Feel a little disconnected not only from seeing and experiencing art but also of course spending time with others and talking about it, I invited my course peers to attend an series of exhibitions together every Monday… to combat the Monday Blues and for me personally to mark the beginning of the week with focus on my project and creative practice.

The first in the series we visited the Soshiro Gallery for the exhibition ‘Crafting a difference’

We met in teams and firstly had a little catch up and chat, and anticipated how viewing an exhibition digitally might feel.

We stayed on the line but explored the 3D digital gallery tour on our separate screen with the view to meet in 45 minutes to discuss what had stood out to us and how we’d found experiencing art is such a way.

It was a novel and really intriguing experience and overall I found it to be an effective way to experience objects when we can’t in person. By being on the line with friends I was able to becomes full absorbed in it and It’s was exciting to discover and experience with others even at distance.

It was maybe also expected that the exhibition itself was exploring themes of togetherness and of being amongst things made by hand.

I was drawn in particular to very textured and sensory objects. At points the objects I chose to share sat between enthralling and uncomfortable for me. Like this wall hanging by Annemetti Beck, which looks like soft hair but in closer inspection is made of brass, and gives me shudders thinking about touching it. Or the comforting soft wiggly ceramic shape by Francesco Ardini (below), at points delighted me and at others reminded me of intestines and made me feel a little faint. It’s something that’s interests me in relation to my own work, where I’m exploring how the senses are stimulated by objects to encourage positive emotions. I’ve seen today that going too far can take someone’s feeling from intrigue to disgust. How might I consider this in my own work?

During our discussion we spoke a lot about how we imagined these objects being made and how we missed being in a making space. We also considered how we’d maybe attempt to recreate these at home with materials like Icing or waste plastic. A few of us shared how some objects reminded us of rendered animations and slime (a theme that seems to reoccur for me) and we wandered if that was the context of seeing them through a screen which allowed our imaginations to contextualise them as digital. Or perhaps the inspiration for the work themselves comes from these digital visuals. The chicken and the egg.