To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.
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It is with very deep sadness that we announce that our friend and colleague, Jeff Calladine, has passed away. Jeff had been suffering with ill health for some time, and took a turn which he did not recover from. He is survived by his wife and two sons. The thoughts of everyone at OCA go […]
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OCA tutor, Helen Warburton recalls the discussion of image overload, and asks how do artists and designers deal with this now in the midst of a pandemic? During lockdown, I’ve been revisiting a 2013 WeAreOCA blog post that posed a provocative question: how do we deal with the flood of images? The discussion gravitated around […]
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Have you ever found yourself looking at an autumn leaf wondering what colours you would choose to draw it; how would you create the texture and light? Have you ever held a piece of ice, thanks to this winter we had plenty of it, and noticed how in a transparent crystal there are dozens of […]
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Barnsley-based global arts college joins DMC creative community A global distance learning college which has seen a 30 per cent increase in student enrolments in the past year has moved its headquarters to Barnsley’s Digital Media Centre. The Open College of the Arts (OCA) delivers a wide range of open access distance learning courses […]
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Emma Arandjelovic (Social & Communications representative) Last October, the newly reformed Student Association put together a survey to gather feedback about communication and the learning community within OCA. We had a fantastic response, with 290 students completing the survey and many taking the time to give detailed comments about their experiences. We’d like to extend […]
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It is common for an artist to write a statement defining their practice. In my opinion this serves a greater purpose for the artist than for the audience (who, after all, should be free to respond emotionally to an experience rather than being instructed regarding its intention). I have been writing and rewriting my statement […]
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‘The Gathering’ 2018, repopulating a space in Romania left abandoned since the revolution in 1989 I learnt a lot from my conversations and brief collaboration with the late great Will Alsop. Most notably that not everything has to make sense – actions do not always have to be justified. Play is the beginning of creativity […]
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‘Beacon’ 2016, Installation on an ancient beacon site where the audience is invited by the light rather than by a selective process. My work is the investigation of pathways, migrations and unplanned encounters. It is only with hindsight that I can understand the rationale behind my creative practice. I call this retrospective research; looking back […]
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There are thousands of type faces for you to choose from, but how do you choose the right one? Many great designers normally use only three or four for all their work. Because there are now so many, the temptation is to always use something novel and distinctive. However, it is often not the novelty […]
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Student work uncovered – new painting student Emily Costello with a contribution from programme leader, Emma Drye. EC: Here is one of my temporary artwork pieces. I had the idea of creating a happy moving piece of a child outside playing. I used flour and a sieve to create it, I really love the details […]
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