Thanks Thomas!
"Working at Beckmans has broadened my perspective on what art can be. When I studied at Konstfack in the late 70's and early 80's it was very focused on painting and gallery exhibitions so it has been very developing for me to work here. I will miss the students and colleagues. Says Thomas.
"It's great that we went to college."
Thomas Magnusson is an artist and started as a teacher at Beckmans in 1992 when Formlinjen started and the school was located at Nybrogatan 8. At that time, the subject was called "Color & Product design" while on the model line and advertising line it was called "Free exercises". When Beckmans became a university in 2003, the subject changed its name to Artistic Design.
"When I started, the subject was very analogous, with drawing and painting as the basis together with freer projects. The computer and the fact that we became college are the two things that have driven the change in our subject area at the school. Mia and I (Vendel) have wanted to renew the subject and adapt the courses to the focus of the programmes so that it will be visible which program we teach at. The fact that we became a college has meant a lot and it has been very fun to be part of that change.
Many courses fun to teach over the years
One course that stands out as particularly fun over the years according to Thomas is Art Advertising Art where the students in year two of the visual communication program examine the charged relationship between art and advertising. The course has ended with an exhibition, in recent years at Konstnärshuset, with the students' results.
"But also the course "Poetry to do" when students get to do visual representations of their poetry experiments and the "Material Course" when the fashion students in year 2 do an experimental fashion show, have been very fun to work with.
Over the past year, much of the teaching has been remote, which can be particularly challenging in a subject such as artistic design. However, one course that has worked very well with distance learning is the one called "Plats Gestalten", when the students should start from a place and make an artistic interpretation of it.
"We changed the content of the course and allowed the students to present three places that were important to them personally and since teaching was over meet + zoom, students have been able to be in different places in Sweden. I am very happy with what the students achieved in this year's course!
Work on your own art continues
In April, Thomas had a large exhibition of his art at Konstnärshuset. In "The Red and Other Colors", we were met by paintings in intense colors and layers of additions such as threads, paper and text. The work as an artist continues.
-I will continue to work with my art, right now I am thinking about how to continue working with it. One method I have is that I repaint things I have done a long time ago, so it is possible that some of my paintings from the exhibition at Konstnärshuset will appear in new product design in the future.
Since the pandemic rules put an end to a larger tap-off, it became on a smaller scale with the closest colleagues. But in August when the school opens for a new academic year, it is hopefully possible to gather both students and staff for a larger celebration!
