<p dir="ltr">For many, this was their first time properly setting up an exhibition space. Student Darcy Meades said, “ It was a good first experience as I felt like I had a lot of space to work with and went into it with lots of ideas that I wanted to try. I think this freedom of space, and having prepared ideas beforehand made it easier to work in the short time frame we were given. I learnt that installing pieces can be labour intensive (or I’m just extremely unfit!) and I found that an important element of the installation work was being patient, as there was a lot of trial and error. I installed my work in slightly different ways over and over again until I was happy with the result. This also meant I had to carefully pay attention to details because the difference between one installation and another was often something very small. It was interesting to identify these minute differences and address them. For example, the difference between mounting something to the wall with tape or with pins. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t matter that much, and I would do whichever was easiest but for this type of environment I learnt that I had to factor in more than what would just be easiest.”<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">With the supervision of staff and KARST technicians, second year BA (Hons) Fine Art had four days to organise the space and transform KARST from a workspace to an exhibition that opened to the public on the evening of 10 June. Due to covid restrictions, a limited number of visitors were able to access the gallery. The set up of the shared venue generated a rich collaborative atmosphere where all the students were able to immerse themselves in one another's practice. <br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Stella Olivier, who participated in the show remotely, was helped by fellow student Libby Fox in the set up of her QR poster. Digital communication but especially discourse on site resulted in a very pleasant work environment. Darcy continued: “Helping others with their installation meant that we became more involved with and learnt about the work we were installing, in a way you wouldn’t when simply viewing the work during the exhibition. Experiencing and aiding in an artist's thought process and reasoning for installing their work in a certain way opened doors to deeper understanding of the artist and the artist’s relationship to their work. On the other side of this, getting help from fellow students forces you to explain why you want your work installed in a particular way. This was good practice for the private view because when the audience asked questions about your work, we were all well prepared to talk about it. In this way, the installation itself became a sort of dress rehearsal for the opening of the exhibition. It definitely helped build a rapport between students, and after the installation was finished I felt like we understood each other's work much more than we did before KARST.”<br /></p>

<p>The second year BA (Hons) Fine Art cohort are now studying in their third year, grateful for the mentoring and support received throughout this project. The KARST residency culminated in a private crit session with curator Ben Borthwick, after which students cleaned the space and removed their works.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Many students of the course have now taken the work from the show forward by entering their art in open calls and by publishing their work online. Ashanti Hare, one of the second year BA (Hons) Fine Art students who was selected for an instagram feature on the KARST account as part of the show, was recently selected to showcase their art on the platform <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dore.collective/">dore.collective</a>. <br /></p>