Its easy to fall into a lull over the summer and to let your creative juices stop temporarily however the summer is a great time for you to get inspired, work on your own projects and just enjoy being ARTY without all the pressure! whether you are between years or about to embark on your Film & digital Arts journey in September, these tips are a great way to prep and get those creative thoughts flowing ready for all the exciting work to come but also to keep your artistically active. Building on my advice for you last year here are some more creative things you can do this summer...
GET INSPIRED & EXPLORE ART
Now you have more down time you can visit exhibitions that inspire you, but also visit exhibitions from artists you've never heard of before - something that sounds different to your usual areas of interest. It can be fun to explore new art on a whim, especially if its free (like a lot of the work at the Tate!) A lot of exhibitions are usually in London which may be far for some of you but if you find lots that interest you, you can make the most by doing a bit of a gallery-crawl! Here are some exhibitions going on round London which sound unique, powerful and well worth a visit:
The Culture Under Attack season at The Imperial War Museum, London. Now - 5th Jan 20.
FREE
'A free season of three exhibitions, live music, performances and talks at IWM London that explore how war threatens not just people’s lives, but also the things that help define us. Telling stories spanning 100 years, Culture Under Attack reveals why some try to erase or exploit culture, while others risk everything to protect, celebrate and rebuild it.'
https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/what-remains
What Remains is a new exhibition here, which explores cultural heritage and how and why it is attacked during war through collections of artwork, objects and photographs.
Frieze Sculptures at Regents Park, London. Now - 6th October.
FREE
Londons largest outdoor free display of artwork. This year it includes the artists: Iván Argote, Ghazaleh Avarzamani, Huma Bhabha, Peter Buggenhout, Jodie Carey, Ma Desheng, Tracey Emin, Lars Fisk, Barry Flanagan, Charlie Godet Thomas, Leiko Ikemura, Robert Indiana, Vik Muniz, Zak Ové, Jaume Plensa, Bettina Pousttchi, Tom Sachs, Lucy Skaer, LR Vandy, Joanna Rajkowska, Tai-Jung Um, Bill Woodrow and Emily Young. The sculptures vary from symbolic numbers to a giant matchbox car.
Kinska: My Opera House at Now Gallery, Greenwich Peninsula. Now - 16th September.
FREE
Artist Kinska turns this gallery space into her own magical realm using many objects installed, such as ceramic teardrops and a wooden house.
Miss Bugs: Do No Harm at Jealous East Gallery, London. Now - 21st July.
FREE
This is a piece/exhibition about our societies need to consume everything. The artist has made a series of popsicles which are not fit for consumption as a statement on this.
Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life at Tate Modern, London. Now - 5th January 20.
£18
Eliasson has created a show at the Tate which focuses on sustainability, which is an urgent and important topic at the moment. He plays with light creating things such as rainbows indoors. It sounds like a very powerful exhibition.
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/olafur-eliasson
KEEP YOUR ART PRACTICE ALIVE!
If you feel inspired by these exhibitions, or anything else for that matter, then push yourself to make something. BE CREATIVE! As photographers, filmmakers and artists this should come easy to you, however I understand it can be hard to have motivation, especially over the holidays, so here are some things to try:
Summer Montage Challenge - Film 10 seconds to 1 minute from every day of the summer. Capture things you have been up to and seen but try to also think about what interest and excites you. Then you can edit and combine all these interesting visuals together to create a summer film unique to you. This keeps your brain thinking creatively even if only for a short while each day.
Daily Photo Challenge - A lot of people will already, sometimes unknowingly, take part in this by posting pictures at least once a day to instagram. However this is a good approach even if you don't post them on social media. The idea is to take one photo a day that sums up that day, by expressing yourself, your feeling or what you have seen/done. You then collect these images together (posting daily if you like) or posting as a series. You can even combine them together to make manipulated images or a montage video of images. This is another fun way to keep you actively creative every day.
Daily Art Challenge - Very much the same as the last two challenges, however you create art work every day which again will only take you a few mins or maybe sometimes longer, but expresses that day or your feelings towards it etc. You can then collect these and post them online, creating yourself an online summer gallery or collate them into something bigger at the end of the summer. Again another interesting way to keep stimulated and creative.
Finish the unfinished - As creatives you sometimes find you start working on an idea or project and you sometimes just loose focus, time or you just forget about it all together. You end up with half-finished pieces, unedited photo shoots & films, or rough sketches and plans that never became more Summer is a great time to revisit these. You can come back to them with fresh eyes and use this extra time you now have to finish the unfinished. Even if it's not a fully fledged portfolio worthy piece of work, its always good to feel a sense of accomplishment from finishing something you have started
CHILL OUT & RESEARCH
All these exhibitions and tasks I speak about are just ideas of how to keep creative and busy, but one very under-rated use of your time is also RESEARCH! As artists you must realise that the best way to become inspired and create contextualised work is to have a field of knowledge behind you. If you find yourself with spare time then look into art from the comfort of your own home. Go online and research art movements you have heard of, artists you want to know more about and anything else that may feed one day into your ideas and works. If you fancy a trip out the house as well then libraries are a good place to take some time to yourself to again research and read into art etc that you may not have found any other way! The best bit about research during the summer is there is no pressure to look into any particular thing, as its not for a project etc, it's just looking at what interest, inspires and excites you. By doing this you'r building yourself up with a wealth of knowledge around subjects that matter to you, which you can then use in future projects making your ideas more fully formed and contextualised at an earlier stage.
Enjoy your Creative Summers!
