Out of the Ordinary....

It's a hard life being an artist/maker/craftsperson....

It's the summer break from Uni, and whilst we don't get an official summer project (other than dissertation research, yuk).

But what a few of us decided to do was make sure we still made regular visits to galleries and shows. I know just how easy it is to let the time slip away and before you know it, its time to go back to Uni and have been out of touch with what's going on.

A couple of years ago, there was an exhibition at the V&A that I wanted to get to, but never did. I found out last week that it's at Sheffield this summer, at the Millennium Galleries, so four of us went up today, and I have had a great day (thank you Debs, Nic and Sarah).

It's called "Out of The Ordinary: Spectacular Craft" - and their words "brings together the work of eight contemporary artists who place craft at the heart of their practice".

As we're on a Crafts course, this was a really relevant exhibition for us to see. And I was not disappointed. And I hope to get back again over the summer.

In Context studies, we have discussed the changing definitions and roles of "Craft" over the years, as well as looking at museums and exhibition methods and display, labelling, etc.

Aside from some really interesting work, I was intrigued at the method of display they have used in the exhibition. I would definitely say that it was shown as "art" and not "craft" (some rather subtle lighting for example, and all very minimalistic).

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, but I also very liked the Millennium Galleries, the Ruskin Gallery has a lovely piece by Keiko Mukaide, a glass artist who's work I love. I can't seem to get a picture to upload, but this link might work: Nature Water.

Go take a look.

In fact, I liked Sheffield on the whole - I didn't realise just how much work has been done in the city centre, it's still a work in progress, but felt much more like a cosmopolitan, European city than that steel city up north. Mind you, today's blistering heat might have had something to do with that "Holiday" feel....

We also had a walk through the Winter Gardens, where we had lunch, and saw the Hepworth/Moore/Nicholson exhibition at the Graves Gallery above the Central Library.

There's so much more to see. I'll certainly be going back to Sheffield.