ARTICLES
EXIT REVIEW

Liverpool Hope University College [view]

Liverpool John Moores University [view]

Wirral Metropoilitan College [view]

Information on Reviewers [view]


EXIT REVIEW was conceived as a rapid and small response to the difficulties fine art students encounter as they move from art school to life beyond college. It is frequently commented that there is a crisis in British art school education, as the conventional studio model of teaching and practice implicit in most curriculum leaves students unprepared for contemporary practice. Art college, somehow, doesn't encourage dialogue about work
between students, and what is received from staff can be limited, especially
at exam time. When most students receive their degree grade it is not
accompanied by any explanation of that grade. This situation isn't any
different for students of different subjects, and this is also a lack. The
marking process firmly places the emphasis on the student's end value,
rather than seeing marking as one more learning process. The degree show is
also a strange convention. Not all students' work is appropriate for a
mini-gallery and those students who chose to work off-site usually suffer in
marking. Seeing the degree show as the context for which work is made is
intelligent but may also narrow student's aspirations for the work. The
finality of the show leaves students with the feeling of an end point and
nothing beyond. Also, for the audience it is a strange affair- to be viewed
part as exam and part as show.

EXIT REVIEW is designed to give the Liverpool's graduating artists informed,
albeit brief, feedback about their work and to give a fair analysis of the
quality of the art education being given at Liverpool's three degree level
courses. However, it is also about the review as a process of public
exposure, and the possibility of accelerating the usual pecking order of who
gets reviewed and has access to systems of visibility at what stage in their
career. The project is also about compressing a student's learning curve as
they move from their course to understanding how they want to practice.
While this project focuses on Liverpool, in the future we hope there might
be ways to develop it further afield.

In 1999 Matthew Arnatt and David Mollin began their project '100 Reviews'.
This involved visiting 100 exhibitions in a week and making fast-fire
judgements on the work they saw. The project has continued to develop,
utilising different reviewers and different speeds of response. Like '100
Reviews', EXIT REVIEW explores a number of issues. The project values
unadorned and conflicting personal opinion, which may not always be fully
objective. Whilst reflecting the vulnerability of the reviewed, the project
also exposes the reviewers, who may risk their reputation, or, in this case,
agonise with their conscience when dealing criticism to young artists. This
is an interesting issue as although young artists may wince at comment,
positive criticism will improve confidence and understanding, and negative
criticism can do the same, making young artists more informed, tougher and
sharper- good ingredients for artistic survival.

EXIT REVIEW commissioned a team of 8 reviewers to cover the 84 fine art
students graduating from Liverpool Art School, Wirral Metropolitan College
and Liverpool Hope University College. The larger team of reviewers for
'EXIT REVIEW' was not to give the reviewers an easier ride, but to enable
each artist to receive 2 reviews, so the opinions could be compared. Each
reviewer was asked to give their written opinion on 24 students, and also to
consider the show at each college as a whole. How the team of reviewers
should be constituted was of great interest. A skill in writing was of
course important, but also a critical acumen and an awareness, whether they
chose to listen to it or not, that the subjects are students and vulnerable
to opinion. Initially we imagined a team outside of the city would be
better, then we realised that not only was there a lot of expertise in the
city, but that the project could also have another effect. Liverpool, like
most of Britain, has a very poor critical infrastructure- very little art
shown in Liverpool gets written about, and there isn't a climate where
opinions about art are incautiously voiced. Encouraging the very art
individuals in Liverpool's biggest art institutions to put their thoughts
into public was a very exciting proposal. There is a general rumbling
consensus amongst the art institutions that Liverpool's art schools are
declining in quality and are isolated from contemporary art in the city.
Some feel the colleges don't produce enough good artists, hence preventing
the art institutions being able to work with local artists. By putting
representatives of Liverpool's art institutions in the position of reviewers
we hoped some of these issues or perhaps myths, could be explored further.
However, to balance the local team we also combined a number of external
reviewers, one from the USA, so with a slightly different system in mind,
and another from the UK based Independent Art School, which has a critical
take on the British art school system.

Each reviewer was assigned a list of students, spanning each college. They
were required to write approximately 100 words on each show they saw.
Reviews were required to be written swiftly so the emphasis was on informed
opinion rather than perfect prose. Static will also assemble all reviews
into an additional small-scale publication, to be distributed to students
and colleges. Following this, all reviewers, students and public are invited
to attend a one day event, Saturday 28 June, 4pm, where the reviews will be
discussed. The reviewers will talk about student's projects, in context of a
discussion about Liverpool's art schools, and the condition of UK art
education. The transcripts of discussions arising will be added to the
publication shortly.