Edinburgh Student Arts Festival
The New Laboratory
Preview 22nd February 6 - 8pm
23rd - 26th February 10 - 5pm
The Edinburgh Student Arts Festival is excited to present THE NEW LABORATORY, an exhibition which will run simultaneously at DOK Artist Space and Custom Lane, two closely situated venues committed the action of experimenting and the process of creation. THE NEW LABORATORY focuses on the boundary between art and other disciplines including science and design. 28 emerging artists offer a wide range of investigations, some neatly resolved, others leaving certain things unsaid; and inviting audiences to develop their own opinions on these complex relationships.
Artists will present varied work across three micro-exhibitions: The Test Room at DOK Artist Space and the Design Room and the Lab Room, at Custom Lane. At DOK Artist Space’s Test Room, women artists will explore contemporary reflections on psychological research, showcasing works that are concerned with the intimate exploration of the mind and the self, states of consciousness and unconsciousness, including Patricia McCormack’s celestial work created in collaboration with the Royal Observatory of Edinburgh.
Works exhibited in the Design Room at Custom Lane will showcase provocative new designers and crafters who intertwine their design reflection and topics traditionally reserved for the visual arts. Alex Weir’s playful interrogation of the practice of painting and the role of the painter questions the parameters of the medium, while Megan Falconer’s silversmithing is another example of this marriage between disciplines: her beautifully crafted tools question their usage by turning into pieces of fine jewelry. Artists exhibiting in Custom Lane’s Lab Room explore in depth the theme of The New Laboratory broadly and in a variety of media, with Kate Livingstone reviving the science of alchemy to give colour to her leatherette sculptures and paintings.
Artists:
Melpomene Gageneli
Nicol Guerra
Helen Jarosz
Cassandra Langenskiöld
Patricia McCormack
Clara Rider
Stephanie Ward
About ESAF:
ESAF is a social enterprise that was formed with the joint aim of providing emerging creatives with a
platform to showcase their work to the public, and increasing public access to the arts. The festival has
taken place annually since its inception in 2015 and continues to grow. In 2016 ESAF won the Inspiring
Youth Enterprise Award from Social Enterprise Scotland.
