research festival with MAFA.

Written by Rickyah Blake

Photo taken from presentation by Xinyu Liu

This weekend, I had the pleasure of viewing several presentations at the MA Fine Art Research Festival. First arrived on Friday, I got an opportunity to view the works of a MACA student exploring the intersections of news and advertisements. In this video art, the student acts as a newscaster while reporting on ads, challenging the way modern news is delivered and sponsored by advertisers. Following her presentation there was a Q+A session with a professor at London College of Communication discussing legislation surrounding advertising and data harvesting. This conversation forced me to think more critically on the challenges faced when regulating data collection especially with varying government systems in different parts of the world. A presentation that followed featured a student giving a lecture on  the history of Phantasmagoria. Prior to this presentation, I never heard of the word but I marveled at the developments in cinematography. Understanding that film was first modeled after an illusion reminded me of the deeper implications of Hollywood media that I explore in my works. Despite the filmmaking process evolving, there still seems to be a sense of trickery at play between the filmmakers and its viewers.

Photo taken from presentation of Phantasmagoria

Ending off the weekend on Sunday, there were several students who showcased acts of performances. One student recorded their entire process of adding colored cotton balls to a tent that formed a sculpture while this video inter-looped with a performance piece of a student writing quotes on a large sheet of paper. The two pieces worked together to explore the importance of material in art works and the labor that comes from working with that material. Each of these works made me consider the ways I could incorporate performance and technology with everyday materials.