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Built for Industry: Ravensbourne University London x Tate Kids
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In this edition of Built for Industry, we spoke to three of Ravensbourne’s first-year Animation students who had the opportunity to respond to a live brief for Tate Kids.
Tate Kids is an educational resource for the arts intended for audiences between the ages of four and 12.
The students were tasked with creating a short animation detailing the life of trailblazing and influential artist and fashion designer, Leigh Bowery. As a culmination of the project, the animations were then screened at the Tate Modern’s Starr Cinema, providing an opportunity for the students to reflect on their achievements and have their work showcased on the big screen.
We caught up with Chenaé Grant, Kai Royan and Liviu-Matias Ion immediately after their animations had been screened to talk about the project, their sense of achievement and their hopes for the future.
What does it mean for you to have your work exhibited at the Tate Modern in the Starr Cinema?
Chenaé Grant: For me personally, it’s really cool to be able to see your work in front of other people and just to take it in after working on it for so long. It's like peace of mind, really.
Kai Royan: I've spent a long time working on that project and it was really fun seeing it up there and feeling so proud about my work and the many long hours [it took] at night working. All of it coming to something in the end was really fun.
Liviu-Matias Ion: I think it was a bit of a relief finally seeing it complete. It was worth seeing some reactions to it and, at the same time, it's a quick moment that passes, because you work so hard on it for so long, and then it’s just like, “Wow, it's over. It's done!”
Talk to me about some of the insights you received, whether from people at Ravensbourne, from the industry, or just technology, which helped you complete the project.
CG: Personally, it was my groupmates being reliable. I was struggling a bit as we were doing it so it was good to have other people who I could rely on and take away certain things or change certain things to make it easier, so that was really helpful.
KR: I was struggling a bit with my group. When I spoke to my teacher [at Ravensbourne], it really helped to try and figure out what we needed to do. The final thing that we decided to do was to turn a three-person group into two and that helped a lot having a teacher who was understanding and really tried to figure out ways to make it easier.
LI: I found myself really thanking free software, for example, because I used it to animate.
Liviu quote
I think it was also very nice that we managed to collaborate with Sound and Music students. It was very helpful to have some students that actually know their stuff and basically just explain to them our ideas, and then them delivering it and exceeding our expectations. ”
What are your main points of learning from this project which you hope to integrate into your future practice?
KR: Communication. Realising how important it is trying to figure out what people need in order to help them with the project and trying to communicate what I need so I can fulfil my role.
Kai quote
This project helped me to experience that before I go out into the world. Speaking with the sound design people and getting that chance to communicate with them and, also Sophie [from the Tate] who's a professional in the industry, is kind of scary! But being able to try that out without it having real repercussions was good to experience.”
LI: I think it's a worthwhile experience. Leigh Bowery was very controversial, but when it comes to stuff like this, you need to put your ego at the door and just be a professional. I think that's what this module helps with: learning to compromise, just get on with it and get the job done, because otherwise you won't handle the heat if you're in the kitchen.
Sophie quote
It was a pleasure working with Ravensbourne students for this Tate Kids live brief and introduce them to producing animation for museums and galleries - they demonstrated creative storytelling, research skills and technical ability in their final films.”
You can find out more about Ravensbourne's Animation degrees via our dedicated course pages.
You can also see more Tate Kids content via their YouTube channel and Instagram page.
