How do I develop content for my portfolio?
Save time and money:
- Explore and use what is around you. Take advantage of free spaces as an alternative way to gain exhibition experience:
– An empty cabinet?
– A hallway?
– An open space in your local library?
- Search online for your local recycling community to get your materials.
- Think about where you work. Are there any materials being thrown away that you could reuse?
- Don’t throw things away! Recycle. Keep fixings and legs, or cut out pieces of fabric in good condition. Anything that ‘still works’ and can be detached can be reused later.
- Always ask for student discounts.
- Reconsider ‘by-products’ and leftovers when making work – they could become components of future artworks:
– Dry glue
– Pencil shavings
– The overspill from a painting
- Performances don’t need to take place ‘on stage’, think about public social areas and local festivals as venues. You don’t need a live audience, you could record your performances and that is the work.
- Explore and use what is around you. Take advantage of free spaces as an alternative way to gain exhibition experience:
– An empty cabinet?
– A hallway?
– An open space in your local library?
- Search online for your local recycling community to get your materials.
- Think about where you work. Are there any materials being thrown away that you could reuse?
- Don’t throw things away! Remove and Reuse. Keep fixings and legs, or cut out pieces of fabric in good condition. Anything that ‘still works’ and can be detached can become reused later.
- Always ask for student discounts.
- Reconsider ‘by-products’ and leftovers when making work – they could become components of future artworks:
– Dry glue
– Pencil shavings
– The overspill from a painting
- Performances don’t need to take place ‘on stage’ — think about public social areas and local festivals as venues. You don’t need a live audience, you could record your performances and that is the work.
Become an independent maker and thinker:
- If possible, working on your portfolio outside of school is good. This will give you more freedom to make what you want. Can you expand on the projects you do at school in your own time and put a new spin on it?
- A monochrome painting assignment might later become an underpainting for a different work.
- A collage might become the backdrop to a video.
- Sometimes simply thinking about what you like about the artwork (or how you made it) rather than why you made it (i.e. because you were told to), can breathe new life into it.
- Think about how your sketchbook works and the notes you write. This is where your independent thinking and research starts. Research feeds into your practical work, it is important to build knowledge around your work and the issues that surround it. This will help you to speak about your art with other people and help to give you new ideas.
- Look into artists and designers that you like, this will give you great ideas to develop new work.
- See art in galleries if possible.
- For video works, screenings are recommended, especially if the artist is introducing or discussing the work. There are also lots of interesting screenings taking place online:
- The events that you go to don’t have to only be art-focused. You can go to events that tackle current affairs and other topics such as science, psychology, gaming etc. Think about how your work relates to society.
- Throughout your studies you will learn about and discuss issues that we encounter as citizens, thinking about the role of art in the wider community. You will be considering issues around class, race, ethnicity, gender, language, religion, ability, age and geography when making work. That is why it is important to be aware of what is happening around you!
Listen to Podcasts
Tate Modern Podcasts
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/podcasts
- Follow interesting account on instagram:
Top tips on how to keep on seeing art during lockdown.
Many galleries and museums have now been closed for many months due to the Covid crisis. It has been hard to access events and talks during this time. However, many institutions have moved their programmes online and have made them more accessible. You can go and visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York from the comfort of your own home!
Here is a list of interesting sites you can explore as a starting point to listen to and watch :
ICA Daily Archive:
Collected daily recommendations of reading, viewing, listening and more from the ICA’s curatorial team and a series of guest editors during spring 2020.
Virtual Views: Video Lives
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is Presenting seven video works from their collection
https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/362
The JULIA STOSCHEK online collection
The online collection catalogue offers the opportunity to research and view over 860 works by more than 255 artists from the JULIA STOSCHEK COLLECTION. https://www.jsc.art/collection/
The Botanical Mind at Camden Art Centre
Camden Art Centre has created a new online project that has been developed in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the closure of their galleries due to the pandemic. The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and The Cosmic Tree was originally conceived as a trans-generational group exhibition, but has been postponed. In the meantime, they have launched this online programme of new artist commissions, podcasts, films, texts, images and audio, expanding on and enriching the ideas and issues informing the show at https://www.botanicalmind.online/
Whoever Heard of a Black Artist ? Britain’s Hidden Art History, BBC documentary, duration: 59 mins
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bcy4kd
Lafayette Anticipations
From the capture of events that have taken place within its walls, to musical and audiovisual productions entirely designed for an online experience, Lafayette Anticipations is developing an ambitious program of digital content capable of documenting its activities or offering a unique creative platform for artists.
Resources for young people in Years 12 and 13
We have put together a series of resources from the Slade for young people in Years 12 and 13. This is a directory of free, online, subject-specific learning resources taken from a wide variety of academic departments at UCL. The resource is available on UCL’s Widening Participation website.