Students from The Guernsey Institute’s Higher National Diploma Art and Design (Graphic Design) programme recently presented their final exhibition, Disconnect, at Art for Guernsey in Mansell Street.
Examining the growing influence of AI in contemporary creative practice, the students’ projects explored the evolving relationship between digital and physical worlds.
Showcasing a diverse body of work developed over the past two years of study, the show included branding, typography, illustration, photography, digital media, experimental visual communication as well as sculptural and fine art approaches.
‘It has been an absolute pleasure working with this cohort and highly enjoyable throughout,’ said course leader Andy Moore. ‘What they have achieved for Disconnect, and across the past two years, is of a consistently high standard and they are now leaving the course with outstanding, high-end portfolios of work that reflect both their talent and ambition. They should be very proud of what they have produced.’
Isabelle Batiste said her work focused on the loss of cognitive ability.
‘The whole show is focused on AI and these are our artistic responses,’ said the 19-year-old. ‘I think we’re using AI too much. For my work I wanted to create online questions, picking questions that were personal and that a robot couldn’t answer.’
Isabelle designed her own AI interface and created a home screen of a site.
‘I asked questions such as “I just got into a car crash, what can I do?” and “What would you like to accomplish?” to which the answer is “Design my final piece”. Questions to prompt you to start conversations.’
Isabelle’s portfolio contains a lot of work designing for different organisations.
‘For the last-ever Chaos Festival and I did a music video for the band Rosemary for Vale Earth Fair. A lot of photography, video and editing.’
Isabelle is currently looking locally for a job in design.
‘For my final piece I wanted to create a commentary on AI – planting yourself into a machine,’ explained Katie Allsopp, 20. ‘How your analogue brain would deal with digitalisation.’
She created a sculpture of this process.
‘It’s made from plaster on canvas. I took apart a computer to represent the nerves – the fan is still working.’
Katie’s portfolio took in everything from social media design, video and animation.
‘From the D&AD Awards I took a brief from a start-up brand to rival Apple and Samsung – Nothing. They make a Nothing Phone 4 so my design used holes – to make Nothing sound like something.
‘There’s so many brands to choose from. We sent our designs into a competition.’
Katie has been offered a job from a local start-up.
‘It’s my stepping stone into the world of design,’ she said.
Erin Thompson, 20, has had a busy couple of years, as her packed portfolio attests. As well as design work for Chaos and a Bauhaus-inspired poster for local band The Doll Motel, she has worked on topics such as body positivity, a self-portrait based on what colours people think she is, and a project about her and her brother called Golden Child.
‘When we were growing up I always thought he was the golden child because he got straight As, and he always thought I was. After an argument I thought “You’re just my brother”.'
She also worked on a powerful campaign concerning gender-based violence.
‘There’s a women’s bathroom initiative where signs tell you to “Ask for Angela” if you need support. I’ve done the helplines in 56 different languages from around the world.’
Her final piece is quite chilling.
‘I took the line from The Buggles’ song, Video Killed the Radio Star to show the loss of originality. I then stated “Internet Killed the Video Star” and the last one is “AI Killed the...”. Take from that what you will.’
Erin has had a conditional offer from Buckinghamshire New University.
Joe Mann, 21, responded to the theme of surveillance.
‘I was looking at CCTV. I took a photo of an eye and then broke it down a half tone and then separate CMYK layers for screen printing to reflect systematic breakdown. When far away you can see what it is. It’s an illusion.’
Joe has also worked on another screen print of St Peter Port being struck by lightning.
‘I wanted to see how you’re able to use AI for the good. Show that it can be useful.’
His printing experiments extended to a cuddly penguin toy to make a powerful piece.
‘I ink-rollered the teddy, adding more ink until it was saturated. It’s about childhood memories, whether they stay or leave as you get older.’
Joe is looking to find work in a marketing team.
‘This is basically an AI robot I called Albert,’ said 22-year-old Robert Francis. ‘I wanted to do a big piece so I made this sculpture. We learned how to do welding with the Suntera Global fish sculpture initiative, so I used that skill to weld these steel beams.
‘I took a monitor apart and put it together using foam, sponge, wires, cables, tubes, an old calculator. It took me 13 days working from 9am to 6pm.’
Robert also created the head of a zombie and a werewolf’s head inspired by the film An American Werewolf in London.
‘I do draw and plan them out but I apply the details intuitively.’
Robert would like a career in prop design and has potential leads into the industry.
Tutor Mark Cook explained why the show was being held at Art for Guernsey.
‘The students organise their own show and David [Ummels, AFG’s founder] was good enough to say have it here again as they did last year.
‘They also have to do all the advertising and contact all the people themselves. It’s very much a collaborative project – the theme, branding, plan of action and managing it. They have been brilliant.’
Fish sculpture
Mark Cook explained more about the metal fish sculpture.
'It’s part of a wider community project in conjunction with Suntera global. It started on the Isle of Man where they commissioned artists to create welded fish sculptures to promote awareness of the damage plastics are doing to our seas.
'As it was such a success, they decided to bring it to Guernsey, and asked me to create the sculptures.'
As Mark can't weld it wasn't practical for him to take it on as a personal project.
'But I was keen that it should go ahead, so I decided that it would make a great cross-college project with creative and engineering students crating the pieces.
'The initial designs were chosen through a school's competition with local students. I then turned the four winners' artwork into practical designs. Once it was started the HND students took on the external decoration of that particular fish, learning some basic metallurgy and how to weld in the process. Other students have been working on the other statues.'
This fish will soon be placed at a designated beach where it will act as plastic bottle bin to help minimise waste.
