Schools Lecture sponsored by The Arts Societies Bath Evening, Kington Langley and North Wiltshire

‘Art in the 21st Century’

Wednesday 15h October 4:00 for 4:30

Hardenhuish School, Hardenhuish Lane, Chippenham SN14 6RJ

With Anna Moszynska, Arts Society lecturer, Consultant Lecturer, London MA, Courtauld Institute; BA (Hons) University College London

‘How do we make sense of the art of our time? In this talk, Anna addressed some of the recent trends and practices which have helped to define the art of this millennium. The impact of globalization brings art from other parts of the world to the fore, new media is dominant, and ‘participation’ has emerged as a key feature. Alongside developments in painting and sculpture, art expands its reach and offers exciting opportunities for a more interactive experience.’

This is the third Schools Lecture that TASKL and TASNW have sponsored. This year we have received funds from TAS Bath Evening for a Young Arts Project. They closed their society earlier this year and a school’s lecture seemed a fitting use for this money. We also presented the lecture as part of the Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.

Anna had presented this lecture to TASKL last season and it was a revelation to most of our members who were not keenly aware of the such contemporary work. I don’t think any of us had ever been presented with such a catalogue of work – virtually none of which we recognised! We wondered if teachers were aware of such work and whether this would be a topic that both teachers and art students would find useful for the research section of their portfolio building.

Anna was very happy to come and speak to the students, parents, teachers and so we invited all the local schools to join us.  We had six schools and over 60 students, members of TASNW committee and parents turn up on a very wet evening. Tea/ coffee and doughnuts warmed us up and Anna gave a brilliant presentation of the changes that ripple through 21st century Art. The art of these students lives - from Setting the scene, though the globalisation of art, documentary and activist art, digital and virtual technologies, art and climate and the revisioning of art.

A whistle-stop view of the changes that have happened in the last 22 years, the connections between art and the different facets of life across the world, how technology is changing what we look at, how we look at it and the collaborations that now take place.

The students were brilliant, listening intently throughout. At the end there were numerous penetrating questions that demonstrated that they indeed had listened carefully and understood the technical issues behind the work. Questions such as the use of AI in the art world, if artists collaborate who in fact is the artist, the role of virtual presentations where you are actually in the art piece, what about copyright when you can now download art pieces and the wider access to work from different cultures and how this informs us as artists.

Anna also provided the schools with a list of all the art pieces and artists that she had used in her presentation. This will provide a concrete resource to use back in the classroom. The students really enjoyed the lecture which treated them as adults and appreciated the link between them and the current work now going on worldwide. We hope that this will have been a valuable opportunity to hear such a knowledgeable presenter and they are able to use this information in their courseworksubmissions.

We would like to thank Anna for such an illuminating lecture, Hardenhuish School for hosting the lecture, the art department for refreshments and the teachers and students for attending on such a wet evening.

Heather Leach and Karen Hellewell.