Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Royal College of Art


Here is the RCA. Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can turn it right side up? I tried turning it in photoshop, but then it won't load into the blog. I have rotated the image in my camera and in Preview, but it doesn't want to go on to the blog that way. Maybe the building is just tired and needs to lie down. You can lie down to view it if you are tired. Or maybe this is just a continuation of my vertical landscapes.
The RCA is right across the street from both Hyde Park and Royal Albert Hall. I went to Royal Albert Hall today, but not for a concert. It was because we had a fire drill and we all had to vacate the school and stand outside in the cold and I didn't have a jacket and I do have a cold, so Pippa, who is the Printmaking office administrator suggested we go into the Cafe at Royal Albert Hall and have a coffee and warm up, so we did.
The RCA has 7 floors of studios, workshops, offices, lecture theatres, exhibition spaces, etc. Each floor seems to have a different department. I thought ACAD was divided because of the VC/Photo on one side of the building and Fine Arts on the other side, and then of course there is the UofC Art Dept. stuck up on top of the parkade, but this takes division to a different level. Each floor seems to function independent of the others. There are: Applied Arts - ceramics, glass, goldsmithing, metalworks and jewellery. Architecture, Design - including industrial design, vehicle design, computer design, product design. Fashion and Textiles - including men/women's wear, fashion and textile design, And of course Printmaking. Across the lane is another building with the painting/sculpture studios
There are about 1,000 students and all the programs are at the Post-Graduate level and are two years long. There is a high level of energy and ambition here. The students in the Printmaking Dept. are well into their program. The 2nd years are getting ready for an exhibition that will take place in a couple of weeks at a gallery in Southwark and the 1st years have their "tutorials" (what we call critiques) in a couple of weeks.

In Printmaking there are two technicians for EACH printing area - Litho, Silkscreen, Etching/Relief and Computer/Darkroom Services. Above is one of them, Bill. He is printing something for a student on one of the large offset presses.
And to think that I took care of all of those areas at ACAD on my own! No wonder I was so darn tired all the time.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I forgot to look!!! Now I find a Book! Will catch up and comment soon! This is not a poem.

margaret

7:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Patti,
I've been enjoying reading your blog...reminds of my wonderful experience at the RCA and lovely London. Great to see the photo of Bill. Tell him he's looking very slim and trim....and please say hello to him and my other favourite Litho Technician, Robin (the Duotone King).
Still trying to find a minute to send you that list...although looks like you're finding plenty to do without it.
All the best,
Laurel

5:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent blog. Very interesting too. I hope to study at the RCA next year! :)

12:08 PM  

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