Mini Making Futures Conference

"Making Futures" is a conference staged by Plymouth College of Art every year which brings together art researchers,  academics and activists to "investigate contemporary craft as a change agent within 21st century society".  Here's a link to its website:

http://makingfutures.plymouthart.ac.uk

The college ran a much condensed version of some of it yesterday.

I wasn't impressed.  Some of the presentations were dire - surprisingly dire considering they were given by lecturers who should be good at public speaking.

I only attended the morning session and only three presentations made the grade in my opinion. They were by:

Ian Hankey

Great stuff on how digital technologies (laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC routing machines)  can be used in contemporary craft and how thinking outside the box enables you to make things using these technologies for a relatively modest cost.

I am going to pursue this stuff!  First step is to get competent using Rhino, one of the 3D modelling software packages that feeds into digital manufacturing kit.

Stephen Felmingham

Great talk on drawing!  Almost made me wish I was doing drawing under his guidance!  In the afternoon I joined Stephen's cross-college drawing session,  doing a collaborative life drawing of Kevin, a severely disabled person.

Mary Loverday-Edwards,  our context of practice lecturer.  

 I was struck by one of her statements:

"The purpose of knowledge is to act on it"

When she said it I wrote it down and put a big box around it because it goes to the heart of my "issue" with this context of practice course so far,  namely:

"How should I be acting on the knowledge I'm acquiring?"

More often then not I come out of a lecture wondering this.  If I could see a more direct relevance to the stuff I'm making I might find it easier to pay attention!