Plymouth Museum have recently got back to us, and have selected 6 students to have their work in the China Connection Gallery cabinets for the Sinoptican Show.

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery will be hosting an exhibition entitled ‘Sinopticon’. This is a partnership exhibition between Plymouth Museum & Art Gallery, Plymouth Arts Centre and Saltram House (National Trust) curated by Eliza Gluckman, exploring contemporary chinoiserie in contemporary art. The exhibition will be held at the museum from 28th April – 7th July 2012 and will feature artists including Ed Pien, Fiona Tan and Grayson Perry.

The Curator Eliza Gluckman had this to say about the presentations

“I just wanted to say a quick thank you for asking me to be on the panel for the Falmouth student's response to the museum collection and Sinopticon. It was a really enjoyable couple of hours. I thought all of the students had all really explored themes of the exhibition, some very personally, and all in very different ways. It was very heartening to see such a great group of creative minds and to hear them talk about their work. Clearly confidence makes a huge difference in delivery but I think everyone really rose to the occasion. Please do pass on my thanks to them and their tutor. I look forward to seeing the final works in the museum.”

http://www.sinopticon.org/


Student work 

Briony Maple

Inspired by the story telling patterns and items recovered from shipwrecks in this collection, this piece tells the story of the dark and dangerous side of our tea trade with China, using materials to highlight the vulnerability of the trade and ships and the preciousness of its cargo.

Hannah Batstone

Hannah chose to explore the connections of East and West through the trading of the East India Company.

Her piece draws on the deceptive methods used by the British to acquire tea from China. This volatile relationship resulted in The Opium Wars, and high rates of Opium addiction in China.

Laura Beer

‘Animal, vegetable, mineral’ #1 and #2

Slip cast ceramic with gold lustre

These vessels draw on imagery from the collection of mythological hybrid animals, pondering the blurring of boundaries between human, animal and object. Developments in genetic engineering and modern technologies have facilitated the surreal actualisation of the hybridised body for both medical and commercial purposes. Today there is an interesting dialogue in this field between China and the West.

Mayumi Yamashita

Nadia Medani

‘Bone China tea cup – Brooch and Ring’

Nadia Medani has created two jewellery pieces, a ring and a scarf pin, reflecting on the attempts in the west to create porcelain similar to the wares being imported from china at the time and the eventual recipe formulated by Spode, commonly known as Bone China.

Brooch:

Copper, Animal Bone, Found Object, Gold Leaf. – Fabricated, laser etched.

Ring:

Pewter, Animal Bone. – Cast, Fabricated, laser etched.

- Concrete Blocks and Porcelain Bowls

By Rhiannon Palmer

Porcelain was one of Chinas most prized commodities in the 16^th century due to its unique strength and whiteness. The Imperial courts realised its value so had tight control over the industry and kept it a secret from the rest of the world. Rhiannon has visualised this idea by representing the courts as concrete blocks oppressing the porcelain. However, the porcelain is holding up the weight of the blocks proving its strength despite its teetering, delicate appearance. 

The Original Brief

We would like to invite BA (Hons) Contemporary Craft students to participate in a project to produce small scale works of craft in response to the museum’s historic Chinese collections in the China Connection Gallery with a connection to the underlying theme of Chinoiserie. The intention is that they will be displayed in situ in the China Connection Gallery alongside objects from the permanent collection.
Students will have the opportunity to visit the Museum to study the collections on display and be given a guided tour of the Chinese collections.
Items submitted for this scheme must consider how the work will be displayed and any installation methods. They must also be accompanied by an artist’s statement outlining the themes behind the your response to the Sinopticon exhibition.