BBC DESCRIPTION READS LIKE THIS! Screw being the good guy. A game is born where being criminal is winning. It had started as an innocent cop caper: but being bad was just too good. Add a hint of controversy – and a modern classic arrives.
GTA has been with British rapper Bugzy Malone as long as he can remember. Just as it has with millions upon millions of fans worldwide, over the last 25 years.
To understand the success and enduring magic of Grand Theft Auto, you’ve got to understand how it all began. That’s the coming together of two very different stories. One – of a young man schooled in hip hop and with a dream to make edgy media. The other – of a Scottish games team who’d had a brainwave that would change everything.
They’d been making a game which was fun but safe; being a cop, taking on the bad guys. But when they realised that being the bad guy was much more satisfying – their creativity had been unleashed. They’d meet a dynamic young man at an interactive publishing label who, along with his team, believed in what they’d done.
Sam Houser: a music and movie fan who saw the possibility in edgy games that would challenge the market. Grand Theft Auto was unleashed in 1997 – and a modern classic was born.
WARNING: This podcast contains adult language, depictions of violence and sexual themes.
PODCAST: YETI
I've listened to this podcast this week. It was very fun. I like a good Cryptid story so this podcast was right up my street. Lots of fun stories and mysteries to ponder.
Andrew the believer and Richard the sceptic travel across the world to find evidence of the Yeti. Park rangers say it is a myth, other people tell their stories of seeing Yeti's.
In Bhutan the idea of The Yeti being a spiritual metaphor rather than a real creature. Whatever you thing, the podcast is quite fun and there is lots of bonus content too.