Second annual exhibition by the Making Matters research group featured work by twenty-three members of staff from the School of Art, Architecture and Design
Making Matters 2.0 curated by Simone ten Hompel was the second exhibition hosted by the Making Matters research group, one of three core groups that make up the Centre for Creative Arts, Cultures and Engagement (CREATURE) at the School of Art, Architecture and Design.
The exhibition between the 26 April and 6 May in the Goulston Street Atrium brought together twenty-four staff members from The School of Art Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University, highlighting the synergies within their artistic practices and methodologies - connections that appear both in materiality and thematic exploration. The exhibition opened with a well-attended Private View on the 26th of April with guests from across the University community including Vice Chancellor, Lynn Dobbs.
Making Matters deals with the practices, processes and theories of the creative arts. The group fosters interdisciplinary exchanges to reframe our understanding of the act of making and how this may be viewed both as a methodological vehicle and as the outcome of a rigorous research process.
Curator Simone ten Hompel says “Making, in this sense, is approached as a broad concept, embracing both material and conceptual practices across all creative disciplines. From exploring how an artwork (object-based, design-based, digital, ephemeral, and more) may constitute research, to developing innovative systems of making creative work, Making Matters aims to promote research projects and practice-based investigation in this area of inquiry.”
The exhibition highlighted the relevance of making as an integral part of the research which requires skilled comprehension. The form of com- in Latin means "with, together". Taken in English from the 17thC, it is a living prefix meaning "together, mutually, in common". Descendants of prehendere in English include comprehend meaning "to grasp the nature or significance of". Such an etymology highlights the hands-on activity of making and its physicality. In other words, the grasping of ‘stuffness', the properties, actions and decisions, and trajectories of what happens if. Making is an unspoken text, an irreplaceable language that supports and speaks to the creative research processes. Making communicates in ways that language alone cannot.
The Making Matters 2.0 exhibition featured work from a wide range of disciplines, including sculpture, design, textile, photography, film, metal, and visual arts all together in one space, with this combination encouraging artists and viewers alike to analyse the commonalities and interactions between artistic and research processes.
The exhibitors were: Ektoras Arkomanis, Lucia Medina Uriarte and Mae Shummo, Manuela Barczewski, Kieron Baroutchi, James Cant, Sara Carneholm, Chiara Cola, Emma Davenport, Emily Evans, George Fereday, Irina Georgescu, Simon Hasan, James Hunting, Kaye Newman, Gina Pierce, William Smith, Michael Upton, Partick Ward, Claire Whelan, Sam Wingate, Heidi Yeo and Simone ten Hompel (also curator)
Talking about the exhibition, Professor Wessie Ling, Professor of Transcultural Arts and Design and the Director of CREATURE, said, "Making Matters is a collegiate platform to support the development of practice-based/led research of our colleagues at AAD. It aligns seamlessly with the remit of CREATURE. It has proven to be a much-needed activity with participants doubling the number of last year’s exhibition. The making, thinking and research processes have manifested in the creativity of the exhibits."
Anne Markey the Dean of the School of Art, Architecture and Design added, “‘Making Matters’ is an exciting annual opportunity for our academic community to share their work with the public, and with one another, in one of the two main gallery spaces in our campus at Aldgate. It also serves the important need of staff development in articulating and presenting practice based or practice led research in Art and Design and Architecture.”
The success of this exhibition, and its 2022 predecessor suggest it will become an annual feature on the School and University calendar and there are discussions about producing a Making Matters’ 4D gallery documenting the artworks in the first and second editions of Making Matters. A gallery of images from Making Matters 2.0 can be seen here
Image: Work by Simon Hasan, Designer and Course Leader for BA Product and Furbiture Design on display at Making Matters 2.0
