An exciting day at the office inspires
A giant magpie made of umbrellas, an artist wearing a monkey
mask and another dressed as a barefoot bride were inspired by an
empty office building.
The creations are the response of fine art students at Reading
University to the vacant Capitol headquarters building and fill the
ground floor.
Judges viewed the 35 shortlisted finalists on Friday at the
building on Twin Bridges roundabout, Bracknell. The winners
and runners-up will be revealed at a private viewing on Friday,
March 12.
Alun Rowlands, head of fine art at the university, said: "It's
been a really exciting challenge and it's fantastic for them to
have been given all this space. They have been able to deal
with real-world considerations.
The approaches range from DVD footage to performance art, a sound
installation, piping noises recorded from university buildings into
one of the stairwells at Capitol, photographs, paintings and
sculptures, all inspired by the theme "Urban Utopia" and the
185,000 sq ft office block that was stripped, reclad and remodelled
by Landid and RREEF.
Fund Manager, Steve Faber, said: "We've got some fantastic light
space at Capitol and before it's occupied we thought it would be a
missed opportunity not to put on such a thought-provoking and
interesting exhibition.