‘Did you come by train or photograph?’* The swallowing, by the screen, of our working, cultural and personal lives has been rapid. Over the last 14 weeks we have shared a process of experimental teaching and learning through the possibilities and pitfalls of technology. These artists have with speed translated onto screen, works which often explored materiality and the slow alchemy of  print. Their success at reinvention fills me with admiration.

An ability to improvise is a life skill every artist needs. Bedsits, kitchens and gardens become studios. Laptops and phones augment paper, ink, and anything at hand.

For the Print programme the shifting relationship between hand and machine, paper archives and virtual caches is ever-present. Print carries histories. Family, mapping, migration, (de)colonisation, memory, gender, time and touch are some subjects of this typically varied work.

Empathy and care are emerging as themes for our student led event reflecting priorities amidst the ruptures and losses of Corona and Black Lives Matter. How can artists mobilise the critical energies of this moment to reflect and contribute to lasting future change? Imagination, creativity and collaboration will be key.

*The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger

Print Out 2020 – File Away Publication: https://issuu.com/rca-issuu/docs/fileaway
Study Print at the RCA: www.rca.ac.uk