Interview with Cluster Crafts Fair | September ‘s
Program Curators Pita & Elliott Burns
Conducted by Cluster Director Ema Marinova
I am delighted to present an interview with my dear friends, fellow CSM MA alumni and collaborators - Pita and Elliott Burns.
During my intense yet extremely enriching MA course at Central Saint Martin’s College I had the privilege to meet very inspiring, ambitious and driven individuals. The course opened many doors for us, including making valuable connections and long-lasting friendships.
When I met Pita at CSM for the first time, I was undoubtedly drawn by her charm, warmth and intelligence. She was gallant, ready to say what she thinks and always involved. At the time, that really impressed me as I was shy and scared to say the wrong thing in class. Amongst the other graduates, Elliott was definitely a mind that stood out. His drive, confidence and knowledge was very inspiring to me. Without him realising (I am sure), he encouraged me to build my own confidence during the course. Also, the amount of information he knew and his insight into the arts, politics and more…was simply mind-blowing.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Elliott for supporting me during the very early stages of my career with his fantastic writing skills and Pita for always making feel that I have a friend to rely on.
As you can see, these two wonderful individuals have made an impact on me. Having them part of the Cluster journey is empowering and comforting in the same time. Having a synergy of facilitating our ideas and support our mutual visions is priceless and I am forever thankful for their presence.
Thank you for reading. Enjoy the interview.
Ema Marinova
What made you agree to curate Cluster Crafts’s talks and activities program?
We’ve known Ema as long as we’ve known each other so the trust that you build up in that time was a big factor. But we were also really excited by the opportunity to stretch into a field of artistic production that intersects ours but is frequently seen as being miles apart. We spend most of our time awake talking about the impact of digital technologies on artists, design has been equally impacted, maybe even more. The opportunity to work with Cluster represented an opportunity to dive into that world.
Describe what our audience and exhibitors should expect from it.
The programme that we´ve carefully pùt together, gathers established specialists from the creative industries, whose work defines what culture is today, and experts working in the development of new technologies and materialities in creative making. Some of the participants are investigating the creative possibilities of artificial intelligence or robotics and bringing this knowledge to the public through performance and workshops. Whilst others are researching or curating innovative crafts or design objects through their professional practice as journalists, curators, academics and gallerists.
What do you want to achieve with the program?
Through the programme, we are looking to produce through the duration of the fair a community research hub that enables a collective discussion on what we believe are vital aspects for the present and future of crafts and design. Such as production methodologies, industry spectrum and creative processes. That was the thinking behind composing a programme including key representatives with a strong career trajectory in the industry and practitioners working with innovative ways of production and materialities.
We hope that through this programme the audience and exhibitors have the opportunity to discover new ideas that could be useful for their practice and professional development. We've included portfolio review sessions and a Q&A session with some of the industry representatives to ensure the participating creatives can ask questions that will help further their career.
Tell us about the involvement of MA Material Futures in the program and your connection to the course.
Having both studied at Central Saint Martins, we’ve been familiar with the MA Material Futures course for over five years, and for us, it has always been the most exciting part of Degree Show 2. Situated at the far end of the Street their display brings together roughly twenty-four students who each in their own independent way are pushing at the edges of our material world. It can range from bio-sequins that present an organic alternative to dresses comprising thousands of circular plastics, to community projects that help fishermen harness bitcoin as their industry declines.
We were keen from the outset to bring MA Material Futures into the fair to remind the audience that craft also takes place in the scientific, investigative corners of the creative arts. Equally, we hoped that by placing these designers, who are just completing their degrees and looking for opportunities in industry, alongside the creative minds that make up Cluster we’d catalyse some unpredictable collaborations. Because Cluster has such a community focus, it seems like a no-brainer to inject MA Material Futures into that melting pot to see what would happen.
How important is it to work with students and involve them in fairs, and why?
Leaving art school can be a bit like falling off a cliff. Barring this year, the experience of an art or design student culminates with a degree show, which represents an opportunity to make industry contacts or find gallery representation. At least that’s the theory. Many graduates find themselves leaving institutions which provided them with studios, workshops, library access and community, quickly needing to orientate themselves within industries that are at best not straightforward and at worst entirely opaque. Fairs like Cluster can be something of a lifeline, offering young graduates not only a chance to sell but a chance to work out the economics that will be the foundation of their business. Plus, give back a bit of that community which can so easily be lost.
Pita and Elliot, please tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
Pita: I´m an independent curator, originally from Mexico City, with nine years of experience working at the forefront of arts and communications within international institutions, including Phillips Auction House and Museo Jumex. I first came to London to study an MA at Central Saint Martins and through my professional experience, I´ve built expertise in contemporary culture and trends, paired with a passion for digital arts and new media technologies.
Elliott: Like Pita, I studied at Central Saint Martins. My career seems to have been a balance between curatorial work and the university sector, I’ve been involved in research programmes into creative collaboration, but also produced exhibitions for organisations like the Centre for Investigative Journalism. In the last two years, I’ve found myself back at CSM teaching on the BA version of the MA we both did, I think a mix of being practically minded but academically interested has helped me be a good teacher. - Elliott
Together we run an online art gallery called Off Site Project. Throughout our MA we were both writing on digital arts practices and a year after graduating we decided to open an online space together. Over three years, we’ve built it from a programme of homepage exhibitions, adding a download ZIP show series and most recently a residency that takes place in Google Maps.
What was the most challenging part of putting the program together?
One of the biggest challenges was finding the right balance between the different perspectives and representation in the programme. We tried to make sure the programme maintained its identity throughout all the activities. Working with a broad set of creative professionals is definitely a positive, but as they´re all coming from very different backgrounds or areas of expertise we had to be careful to bring them together in combinations we thought would be energetic and complimentary.
The talks program will feature designers with a focus on VR & AR, what has caused this shift? Does VR provide a stronger engagement with the participant and if so, why?
We’re witnessing the growing impact of new technologies in everyday life, especially given the increased proximity of software such as AR filters, that are freely circulating worldwide on social media and having an immediate impact on our understanding of reality, how we socialise and represent ourselves.
For this reason, we were very keen on introducing these new visual languages and forms of imagining in the programme, as a way to engage the audience with elements of contemporary culture that are at times overlooked. Experiences in VR and AR can be incredibly formative, however, creating the right conditions can be difficult, especially as many people are still unfamiliar with the software and hardware, which can make it uncomfortable at first.
Artists using traditional materials often find nature an inspiration and can be uncomfortable about digital processes. Is there a meeting point between the two?
Looking back through history a logical conclusion would be that as technology has advanced we’ve veered away from the ‘natural’. The modernist design icons of the 20th century often embraced a utilitarian aesthetic that spoke of the machine and the industrial processes that produced it. Digital technologies followed in this course with binary and code becoming visual metaphors for an ideology that turned the computer into an internal office space. However, AI and 3D printing have the chance to change that trend. For example, you could ask a computer to design a bridge which minimised the amount of materials used and it would create something that looks organic, not unlike the living root bridges made in Northeastern India and Indonesia. Additive processes can then realise that design. These technologies are far from accessible, but that won’t be the case for long.
What is your advice to all makers out there in those peculiar times?
Makers are used to being resourceful and being creative in times of isolation. Right now there is a giant expectation to be productive, to make something of a moment in which we’re all being asked to put our lives on hold. Living in London can be relentless at the best of times, squeezing additional jobs into the evening hours and trying to grapple with every opportunity that comes your way. This might be the only opportunity many of us have to pause, to evaluate our processes and the courses we’ve set ourselves on. There’s a great deal of uncertainty about how long quarantine might last and in order to stay healthy we need to slow down. Hopefully by slowing down we can also navigate the fear of missing out that kicks in when the sun comes out. Stay home.
Thank you for reading,
Ema Marinova