17 May 2006

Dundee shoppers inspire student art

The movements of shoppers in Dundee’s Overgate Centre on a busy Saturday afternoon have been used as a basis for artwork which will be on display at this year’s Degree Show at the University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Final year illustration student Sarah Cormack (23), tracked the shoppers on carbon paper and used the drawings to create individual maps of how people interact and communicate with each other.

The results can be seen in Sarah’s Lines of Communication project at this year’s Degree Show which opens on May 20.

"I was sitting in a café in the Overgate watching the movements people made when they met someone or talked to someone," she explained. "I tracked their movements and created individual maps."

"I’ve been looking at communication and the difficulties and barriers to communication that can exist and I’m hoping to raise awareness of the problems people can face."

Sarah’s inspiration for the project is her 18-year-old younger brother David who has had his own communication problems to deal with.

"David has Down’s and people don’t appreciate how much he has to give but he really is my inspiration," said Sarah. "There is a video diary of him as part of the project and he has been a big help."

Degree Show 2006 opens to the public on Saturday 20 May and runs until Saturday 27 May. It is staged within the DJCAD buildings on the University of Dundee campus.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Images of Sarah’s work are available from the press office.

For further information contact:

Hilary McNally
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: 01382 384768
email: h.mcnally@dundee.ac.uk