Whilst looking back through my BA Hons portfolio and documentative works, I began to reflect on a exhibit I once had the pleasure to attend at Aberystwyth University School of Art, Titled 'Sea Change'.
Once a year, the undergraduate students stage an exhibition as a part of an assessed module titled "Curating an Exhibition" at the School of Art, Aberystwyth University. The student curators choose objects from the School's collection, which, over a period of about three months, they research, interpret and narratively arrange in relation to a given theme. The theme for the 2018 exhibition (on show from 21 May until 28 September) is "Sea Change."
I found myself thinking , how life along the coast is transformed and transforming as a result of environmental and socio-political developments, and this is present within the works narrative which appears to have evolved gradually, shaped by the objects selected by the exhibition curators. This is the text panel introducing the exhibition:
‘Sea change’ is one of the many expressions introduced to the English language by Shakespeare. It appears in The Tempest as a reference to death – and transformation – by drowning. This exhibition of works from the School of Art collection explores both the metaphorical and the literal meanings of the phrase. Today, ‘sea change’ is widely used to suggest moments of upheaval and reorientation. It may denote the end of a personal relationship or a geopolitical shift affecting the lives of millions. Whatever its measurable repercussions, ‘sea change’ is always felt to be profound.'
Artists whose works are featured in this exhibition include Jean-Antoine Théodore Gudin (1802–1880), Honoré Daumier (1808–1879), Wilhelm Kümpel (1822–1880), Hans Saebens (1895 – 1969), Carlo Bevilacqua (1900 – 1988), Gertrude Hermes (1901–1983), Keith Vaughan (1912 – 1977), Robert Tavener (1920–2004), Gwyn Martin (1921 – 2001), John Vivian Roberts (1923–2003), Bernard Cheese (1925–2013), Terry Bell-Hughes (b. 1939), Chris Penn (1943–2014), Alistair Crawford (b. 1945), Paul Scott (b. 1953), and Kate Malone (b. 1959).