Originally Transmitter was devised around two micro-residencies — Manchester School of Art students were supposed to visit Zil Cultural Centre in May 2020, while Foundation Art & Design students would spend some time at Pink in Manchester in June 2020. But due to Covid-19 travel restrictions both those initial plans were cancelled. However, students were determined to establish artistic relationships, thus transforming it into an online project.
Students of Foundation Art & Design programme were paired up with Manchester School of Art students and created instructions for each other and worked together via email and Zoom. The resulting works and a series of dialogues were presented at an exhibition as part of FutureLab in Shanghai, an international platform dedicated to the research and presentation of innovative teaching practice for the future art and design education.
“The results reveal something of the gap between the written and spoken language through which we articulate our practices and the work which we are describing,” — said Magnus Quaife, International Lead for Art and Performance at Manchester Metropolitan University. — “Perhaps more importantly, they represent a synthesis of the student’s worldviews and understandings, and are a testament to their determination to make the project happen. We hope that these students will be able to meet in person in the near future.”
The BHSAD students who took part in FutureLab were level 4 (Moscow Calling) and level 5 (Transmitter) BA (Hons) Fine Art students. You can see the full project here.
