On 3rd February, staff, students and members of the public came together at the University of Winchester to experience multi-media art pieces inspired by Splendid Fred Records’ album This Changes Everything. The exhibition was put on to encourage artists and visitors to explore the effects of climate change on our society, and to broadcast the work the University is doing to raise awareness of this issue.
In early 2016, Professor Joy Carter commissioned the university’s record label, Splendid Fred Records to produce an original album of songs about climate change. The finished product, This Changes Everything, was written and performed by students, graduates, and staff from the university and went on to win a Green Gown Award in November 2017. To celebrate the growing recognition for the album, the Splendid Fred Records team decided to hold an art exhibition where artists were given the opportunity to creatively respond to its lyrics.
Individuals were encouraged to use a variety of different mediums when creating their pieces, and the work produced really took the theme of multi-media to heart. Second year creative writing student Lawrence Nicholas presented a soundscape entitled ‘Eulogy’ and first year film production student James Furr created a CRT installation entitled ‘Final Messages’. Other artists created a variety of paintings and sculptures, made from materials such as oak and alabaster. The This Changes Everything: Making of the Album documentary was also displayed so visitors could see some of the minds behind the creation and promotion of the album, and there were also music videos of some of the songs on the album on display.
The exhibition wasn’t just for members of the University, as many of the pieces exhibited were from students at Peter Symonds College and Winchester Art Group. Local charity Winchester Action Against Climate Change (WinACC) and the university’s environment team also had stands where they could encourage visitors to continue thinking about the environment after the exhibition and WinACC presented a short film entitled In Our Hands: Seeding Change. Glenn Fosbraey, director of Splendid Fred Records, said, ‘Creating the album, This Changes Everything, was one small step on the way to alerting people of crucial environmental issues. This exhibition aims to build on this, bringing the local community together, through a shared love of art, in the fight against climate change.’
Staff, students and community members alike turned up in support of the artists whose work was exhibited and because they wanted to join in the conversation about climate change. The Splendid Fred Records team hope that many of the visitors will begin to consider their impact on the environment, and ways they could portray this in their own art. Some of the artwork from the exhibition will be on display at The Link Gallery until February 25th, so be sure to check it out if you weren’t able to make it to the original event. To find out what’s next for This Changes Everything and for Splendid Fred Records, you can visit their website by clicking here or follow them on Twitter here. You can also find a playlist of the videos exhibited on their YouTube channel here.
