Tell us a little bit about yourself—your background, major program of study, reasons for taking this trip, and anything else interesting you want to share (maybe something people might not know about you).
Hi my name is Genevieve Cote, although I go by Gen. I just completed my first year of the BFA program and intend to major in Fine Arts. While most of my life I have been interested in history and viewed art as just one of my hobbies, it wasn’t until after studying history for two years that I recently began seeing art as something I wanted to do as more than just a hobby. I enrolled in the field school for a variety of reasons. I saw it as an opportunity to study art in a more immersive way as well as going beyond the traditional classroom experience. I was interested in travelling with like-minded people and being able to work with others who held similar interests. I also wanted to be able to travel more and saw this as a perfect chance to combine both my interest in art and my passion for travel and discovering new things.
Gen, who just completed the first year of her BFA program, is pictured here having some fun with Aimee.
What has met or exceeded your expectations or surprised you about London (or Venice) so far?
In London so far, I just love the different areas that the city has to offer. From parks to museums to historic buildings and a range of architecture, everywhere you look there’s something new to discover. As someone who is also interested in history, I love the range there is around London and how historical buildings are still preserved as modern ones are built right around them. I also find it interesting and love that in Europe there are so many school groups from young children to teenagers that are brought to art galleries and museums, to be immersed in culture and history and I think it is something that we should more widely adopt in Canada, because I find that through more immersive experiences you find a deeper connection to what you are seeing and learning about; you get a real sense of the work compared to just viewing it as images.
Give us some insight into your assigned artwork from the Tate Modern. After seeing the work in person in London (and any other related art from the same artist or art movement associated with the assigned work), what struck you most about it and/or how did the artwork’s form, content, and context shift for you when seeing it.
My assigned British artist was Rachel Whiteread and an image from her series Demolished (1996). While this particular series is made using the medium of photography, Whiteread usually works with making casts of objects. Her work stems from and resonates with her personal experiences and often represents feelings of neglect; both of people and environments. When I first saw the work I was struck most by the way it worked within the series. Although the image works well by itself, what shifted was the understanding of the work, as it is within the context of the series that you really understand the message the artist is trying to convey. I had expected the works to be slightly larger in scale, but when viewing the series, the scale that it was still worked quite well. (Assigned work is the image on the top row, 3rd from left)
Rachel Whiteread, Demolished (1996). Gen’s assigned art work is the image on the top row, 3rd from left.
Today’s activity was located at the Tate Modern. What were your impressions? What will you take away of the experiences of this day? What are the most memorable moments for you?
Today’s activity was located at the Tate Modern. We made our way there by tube and then passed by St. Paul’s Cathedral before walking across the Millennium Bridge. When we entered the Tate, I was taken aback by the scale of the Turbine Hall which was so much bigger in person than expected based on videos we had seen in class. My favourite piece I saw was actually Yinka Shonibare’s The British Library (2014); just the space that it occupied and the form of the piece with its range of colours, patterns and details made it really stand out for me. We also had some free time afterwards where a few of us bussed over to Covent Garden to explore and checked out the Jubilee Market and other smaller shops around the area.
Group photo taken in the big Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern.