I have been going to Pick Me Up for quite a few years now, the Graphic Arts Festival is full of exciting things to see and get involved with from a range of up and coming artists and designers aswell as some established talent. I have always taken away a lot of inspiration and usually ended up buying some nice prints but this year I was left dissappointed.
Granted in terms of interactivity they have upped their game, the second floor was full of collectives and studios with activities you could get involved with and there was a real emphasis on process and how the work is created. It was great to see Studios like Sope and Hato Press creating artwork live and you could really understand and get involved in the process. As well as that the group of 'Selects' ( international rising stars of the graphic arts world specially selected by an industry panel ) was generally really exciting and there was a lot of great diverse work, and although I couldn't attend there was a wide range of talks and film showings and on paper the whole event sounded really interactive and exciting.
In reality there did seem to be a lot less work, i don't know whether this was because of all the interactivity meaning there were more tables and such but it seemed very sparse. Looking around quite a lot of the work caught my eye and stand alone I thought it was great but as a whole a lot of the work seemed very samey. I know design goes through trends but I go to events like this to see new trends and people doing different things to everyone else. There was a sea of metallic, geometric shapes and pastel prints with risograph having a huge comeback.
I think Pick me up are taking a big step in terms of creating more opportunites for conversations between artists and people attending the event and showing off how the artists work, but there needs to be more balance between that and showcasing some really exciting work. I just wanted a bit more!
I think Pick me up are taking a big step in terms of creating more opportunites for conversations between artists and people attending the event and showing off how the artists work, but there needs to be more balance between that and showcasing some really exciting work. I just wanted a bit more!
