News

BA Graphic Design collaborate with Manchester Poetry Library on Set in Motion

By James Booton
Date published:
15 Oct 2024
Reading time:
2 minutes
Set in Motion was a 9 day project involving 90 3rd year students on the BA Graphic Design course.
Set in Motion

The project was a collaboration & competition project with Manchester Poetry Library. It aimed to look at the way motion can bring poetry to life for newer & more diverse audiences. Students were asked to choose 1 poem from a selection of 9 provided by MPL, and to respond to this through moving image. They could either choose to work with a section of the poem or the overall piece but they were encouraged to think laterally and avoid cliches. 

The project culminated in a screening where guest judges selected the winners. Guest judges were Ruth Awolola & Martin Kratz from MPL, and Sarah Cleave from MA Publishing. 6 winning teams are having their work shown on the big screen outside the entrance to Manchester Poetry Library 

The winning teams were:

Annabel Holmes & Mima Williams
Chosen piece
: Soul Song – Michael Symmons Roberts 

This animated piece was created by hand using the risograph printing machine. It was constructed from over 800 individual printed images. The risograph prints semi-transparent ink two layers at a time and this process visually represents the idea of 2 souls coming together.

Dylan Ellsmore & Michael Wood 
Chosen piece:
Kamau - Anthony Joseph

This poem is intended as a kind of eulogy to Caribbean poet Kamau Brathwaite. A large inspiration for the piece were the graphic markings made by Brathwaite, as well as the themes within the poem itself.

Joab Harrison, Sam Finlator, Beau Langmead
Chosen poem:
towards the sun – fukudapero

This piece was created using footage filmed in Manchester & Tokyo. As the poem is written in both English & Japanese, the split screen is intended to communicate the notion of belonging to two different cultures.
 

Billy Shrimpton, Sam Edwards, Lois Maddocks, Jack lowrie
Chosen Piece:
‘towards the sun’ by fukudapero 

Inspired by the poems reference to dreams, this piece emulates the sensation of light passing through partially opened eyes.

Julia Ahyun Yoon, Rianna Ga Vun Kong, Selma Hijazi
Chosen poem:
towards the sun – fukudapero
 

Molly Halbrehder-Wain, Imogen Cooper, Esme Fairbrother, Ruby Hartley
Chosen piece:
Soul Song – Michael Symmons Roberts