Penny Klepuszewska, 'Living Arrangements', 2007

Artrabbit: Would you mind explaining a little about Futuremap, why it was set-up and how it differs from end of year postgraduate shows?

Eamonn Maxwell: Future Map is an exhibition that takes place annually and has been running for ten years. It was established to highlight the range of talent coming from the University's colleges every year. Until now it has focused on BA graduates. This year we decided to focus on postgraduate talent, primarily to do something different this year, but also to show how varied our MA graduates are. MA exhibitions take place all year at the University so it is a great way to focus on some of the most interesting work emerging from the University in 2007. It is not intended to replicate the MA shows. Instead we have chosen 22 artists & designers who are doing something great.

AR: Although the selection panel changes from year to year, is there a consistent criteria the judges are looking for?

EM: In putting together the panel every year I try to ensure we cover as many of the specialisations that will feature in Future Map (fine art, fashion, design, video etc). This year we chose a gallerist, a design curator/gallerist and a tutor/artist. It happens that they are all alumni too! The main criteria I tell the judges is that Future Map has to function as a really good exhibition, and we shouldn't tick boxes in terms of disciplines etc. This year the panel were very critical and refused to include work that didn't meet the grade. But that means that Future Map 2007 is probably the best one there has ever been. I have to thank the panel for that!

AR: How do you think the artists from this years selection stand out from previous years entrants, and are there any persons in particular we should be looking out for in 2008?

EM: Focusing on postgraduate work this year has inevitably meant that there is a much higher standard of work in the show. Pieces are better made and conceptually more realised. Its difficult to pick out people, but the ones that have proved most popular thus far are Christine Aerfeldt's beautiful portrait of modern celebrity, Fran Young's haunting video of a rollercoaster populated with birds, Nick Hornby's misquotation of a Boeing airplane and Mike Ballard's victorian antique constructed from bits of obsolete audio equipment. This artists, and many others in the show, will go on to influence contemporary art in Britain in the near future.

AR: Could you tell us about Penny Klepuszewska's Living Arrangements series, Laura Buckley's and Haroon Mirza's work in more detail?

EM: Penny's work focuses on how, in contemporary society, many more of us live on our own. Whilst this is a choice for many people, there are also those (primarily the elderly) who are on their own through no choice of their own. This series of photos documents the items that we choose to surround ourselves with and how we organise those.
Laura is interested in reflection and how the viewer responds to environments around them. In her film she documents a summer holiday with her family and the natural landscape around them. The identity of the participants is never revealed, except in reflected glances and through the voices we hear. Ultimately the viewer engages with these atmospheric environments, through an abstract reality
Haroon uses sound to produce work that references traditional sculpture. Taking a quote from one of Jenny Holzer's Truisms, generated as an electronic loop he mixes this with an cello interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Air on a G-string to create a discordant piece of sonic sculpture. By adding the element of a smoking generator he presents a theatrical work that entices the viewer to get closer....