As part of our One Year On series we caught up with BA Fine Art graduates Saskia Little and Joey Phinn to find out about their collective ‘Freyron’, which they have been working on since graduating in June 2015.
What have you been up to since you graduated?
After graduation we decided based on mutual interests to start a multi-disciplinary studio of collaborative freelancers, essentially a creative studio exploring applications of science, technology, aesthetics and new media philosophy, in conjunction with the individual artistic practices we developed at Chelsea.
Final Freyron Studio render, Cinema 4D and Sketchup
Tell us about your practice, how has it developed since graduating?
As a collective we have chosen an experimental starting point in rejecting the traditional approach to the production of contemporary artistic practice. Our intention is to maintain the independent integrity of the individual creative practice, without following the prescribed pathways allotted to artists in the current creative sphere. Maintaining a fine line between functional output and preserving the purity of the process. We also continue to investigate the ideas surrounding schools of thought such as: object oriented ontology, meta-modernism, speculative realism and parafictions.
What are you currently working on?
Our first project as Freyron is to conceptualise our ideal utopian studio. We started this project because of a drive to ground ourselves in the physicality of carving out a space that we could call our own, in particular a virtual space so as have the freedom to set our own boundaries in a world of unlimited potential (limited only by our inexperience). So far we have drafted our mythological blueprints, using them to construct a 3D model of the studio in sketchup, then finalizing the outcome in Cinema 4D with an alabaster finish.
We plan to realize this work in a multitude of curated experiences, from an interactive website that utilizes chrome webgl and a virtual reality exploration of the space, to a Sims rendition, replete with avatars interacting with the space in real time. A celebration of any potential glitches and happenstance. Hopefully this will all culminate in a mixed reality exhibition in a few months, featuring both the art produced and the launch of the Freyron Studio brand (Freyshion). In a sense our desires for Freyron to go beyond the studio or work place, we wish to create a sustainable community of writers, artists, designers, filmmakers, technologists, scientists, programmers, etc., combined with the mythological elements of our own branded fiction.
Wireframe version of studio
What have been your greatest achievements since graduating from Chelsea
Keeping our creative spirit alive.
What are your future plans / ambitions / goals?
We want to expand our collective with both core members and project based freelancers who we have a reciprocal creative relationship with, eventually founding a physical studio and a strong virtual presence. Possibly expanding our network internationally, in creating lasting interactive experiences both commercially and as artists. Merging the boundaries between art, science and technology.
Tell us about your time at Chelsea, what do you miss? What did you enjoy the most?
The workshops were fantastic as well as our tutors’ input and support throughout the three years on BA Fine Art at Chelsea. We couldn’t have created our work without them! We miss the supportive network of the studio space and the interactions born of dialogues and debates with our peers.
Joey especially enjoyed the opportunity to go on exchange to Parsons in New York, where she learned many technical skills such as making bio-plastic, sound art, learning animation and also traversed the New York art scene by working for a New York based artist.
Saskia spent a significant portion of her time learning many technical skills from the excellent technicians in the wood, ceramics and metal workshops, while also building a varied theoretical foundation through lectures and seminars. We both worked on the final degree show catalogue and we were really proud of the outcome.
What is the most important thing you learned on the course?
Speculative investing.
What advice would you give to our students who are about to graduate?
Don’t give up. After your degree show, it’s normal to feel burnt out. Take a few months off and don’t lose communication with your classmates, because sometimes what you really need to re-initiate your creative drive is an opportunity to collaborate on a new project. It will be difficult but don’t lose faith. You go Glen Coco!
Sketchup detail of studio.
Find out more on the Freyron Collective Instagram.
You can also visit the websites of Joey and Saskialittle.com (currently in progress).