No limits in virtual arts world
In the virtual art world, size is no problem.
Bachelor of Screen Arts students at the Southern Institute of Technology have learnt this after the Covid-19 pandemic meant they had to adapt to being unable to host an exhibition at a physical art gallery.
But there had been positives to the pandemic in the art world. The students would host an online exhibition, which meant the volume of their art was not constrained by the limitation of space on the walls in an art gallery.
SIT screen and visual arts tutor Traci Meek said students host an exhibition every year at a small gallery but because the uncertainty moving between Covid-19 alert levels they had to explore new options.
Using the online platform Artstep, people could view artwork displayed through a virtual gallery, Meek said.
Physical galleries had limited space but there were no restrictions with virtual space, meaning the artwork could be as big as they wanted it to be, she said.
The virtual exhibition also enabled students to show their art to families and friends outside of Southland, she said.
Second year student Becca Akersten said working on the project at home during lockdown was peaceful.
They started the project planning to have work in a physical gallery but it was fairly easy to make the transition to the virtual space, Akersten said.
For student Emma Mitchell one of the challenges of working on the project at home was the group aspect of the work.
It was hard to get everyone to use video calls for communication but despite the challenges it worked out well towards the end, Mitchell said.
While second year students would have an online exhibition, there was hope that third year students could host an exhibition in a physical space at a later date.