Foundation Years

[Music] Jack: so originally when I signed up for the course I was looking to do graphic design afterwards but throughout the course we are encouraged to sort of experiment and try different things and do things that are out of our comfort zone and because of that I actually then decided to go into fine art cuz that was a kind of for me that was a course that I could continue doing that sort of experimental nature that was really great in the foundation.

Shalet: In the foundation i was hoping to do a bit of digital graphic stuff so I thought maybe I'll explore a bit of that and see if I like it and so that was my main thing I wanted to explore my interest is in painting and print making that's what I am focusing on and I like painting because I feel like just a lot of very gestural work.

Shadia: I really enjoyed studying the different modules because they were very different so we started off with doing a very experimental and broad module and then we kind of found our way into doing a more self-directed project and during foundation year we there were also um life drawing workshops held which I really enjoyed.

Alex: So I've explored some physical media working in the woodwork section mostly and also doing some sculpting work such as this behind me and working with all sorts of different technicians from the audio visual to as I say woodwork and metal work and even some sculpting as well.

Shalet: I found exciting was when we had different artists come in especially um from different areas we had fine arts coming graphic designers coming and talking about their work and we had little workshops on each thing and that was quite exciting to get insight what would be more like focusing on each area.

Jack: One of the bits that I thought was really great with the foundation course was I think as I started going in I may have had like sort of a preconceived idea of like what an art degree would be like with foundation art but what I discovered from doing this was that it can be it's so broad and it can be sort of anything I want it to be and with the course and the the broadness of it I could you can incorporate all of those things and you can incorporate your interests and make something out of that which I found really exciting.

Alex: So the highlight of the year has to be part of the shows where I'll be showing off stuff like this but also night school where you get to tap in to see what other students are doing and what workshops they're providing cuz sometimes you get to join in and see what they're doing and maybe get some inspiration for building something yourself.

Shadia: So I've got a couple of highlights and one would be the staff staff was really supportive and obviously coming into university and never having met anyone they were just the most welcoming and they made quite a huge experience to it.

Shalet: The highlight of the year was the big show at the end I think it from the very start how it all came to the end it was mind-blowing and I believe it was one of my best works that I've did, i'm very happy with it and that was yeah amazing

Jack: For me, it was a really proud moment that I could look back at this culmination of all the work that I'd done in the year and think about to where I was at the beginning of the foundation year and everything I'd learned and to kind of see it i felt like I think it was the first moment I went "Yeah I am an artist." Like it's all the things that I'd learned. [Music]