Welcome to NO SHOW
The degree shows were postponed - for the (un) foreseeable future. The assessments took place online – whole shows compressed into pdfs. Tutorials took place through ‘hangouts’ - into an array of domestic spaces. Washing lines, hallways and even greenhouses became the site of making work - pet dogs, parents/partners or the odd passer-by on their daily exercise became the audience. We were dispersed across the world but somehow felt more together than we had ever been. We missed the smell of wet painted floors and walls, we missed the frenzy of preparation and the overhead conversations of private view haircuts and outfits.
No Show is no replacement for the physical one (this is yet to come) but it does offer a taste of the work of some of the students from the BA Fine Art, BA Contemporary Art Practice and BA Photography courses at Bath School of Art. The site, developed with haste and determination by the students themselves and the meticulous support and attention of Poppy Clover (an alumni now curator and technical demonstrator in the School of Art) is deliberately organised not around courses but around a virtual representation of the building these students so rapidly departed from as the lockdown began - the building they had been the first year to occupy.
We hope this site goes some way to celebrate and showcase this group of student’s extraordinary achievements and offer any visitor an insight into their resourcefulness, resilience and poignant responses to this complex moment.
It has been an honor to work with them all over the past three years.
Kellie Hindmarch, Natasha Kidd, Martin Thomas (Course Leaders, School of Art)
I am thrilled to present our Art Degree Show 2020. This is the first show that would have happened in our new campus at Locksbrook Road, and with ingenuity and originality, it still is.
Please visit our wonderful building virtually, but more importantly, come look at the incredible work of our students - their skill and originality are what the building was put up to support, and that it can still do so in pandemic lockdown means a huge amount to all of us in the Bath Spa Community.
And a special shout out to the wonderful Lillie, Rachel, Lulu and Ella for giving me a prevue tour, and to Poppy for making it real.
Sue Rigby (Vice Chancellor, Bath Spa University)