Thoughts

Steven Beckly Tree of Hearts, 2017
Remai Modern, Saskatoon

Steven Beckly Equiposie, 2019
Remai Modern, Saskatoon

Dojima River Forum, Osaka

Dojima River Forum, Osaka

Kyoto JR Station, Tokyo

Shimogamo Shrine, Kyoto

Tokyo, Japan

Uno Port-Naoshima Island, Okayama

Arashiyama, Kyoto

Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho, Tokyo

La Conner, Washington

Final meal in London before returning home. Latte and Lanka's matcha cake from the Monocle Cafe. Do try the Scandinavian Breakfast there if you ever get the chance-

One last visit to the Tate Modern before returning home to Canada. I was gifted enough this month of July to be able to work as a design intern at the Team. It’s been a great experience working in the studio and being able to experience working at a branding agency in London.
Photography by Yutaka Takanashi

For the past few days after grad show, I travelled to Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a spontaneous move, but I really wanted to see part of Northern Europe before I headed back to Canada in July. My favourite place I visited would have to be the Glyptoteket, Frederik's Church, Fælledparken, and Torvehallerne.

I enjoyed a short vacation to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin last week with my sister. I think out of all the places we visited the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin was my favourite primarily for the Francis Bacon Studio. Within the exhibition is a recreation of Francis' studio from 7 Reece Mews, South Kensington.

As my stay in England is slowly nearing an end (possibly), I wanted to make a list of all the galleries I've managed to visit while during my time abroad and planning all the galleries I'd like to see in my remaining time before going home.

I was fortunate enough this week to be able to see the D&AD Festival at the Old Truman Brewery in London. Being able to listen to multiple talks throughout the day was both insightful and inspiring, I particularly enjoyed Lucienne Roberts' talk Two roads diverged in a wood. I was also lucky enough to be shortlisted for my entry Born. which was totally unexpected but I'm grateful none the less. Cheers.

In the past few months being here in England, I feel like I've fallen out of the loop with film. What would once keep me up in the late summer nights seems too time consuming while I'm trying to plan for my graduation (again) after not so long ago.

This Easter break, I found myself wandering through the streets of Florence and Pisa.

I was lucky enough to see Big Bang Data exhibit at the Somerset House at its last weekend this week. It was overly crowded on its second last day, but I managed to comfortable go through the exhibition. I was particularly interested in quantified self (gathering data from your personal daily life) and the concept of data licenses (the right to withhold your personal data from third parties).

It's my first time being away from home during February, February being the month of my birthday.

A quick vacation during the university's reading week, it's almost surreal having real time off during this time of the year (though we still have assignments due). Planning a getaway through England, most likely one of many during this year, a few friends and I decided to venture out to see Cambridge, Nottingham, York and Liverpool for the week.

On a solo venture to London today, I went to see the Ray & Charles Eames exhibit at the Barbican. Exploring the east of London, I also found my way to the Whitechapel gallery and the Somerset House. I had just missed a display of Saul Leiter's work at the Somerset and was a bit disappointed. Regardless, it was enjoyable seeing London without any responsibilities or obligations.

Hard as I try, I always find my way back to the Tate Britain, hoping to see Francis Bacon's work for a little longer.

There are three main museums in the Museum Quarter, just by Vondelpark; The Rijksmuseum (with a collection of works by Rembrandt, Vermeer), the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedeljik Museum.  One of the first destinations was the Van Gogh Museum. It was really exciting being able to see Van Gogh’s Almond Blossom (1890) painting after all these years. Standing closely to his paintings, you get a sense of the amount of colour he used the sensitivity to the strokes he used. The painting was a lot smaller than I imagined, but I think that sort of applies to all paintings when you see them in real life.

Looking for a quick getaway during the November study week, I found myself in Amsterdam again. I had previously visited the city in 2013 after going on holiday in Vienna and Prague and missing my flight home. It’s much more relaxing coming back willingly this time.  Travelling around Europe is one major goal for me this year and having the opportunity to be so close to everything. It’s difficult to judge whether I enjoyed Amsterdam in the summer or fall more as the summer brings out the colour of the houses by the canals, but the fall is much kinder on visiting galleries.

After plenty of consideration, I’ve chosen the relationship between the designer and formulaic and systematic design. If the thought about grids is of no interests to you. I’ll let you stop while you’re ahead. What started out as wanting to explore authenticity in web design has transformed more into an exploration of modernist philosophy moving into web design and artificial intelligence. How this happened, I’m not sure, but it’s been a really fulfilling exploration.

One of the small obstacles being abroad is trying to figure out the different keyboards layouts. It’s interesting how minor design changes can make such a huge difference. Learning to get used to different keyboards here have been a hassle, but an interesting observation in product design and usability. Just a geographical change is noticeable, I wonder what it’s like for countries so close together with different languages and characters.

The Tate Britain was one of my first destinations to see some of Francis Bacon’s works. I had previously seen his portraits at the Metropolitan Museum in New York for the first time in January. It’s definitely something that can be said about his personality when you see the choice of painting size for his self-portraits compared to his other works that tower over visitors. That, and also the fact museum curators had to frequently rush to pick up his paintings after he called to say they were finished before he changed his mind and destroyed them.

Taking the British Rail for the first time and arriving to King’s Cross. I wandered aimlessly until finding myself at the UAL. Luckily I managed to catch the graduate show at UAL Central Saint Martin. The school year in England starts much later so it’s interesting to see grad shows still up so late into September. It’s exciting to see what people come up with in their final years. I was particularly interested in a typeface called Seen by Emil Kozole, that automatically strikes out any ‘spook’ words tracked by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

The first few days have mostly been learning my way around Hatfield and joining tours and generally getting to meet new people. One of the biggest benefits of living abroad in England is being able to meet people from all backgrounds in a very short space. There’s something really exciting about hanging out with a game designer from Denmark, a product designer from America and an interior designer from Indonesia. Trying to get myself settled into a daily routine, I’ll admit one of my first biggest problems was the conversion from CAD to the Pound. It’s a tough blow seeing a daily coffee priced the same but in Pounds. I’ve learn to be a bit more creative rationing what Vancouver coffee I managed to bring over…

Before heading out I bought a copy of Monocles’ new Travel Guides Series which have been really enjoyable to read. When I’m looking for ideas for places to go, it’s been a really handy reference. In terms of a shopping reference it’s not that kind for a student abroad on a budget. Even if it’s not your type of lifestyle, it’s worth noting their personal design approach to creating a city guide.

After a brief getaway to Portland, Oregon, I'm ready to take on getting my bachelor's degree. This here is the start of my journey for the next 9 months in England studying for my Bachelor’s in graphic design. Entering in the final year of the University of Hertfordshire’s Graphic Design program. I hope to be able to document this design journey and many others in the future.