They Are All Explorers: Manchester School of Art Degree Show 2013

Manchester School of Art’s degree show is a big event in the city's art calendar, with thousands flocking to see work by the fresh crop of graduates from MMU’s creative courses. Running from 15-19 June, this year's show was given the title We Are All Explorers, reflecting the innovation and drive that the School of Art aims to embed in its students – and this 175th anniversary year of the school offered extra excitement, as it gave the public an opportunity to see the new £34 million Art School building.

Exploration seems to be an overarching theme for two of the graduates from the Interactive Arts course. Darren Murphy and Sarah Unwin may approach the theme from widely different theoretical standpoints, but the quest for understanding is evident. Using two park benches as the setting, Murphy's Hours of Idle Conversation is a series of daily discussions and conversation experiments. Murphy initiates visitors in conversation, allowing them to become active participants in the degree show and Murphy to use conversation as material.

In The Archive of Self, Unwin's chief artist's tool is PH paper, which she uses to collect the saliva of visitors to the show. Dressed in a white lab coat, Unwin asks participants if she can take a sample, then adds them to one of six large grids on the wall. The PH paper indicates levels of acidity, and by logging them all together, Unwin’s grid marks subtle changes and differences between each one. Unwin’s piece will eventually be catalogued and stored in the Interactive Arts archive. As a primary source for historical investigation, archives provide an understanding into what once was; and Unwin’s will provide future students with an insight into her experience of her participants.

The thirst for knowledge continues with The Art History Project, a ten-day research project by Naomi Cull and Leanne Findlay. Part installation and part documentation, The Art History Project acts as a prompt for questions about research, and Art History as an academic practice and its place in artistic practice. Cull and Findlay use the objects in the room to map out a narrative; chairs that are positioned in a circle signify discussion, and a blackboard scrawled with notes suggests the acquisition of knowledge through teaching. Each object in the room has been carefully selected and is perfectly positioned, showing the artists’ skill for both reading objects and also understanding how those objects can be read. The Art History Project tells us that to produce truly innovative work, one must understand and explore the past.

Juxtaposing found imagery and sound from the not-so-distant past with more contemporary references, sculptor Calum Crawford creates an abstract still life of popular culture. What’s the Difference Between Me & You? screams of hedonism and freedom. Using sound, light and everyday objects, Crawford has constructed his own vision of youth culture, transporting you to somewhere that's in-between Sankeys and anywhere with a decent soundsystem.

Another sculptor, Andi Sheppard, uses light to challenge the way in which the viewer observes space and light. 3 Walls to Form a Corner uses fluorescent light and Perspex to alter the architecture space; in breaking up the white walls of the studio space, Sheppard navigates and manipulates light’s natural course.

Using folds and light to create visual trickery, Photography student Samantha Brandolani challenges visual perception by creating beautifully still and surreal imagery. In her video projection, Untitled, a white pillow slowly contracts in on itself only to then expand, straightening out all the folds. The illusion achieved through precise and accurate editing techniques makes it appear as though the pillow has a life of its own.