Images from Final Shop Show on our Flickr galleryHello! Our final show had over 350 people exploring our Shop, not only family and friends but, the less usual art audience of passers by out shopping in the Whitgift, or going to catch a tram or bus, or those on a lunch break from work. This real engagement with the community was fantastic for our students where the artist in a traditional gallery situation, is absent upon the audience's viewing.
Thanks to all those who popped in and chatted to our Shop-assistant-artist-tour-guides, and the whole Visual Arts and Design department staff and students for making so much creativity out of so little, having real enthusiasm and energy, a great sense of adventure and play to make this event and the past two months residency so unusual and vibrant. This project was set up in echoing contemporary practice where artists are increasingly moving into empty shops in this current financial climate.
We will be posting more about this, including some of the wonderfully supportive comments left in our feedback book in the Shop shortly, we are on a break til 1st June to take a well earned rest....well done everyone!
Meanwhile...we'd love to have your comments on our project so do please read our blog and respond to staff and student posts.
I loved shop. It was brave and exciting and risky and funny and political and positive and questioning. It was beautiful and daft and it felt like a whole bunch of people were making something happen. I liked the jounrey around the spaces,the rats, the zines, the lo-fi sense of it all. I loved the sense of re writing croydon and I loved the fizzy drinks.
ReplyDelete