What to know:
- The Glasgow School of Art’s Postgraduate Degree Show 2024 is showcasing innovative works from students across the School of Design, School of Innovation & Technology, and the Mackintosh School of Architecture, running until Sunday, 8th September.
- Diverse projects addressing contemporary issues are featured, including sustainable architectural designs, fashion collections exploring social themes like toxic masculinity and women’s roles, and digital interventions in heritage preservation and education.
- Notable works include Hailu Huang’s wind-powered facade system for noise reduction and energy generation, Mason Chen’s recycled material fashion inspired by Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” and Antoine Oury’s serious game to help older adults identify fake news.
- The exhibition is open to the public across various GSA campuses, with a digital showcase available globally at www.gsa.ac.uk/pgds24, allowing a wider audience to experience the creativity and innovation of the graduating students.
The Glasgow School of Art’s Postgraduate Degree Show 2024 continues today with the launch of exhibitions across the School of Design, School of Innovation & Technology and the Mackintosh School of Architecture, which will run till Sunday 8th September.
Each of the individual departments across the School provide an impressive glimpse into the innovation, creativity and energy that this new generation of talented artists will bring to the wider cultural economy and arts community. The political, cultural and personal themes addressed in these graduating students’ works intersect with many of the main themes that run across the entire postgraduate degree show this year and are also available to a global audience in an accompanying digital showcase which can be viewed on www.gsa.ac.uk/pgds24
“Every year our Masters’ students create inspiring and ground-breaking work” says Professor Penny Macbeth, Director of The Glasgow School of Art.
“We are delighted to be welcoming visitors from across industry and our creative community to the campus for Postgraduate Degree Show to experience in person the remarkable outputs produced by this talented group of students.”
This year’s cohort demonstrates a diverse set of student perspectives and experiences, with continuing students from the undergraduate degree, domestic and international students, as well as students from non-traditional routes who have come through widening participation’s portfolio preparation course. Students interrogate multiple contemporary issues across design and data research, introducing new perspectives in product design, game design and VR, fashion and textiles, medical visualisation and education, architectural heritage and social history.
In the Mackintosh School of Architecture’s MArch Architectural Studies Hailu Huang has created a unique and innovative project Tree Facade with Wind Simulation which proposes a cage-like facade system to address the noise created by high winds around buildings and the related loss of heat through windows. Huang proposes a facade fitted with a system of turning wind power components or ‘leaves’ which can mitigate noise, but also generate electricity as a sustainable byproduct for re-use.
Guda Suhardi’s Embodying Non-Humans in The City proposes to re-integrate a relationship between humans and animal life (both domestic and wild) within the city. Examining the history of relations between humans and ‘non-humans’ in Glasgow’s past, he hopes to find ways to raise awareness and create new bonds, or ‘totemic relations’ between humans and the various other non-human ecologies we share our cities with.
Siyuan He’s The Silent Voices proposes ways to integrate knowledge about Glasgow’s historical involvement in the trans Atlantic Slave Trade into a series of interventions within the city. Using the concept of Dark Tourism, he sees these spaces becoming part of a city tour where information and analysis about the cities dark cultural legacy, supported by installations, webpages, brochures and activities, can be accessed as an educational and commemorative resource.
MDes Fashion & Textiles Ke Ma’s collection Psychopathetic examines how women’s roles and identities are often shaped and restricted by male-dominated perspectives, exploring toxic masculinity and women’s subordination. Ke Ma parodies this tension using the contours of male formal wear juxtaposed with prints of women’s torn stockings. Ukrainian-born Chinese fashion designer Khan Chzhan juxtaposes the violence and aggression of war with the non-violence and inner peace of Buddhism to create genderless, adjustable designs that emphasise inclusivity and sustainability. Chzhan’s collection By Oneself Can One be Purified is made by prioritising natural fabrics and sustainable consumption, and integrates dual elements from the traditional clothing from both her Chinese and Ukrainian heritage.
Mason Chen’s collection is inspired by the themes in Kafka’s Metamorphosis and the parallels of grinding self-denial and functionality he sees within the text to contemporary Chinese society. Chen’s designs are created from recycled materials, using no cuts or sewing, but are instead knotted together, losing their original function and appearance. Chen’s choice of monotone grey shades further suggests a kind of generic, conforming social status.
In Mdes Graphics / Illustration/ Photography, Hope Connachan-Holmes’ documentary style images capture the power of live music, and the communities immersed within it. Hope’s project Collective Effervescence examines groups of music fans, and seeks to capture the collective power and beauty of the live music experience, which she sees as an important collective manifestation of positivity in an often dark and uncertain world.
MDes Interior Design student Maria Fernanda Orizaga Flores’ project draws inspiration from the surrealist movement, which employed dreams and fiction to gain a unique perspective of the world. Flores uses her own experience of moving cities and the power of imagination to explore the idea of “visual fictions”, to find ways to commemorate and remember our built environment more carefully. The result is series of fictional spaces that encourage individuals, even if only for a short time, to reflect on our cities and allow memory of those lost spaces to linger. Hyojin An’s project Invisible Dimension explores how ocular-centrism – the privileging of sight – has become entrenched in modern society and emphasises the significance of incorporating multi-sensory perception to create more inclusive, meaningful experiences in everyday spaces. An proposes spaces which can engage the full range of the senses, such as high-contrast markings on stairs for people with low vision, a staircase which transforms the mundane activity of walking upstairs into an auditory experience with steps designed to produce xylophone-like sounds, and engaging tactility and textural features for door handles.
Eden-Gabriela Uta’s project Digi-ER is a new method of rebuilding spaces in the digital realm to preserve local heritage. The projectdraws from various existing digital methodologies of recording the built environment such as Lidar Scanning, Bim modelling, Point Cloud and Mesh systems. With space not an issue in the digital realm of the metaverse or world building game platforms, buildings can be recreated at 1:1 scale, and using a smart phone can simply be recorded and pieced back together in creative ways, reviving once-forgotten venues. Communities can reclaim their spaces, and stainable development can be realised in new digital cities, preserving heritage without straining our precarious physical environment.
In MSc Product Design Engineering Emer Galvin Sheffield has created an innovation to support the manual wheelchair users in the UK who are parents. Independent Parenthood – Child Transportation for Manual Wheelchair Users is a product that attaches to the user’s wheelchair and supports a standard child car seat. Once secured, the parent can strap their child in and transport them, enhancing their experience as carers. Using simple attachments, lightweight materials, adjustable positions and customisable sizes for use with standard manual wheelchairs and child car seats, this solution brings independence to people who are often forgotten in design.
In MDes Sound for the Moving Image Harry Daniel has created a rich social documentary about his brother. The film Coll explores a day in the life of his brother, a gardener who lives on the Isle of Iona. The film is a meditation on happiness, familial histories and an exploration of rural community life on this remote island.
Lucy Ludlow is an experimental filmmaker, multi disciplinary artist and musician. Their project Sound Design for Meshes of the Afternoon is a re-make of the sound design for the 1943 film by Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenschmied. All music is original, all sound effects created using foley, a Korg opsix synthesiser, sound library samples and Ludlow’s own voice. James Fairlie, a music producer and audio artist based in Glasgow, has a created a suite of generative music works under the title Sketches in 19 Dimensions. Made from excepts from three works: Lost Spaces, Grounding and Exit Sign, Fairlie’s generative works explore the use of chance within spacial audio making.
MSc Heritage Visualisation School of Innovation & Technology student Catherine Bellamy’s research explores an innovative approach to educating audiences on how to best care for and conserve traditional craft skills and historical sites, notably Scottish vernacular buildings. Using specialist photogrammetry technology, Bellamy created a complete digital replica of The Old Dubheads Smithy, a historical building in Strathearn. Data from those scans were used to produce 3D printed objects that link to digital content – creating a memorable educational experience that focuses on historic construction techniques, as well as the present need for repair and conservation.
ARRT: Augmented Reality and Radiotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer Patient Education is a project researched and Developed by MSc Medical Visualisation & Human Anatomy student Courtney Anne Clarkin. The application was developed for patient education utilising information provided in conjunction with the radiotherapy team at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Center (BWoSCC). The guided practice models help patients understand their radiotherapy journey, using interactive 3D models for an enhanced learning experience.
Lisa Kilday has created a fully immersive application for her dissertation research – Radiographic Anatomy VR – to help undergraduate Diagnostic Radiography students learn radiographic anatomy of the lower limb. Developed in collaboration with the Blended Learning Team and Radiology department at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Kilday has produced the first Virtual Reality application designed specifically for undergraduate Diagnostic Radiography students which combines accurate 3D models, CT scans, and interactivity to teach and test anatomy.
MSc Serious Games and Virtual Reality student Antoine Oury’s thesis tackles a topical issue in his Social Media Stimulator project. Oury’s project is an information literacy game for older adults to help them learn to negotiate fake news content online. The game challenges players to assess the credibility of news posts sources and content, encouraging a more critical relationship with online information.
Jakub Mazurek a 3D artist specialising in environmental art, 3D modelling, texturing and game design has worked in collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire Scotland (RSC) on his project Stagecraft VR. Working to a brief from the RCS, Mazurek has built a unique virtual teaching experience created for students within stagecraft and theatre production programmes who may not have physical access to practice tasks in person. Qiqi Zhao’s Inner Overlap is a serious game that allows players to experience the inner world and outer life of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DiD) patients through first-person role-playing. The game combines rich narratives, puzzle tasks and character interactions to educate players on the symptoms, causes and treatments of DiD, improving empathy and reducing social misunderstandings.
The digital showcase containing works from all graduating students can be viewed on www.gsa.ac.uk/pgds24
Postgraduate Degree Show 2024 | Friday 23 August – Sunday 8 September 2024
30 August – 8 September 2024
Mackintosh School of Architecture
Bourdon Building – Scott St, Glasgow G3 6RQ
Weekdays 10.00—20.00
Weekends 10.00—18.00
School of Design
Reid Building – 164 Renfrew St, Glasgow G3 6RQ
Weekdays 10.00—20.00
Weekends 10.00—18.00
School of Innovation and Technology
Haldane Building – 30 Hill Street, Glasgow G3 6RN
Weekdays 10.00—20.00
Weekends 10.00—18.00
Notes For Editors
About The Glasgow School of Art (GSA):
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, digital, fine art and innovation and technology in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) along with a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
