HND Illustration and HND Computer Arts students from City of Glasgow College created pieces inspired by the life and work of Muriel Spark. Working with City of Glasgow College’s talented student cohort was an inspiring process and the outcomes are here for all to see. Many of the students confessed that Muriel Spark was not an author that was known to them but by the end of the project it was clear that everyone involved had engaged with this most remarkable literary figure and generated an amazingly diverse range of creative responses.
Below the students tell us about their artworks in their own words.
Plane of Existence by Rebekah Brown
As part of the Muriel Spark project, Rebekah created a virtual environment. Watch Rebekah’s film to hear about her process and see the final result.
Bourdieu’s Keyboard by Connor Campbell
The starting point for my project was Spark’s The Ballad of Peckham Rye. The social themes in this book interested me so I decided to look into some of the philosophy behind it. My project takes samples of Pierre Bourdieu (French Sociologist/ Philosopher) speaking on television and uses them to create a virtual keyboard, his voice being the instrument. The aesthetic I chose for my project was fairly simplistic and I wanted it to resemble a push pad so that the user would feel like a DJ whilst interacting with it. Watch Connor’s film to hear more about his process.
Muriel Spark by Chloe Dalziel
These pieces were created based on Muriel Spark’s novel The Driver’s Seat. I wanted to capture subtle themes within the book onto the pieces but not enough to tell you the full story. The poster was constructed with masking tape and acrylic paint, using a printmaking roller I created the road mark effect to give atmosphere to the poster. The tote bag was made with masking tape and ink, with text added in digitally. I took a quote from the book that stuck with me, and wanted to capture the uneasiness of this character’s personality with the emotionless eyes and monotone quote.
See more of Chloe’s work here: www.Instagram.com/Lithwen
Muriel Spark 100 (Stamp Series) by Serena Forbes
A series of 3 stamps that represent the work of Muriel Spark. The books used as inspiration were; The Driver’s Seat, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Girls of Slender Means. All artwork was made via printmaking (lino print).
See more of Serena’s work here: https://twitter.com/serenaforbesart
Mise en Abyme by Scott Kempik
As part of the Muriel Spark project, Scott made a short film. Hear from Scott and watch the final film here.
Foreign Life of Muriel Spark by Gosia Kepka
My project is inspired by travel and the countries where Muriel Spark lived – Southern Rhodesia, United States and Italy. My project is a short GIF animation. I have drawn the images in traditional media, then scanned and photoshopped them, and then made a short animation in Photoshop.
See more of Gosia’s work here: https://www.instagram.com/illustrationsbygosia/
https://www.facebook.com/IllustrationsByGosia/
Generative Spark by Josh Laing
I wanted to create a poster that used themes from Muriel Spark’s books.
I created prints made with mixed media techniques such as paint, salt and bleach and then scanned them to the computer to then use in a program I created on a software called processing that would take my images that I created/used and would create this generative art piece that would become my final posters.
Manipulation, Physical Computing and Interactive Graphics by Rebecca Lindsay
As part of the Muriel Spark project, Rebecca made an interactive piece of software. Hear from Rebecca and see her designs and software in action here.
Brodie Book Cover by Zoe Lynch-Moore
When reading the book and watching the play, I found that there were many sides to Miss Jean Brodie and her students. Each time you would re-read it, you would see a different side and question the character further. This inspired me most of all when creating my bookcover.
‘altered images’ by Campbell MacLeod
A selection of dynamic psychedelic experimental animations in GIF form illustrating the altered states and otherworldly themes of Muriel Sparks work and how these reflect her own life and mental state. With plans to apply these designs to interactive book covers or for use in future promotional material. View Campbell’s video to hear more about his process.
Muriel Spark by Emma Kate Meikle
For this project I decided to create a traditional feeling piece to pay tribute to Muriel Spark’s pride and the regal side of her personality. I looked into locations she lived, worked and travelled in as this personally interested me as a women who also has a deep love for travel, adventure and a passion for my work.
Fight or Flight by Claire Monaghan
As part of the Muriel Spark project, Claire developed two interactive rooms. Hear from Claire and see her designs and software in action in this short video.
GIF by Caysee Rodriguez
Muriel Spark Animated by Georgie Trumble
I took inspiration from Muriel Spark’s autobiography Curriculum Vitae to create a short animated logo that could be used to promote the festival.
See more of Georgie’s work here: Twitter/Instagram: @itsgeorgielu
Documentary of Spark’s 100 book cover by Debbie Vithiyanandan
This project will be led by an art method called Froissage with Muriel Sparks’ portraits and I will continue to design the book cover digitally using Photoshop and Processing. I want to explore different ways of using the effect and the design. The reason I want to create ‘Documentary of Spark’s 100 book cover’ is because I want to explore the background of her 22 books and her biography. I have a plan to create a Pop art book cover because it will be colourful, meaningful and attractive for the young as well as the older generation who are interested in her biography. My inspiration comes from Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych.
Focus by Murdo Watson
The inspiration for this work comes from a brief part of Muriel Spark’s life, when she was addicted to amphetamines. From this she showed dyslexic tendencies and had lapses of strong paranoia. Through this combination and from her work in intelligence in WWII, she would look for secret codes in letters from her friends. The main example I used as inspiration was from a letter where she mistook the word “veil” for “evil”. I found this really poetic and interesting since the words used were anagrams. I took this a lot further and used words and their anagrams in relation to parts of her life. I used the processing program to code my work into something visual and interactive.
Explore Murdo’s programme here: https://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/508168
View a film with Murdo explaining more about his work here.
Muriel Spark Centenary Celebration Designs by Daisy Williams
My designs are inspired by feminist art from The Guerrilla Girls and Barbara Kruger. They represent Muriel Spark in a bold and powerful way; the designs aim to celebrate her success and influence in a striking and proud manner.
See more of Daisy’s work here: My Instagram page link is @daisy.anne.art Here I do more traditional illustrations!