CONTEXT

The Institute blog. A collection of information, essays and polemics relating to industry, culture and technology.

Business cannot exist in a vacuum. We examine the nature of ideas, communications and change within our contemporary cultural and technological landscape. We highlight potentially harmful actions and advocate for the freedom, meaning and agency required for human industry to thrive in a complicated and uncertain world.

Graffio Arts 12/30/23 Graffio Arts 12/30/23

The Life Drawing Sessions

Institute hosts an ongoing series events for anyone interested in developing their drawing abilities.

Institute is hosting an ongoing series of sessions for anyone interested in developing their drawing skills. Classes are organised and lead by Martyn Blundell.

The sessions have proven very popular and sell out fast so keep an eye on social media for new dates.

Martyn has an MA in Fine Art and has been teaching drawing for more than 20 years at Loughborough University, Central St Martins, Nottingham Trent and Norwich University of the Arts. He has worked with fine art, graphic design, textiles, fashion and 3D design students. He is very widely travelled and currently organises drawing holidays to Spain, Poland, Thailand and Indonesia.

Institute is interested in developing creative knowledge and skill within the local area and drawing is probably the best place to start for new creatives and the backbone of much creative work. The sessions do not require any drawing experience and you will be taken as you are and encouraged to find the ways to draw that suit you.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

“I believe that drawing is a natural part of human expression. At an early age we all draw fluently and beautifully but most adults, perhaps for the moment, have just forgotten how!”

— Martyn Blundell

SEASON 03 BOOKING

We are about to launch Season 03 of The Life Drawing Sessions.

27th January Life Drawing Session: 3 hours /@ £12 / 10 places / 2-5 pm

GET TICKET

17th February Life Drawing Composition Workshop: 4 hours @ £26 / 8 places / 12-5pm

(will have an hour lunch break)

24th February Life Drawing Session: 3 hours /@ £12 / 10 places / 2-5 pm

GET TICKET

2nd March Life Drawing Session: 3 hours / @ £12 / 10 places/ 2-5 pm

30th March Life Drawing Session: 3 hours/@ £12/ 10 places/2-5 pm

13th April Life Drawing composition Workshop: 4 hours / @ £26 / 8 places/ 12-5pm (will have an hour lunch break)

11th May Life Drawing Session: 3 hours/@ £12/ 10 places/2-5 pm

GET TICKET

Graffio Arts 10/22/23 Graffio Arts 10/22/23

Ama Dogbe's Game Engine Art

As a broader demographic has become involved not only in the playing of games but in the development of games, the landscape has shifted…

The tropes and cliches prevalent within the realms of computer gaming have been questioned for many years. As a broader demographic has become involved not only in the playing of games but in the development of games, the landscape has shifted.

This change has been in part powered by the groundswell in the number of quality Independent game studios and the availability of new, powerful and affordable software. When this kind of software becomes available, it doesn’t take much time for creatives to develop an understanding of this new media and imagine new ways to solve old problems. This often includes: how do I express myself?

Ama Dogbe is a young British-Ghanaian artist whose practice sits within digital realms. She has produced experimental animation of various kinds and is currently developing video games using a variety of self-taught digital mediums. The work on show at Institute was created with Unity

We presented two new game demos by Ama: Alien Invasion - No. 1607221 and Alien Invasion - Compartmentalising, as part of an audio-video installation. In Alien Invasion - No. 16072216, figures descend upon a garden-like world, and players follow paths to uncover talismans, relics and icons.

Using physical and digital repetition through photogrammetry (the process of creating 3D digital outcomes from photographs), Ama created a web of symbols that were both strange and familiar. The project was commissioned by MPND and funded by Arts Council England.

This event ran as part of Loughborough Lates, a free event open to the general public. The games ran on Mac computers and through Institutes exhibition screens. They were playable with PS4 controllers. It was intriguing to see children and adults engage with art in ways that they probably never have before.

The controllers would be familiar to some as would some of the game-like mechanics of navigation but the visual language and the use of space and the meaning of symbols were unique and had to be de-cyphered by the user.

There is much that we have learnt over the last few decades from digital gaming. We have created new worlds and developed communities as we populated them with our digital selves. We have negotiated time and money in favour of rewards and we have traded assets that resulted from our digital endeavours. We have become addicted and also frustrated- we have expressed the joy and anger of the physical world in virtual worlds. We’ve made friends and enemies. We’ve built clans, communities and businesses. We’ve stolen, we’ve conned, we’ve married, we’ve grieved. We’ve changed race and gender (often for a fee). We’ve planted crops and harvested them. We’ve built our own houses, developed new mythologies and made friends with people across continents.

As we move forward with VR, AR and the eventual mix of both, it is important that we capitalise on the learnings from gaming- the good and the bad so that we might capture the joy and empowerment that gaming can foster. It is also important that artists are equipped with the software and skills of new media technology as it emerges so that inquisitive, potentially contrarian voices become part of the discourse that develops our digital futures.

You will be able to see an online version of the project between 3rd November 2023 - 27th January 2024. The game is accompanied by a soundtrack of electronic, ambient and contemporary hip-hop by musician Louis Jack. The video game will be available to play via the Modern Painters, New Decorators website.

You can see also see more of Ama’s work here: https://www.instagram.com/artyfartyama/ and download Unity here: Download Unity.

Graffio Arts 8/10/23 Graffio Arts 8/10/23

TERRY MIQUEL IS LOST FOR WORDS

This exhibition is a timely reminder in a culture of screen based media that painting was rarely about imagery…

A retrospective of the work of local artist Thierry Miquel. The exhibition started with recent paintings that were a response to current uncertainties and back through time as Thierry has responded to life, armed with loaded phrases that emerge as part of work that is... constructed.

Thierry started his career in furniture design and you can see that in the work. It's built with paint, and found objects.

Painting was arguably the dominant medium for exploration and expression in the arts. This is a timely reminder in a culture of screen based media that painting was rarely about imagery. It is a fight with materials on the surface on an object. It has meaning in it's form, in its 'construction' and when you stand back from it, you observe a minute in time where the artist left that fight and moved on to the next.

Where should painting go tomorrow? What should we learn from it?

“All my work is based on words. I see an aesthetic beauty in words spoken and written. I love to play with the sound as well as visually dismantling the meaning of the words to create an alternative story or poem”

— Thierry Miquel

This exhibition was part of…

Loughborough Lates: Evening art and culture in town and on campus. Friday 28 April 2023, 6:00-8:00pm, #LoughboroughLates, mpndprojects.co.uk/lates

Loughborough Lates is an event hosted by art and culture venues spread across our town centre and campus. Loughborough will come to life with visual art exhibitions and events - all free to attend and participate in. Maps are available at participating venues on the day.

You can view more of Thierry’s work here: @thierrys_art