Students

Alice graduated in 2008 with a BA (Hons) in Drawing and Painting from Edinburgh College of Art: continuing to live in Scotland's capital she works four days a week in the commercial art world at Ingleby Gallery, taking part in its day-to-day running and its participatory role in art fairs and other events.

In conjunction with her own practice Alice co-founded Place Project earlier in 2009, a multi-faceted creative collective which responds to a range of locations, events and ideas to enable creative production in a public setting. Alice maintains her practice of "making things" during studio hours alongside her work at the gallery and co-running Place Project's ongoing activities.

aliceladenburg.com »

Richard Taylor :Whilst studying, what did you consider doing after graduation. Is this divergent or convergent with what you are doing now?

Alice Ladenburg: I had no real plans other than to continue with my own work and try to earn money doing something that I enjoyed as quickly as possible, I have also thought about further study. However, with various degrees of seriousness (in no particular order) I considered being: a post-lady, a teacher, a gardener, a stripper, a stained-glass window apprentice, anything in Barcelona, a dog-walker, a BBC intern, a bus-driver...

RT: So, in all degrees of seriousness (but not entirely, as I am sure you had fun!) what have you achieved since graduating in the summer of 2008? Where have you been, what have you done, and what is your working schedule now?

AL: I did a two week internship at Limoncello Gallery in London after graduating, had a brief invigilating stint at the Inverleith House Gallery as well as working as a waitress: I also co-initiated 'Place Project' here in Edinburgh.

After starting part time, I now work four days a week at Ingleby Gallery, just next to Edinburgh Waverley train station and continue to work with Place Project. Upon securing a studio I also aim to dedicate two days a week to my own practice, continuing in making things, taking opportunities as they come.

RT: So tell me some more about Place Project. How are you involved, how does it function?

AL: Through my curatorial involvement as well as presenting my own work the project has developed in to a loose collective including individuals from a range of disciplines, generating situations for proposals of installations, performances and other ideas for realisation.

In the past eight months we have worked with The Bowery a music / arts venue in Edinburgh where we had a weeklong residency including a range of music and art performances, a vegetarian taxidermy session, a disco toilet, and caravan cinema. We were also invited to Goodstead, an Urban clothing boutique in Edinburgh, where as well as an open submission t-shirt design project, various artists were invited to install work and realise performances in-store at the opening event, during late night shopping!

RT: So you chose to stay in Edinburgh. How come, what was there for you to work with and what new avenues were available?

AL: Despite cold and dark winters and although I worried about being static straight from art school, I also felt there was a lot of potential to develop ideas, which may have not happened somewhere new or in a more competitive atmosphere.

After leaving Edinburgh College of Art I began to meet new people - people involved in the creative sectors - working with venues and projects not confined to the Fine Art world. Place Project opened up new networks to work with and respond to. It seemed to make much more sense to use resources that I was familiar with and contacts I already had than moving somewhere new and starting from scratch.

I also managed to get a good job that I enjoyed and felt I could learn from.

RT: Where have you found your influences and inspiration to maintain the drive to do what it is you do?

AL: Generally through meeting talking to people that have come across my path, whether art-world experts or bar managers: I've discovered a lot of driven and exciting individuals existing in unexpected places, which has made me feel more positive about doing my own thing.

RT: What is the worse job you have done since finishing your degree last year, how did you utilise it in order to get to where you are?

AL: Many will say that being a waitress is often a near-last option, and it was with me, though I ate more fish then than I do now, I also enjoyed the tips and got respite from analysing and stressing out about other things going on. At times I think I almost miss it...

RT: During your studies what advice or foreknowledge did you feel was missing: can you provide this information to students that are starting to complete their Degrees now?

AL:

• Keep in touch with people from college who's work you like - work with your peers and build up networks with them rather than seeing them as competition!
• Commercial art galleries are not the enemy - though to get good representation as a recent graduate is near impossible - this isn't because they're not interested, carry on applying for projects, producing work and being involved in artist-run organisations first.
• The art world is incredibly complicated and can be quite depressing, but there's a lot worth investigating.
• To be a good artist it's more important to be ambitious for your personal artistic development than exhibiting and selling.

RT: In hindsight, placed where you are now: what would you say to people who are studying creative and practice-based degrees, any last words of warning or a few statements of encouragement?

AL: First of all: enjoy making work and don't worry too much about what will come next.

If you're interested in a certain area, talk to as many people as possible about it, ask around, and be inquisitive and open to suggestions. When working in an 'only-to-earn-money' job, keep your ears open, talk to people and get involved in other things.

I consider myself very lucky in having involved work with a Gallery, but it's important not to see it as the only potential paid work that's relevant to an arts graduate. I'm learning a lot from it and meeting interesting people, but it's not for everyone, and essentially it's still a job like many others.

Look out for other Professional profiles on Student communities: they are intended as informative yet short pieces of content for you to make use of and gain inspiration from so let me know if they are working.
richard.taylor@a-n.co.uk »

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Richard Taylor

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First published: a-n.co.uk September 2009