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Perhaps one of the striking developments over the last decade of degree shows is the new level of professionalism, anticipation and ambition shown by students. This no doubt has been prompted in part by the notoriety of the exhibition "Frieze" and the subsequent fame of the YBAs. These days not only does the degree exhibition provide the basis for the students' degree assessment, but now also it can be a very important launch pad for the next stage of their career. I can't help thinking of the thousands of tadpoles that every year wriggle free of their protective clusters of jelly to take their chance in the big pond. However the tadpole's best chance of making it to a frog is to be invisible. Not so for the art student who knows well enough that it is getting noticed that matters. I remember my degree show (some time ago), was little more than a big party. There was no catalogue, perhaps a local mailing list and no expectation that an influential collector might somehow be lured in and buy up the show. I could also reminisce on the luxury of receiving a full grant and the probability of leaving college with enough money still in the bank to hitch hike down to Greece to spend a few weeks island hopping. Now we turn a blind eye to the student who has to take time out to earn extra cash to pay for their materials. Materials which in a climate of increased ambition stretch the students' resources even further. Times have changed and the pressures are different. I would like therefore to congratulate the students for getting this far and to draw attention to the hard work it has been for many of them just to survive. To produce work of quality and to present it so professionally I know is a considerable achievement. As they now enter the big pond I wish them all well and hope that their time at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College has adequately prepared them for the challenges ahead. There is no title to the exhibition, just an image of a glass eye. For me this neatly encapsulates each of the students' unarticulated ambitions, hopes, anxieties and fears; that first self conscious uncertainty and excitement of being on show when it really matters. But the eye also leads me to other thoughts and an important reminder that the show is just one part of a bigger process. The enquiry that leads the work, the persistent need to ask new questions and find original solutions is surely what it is all about. With this thought in mind I am reminded of a story recounted by Tony Cragg in one of his early catalogues. He describes how as a student he was told of a photograph which showed a group of Eskimos standing in a circle throwing another Eskimo high into the air. Given the tree less Arctic landscape he concluded that their purpose must have been to view more of their surroundings. It is not just the objective of seeing further which I find impressive, but it is the ingenuity of the solution which for me has a poetic rightness. I have endless discussions with students trying to come up with an adequate definition of what art is and invariably I refer back to Cragg's story. Wanting to see more seems as good a definition as any. It is important to acknowledge that the design, co-ordination, and largely the financing of this catalogue has been taken on by the students. In particular I would like to thank the design team for the many hours they have put in, often at times when other commitments were calling. On behalf of the whole group, 'you have done a fantastic job'. Alan Franklin Course Tutor |