The epidemic intervened, therefore, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design organized this year’s diploma exhibition in the virtual space instead of its newly occupied campus.
The 121 MA grad students of the university showcase their diploma projects in the visual space designed by Sziklak Virtual Gallery, resembling the world of computer games.
The epidemic did not only require the curator of the exhibition, Zsófia Kókai and the organizers in charge to react quickly and flexibly – the students of the university were also forced to rethink the implementation of their diploma projects. Researching based on interviews and field trips as well as working in the workshops became limited or completely impossible, therefore, the university decided not to evaluate implementation, only the finely elaborated concepts of the projects.
As a result, several works made this year were inspired by the situation brought on by the pandemic and were responding to more complex and global phenomenon in their content, such as the relationship between the online and offline world, the relationship between robotics and art, or the social and ecological responsibility of designers.
We already presented a previous work of the team of Sziklak designing the online exhibition (members: Gáspár Iszlai, József Iszlai, Ádám Miklós, Hunor Nagy, Szabolcs Vatány) in our program guide – they started organizing virtual exhibitions by modelling their own flat with their exhibition titled Homo Phis. Soon after having been assigned the task by MOME Brand Office, they started designing the diploma exhibition, which meant a more complex task both in terms of scale and topic.
The domestic and foreign virtual exhibitions in the past period have been frequently criticized for the fact that even though everything is possible in the virtual space, institutions keep modelling their own buildings or the classic “white cube” spaces. Instead, the team of Sziklak imagined a space inspired by the visual identity of the diploma event (designer: Lili Tóth), and combines the futuristic spaces of computer games with the characteristics of the MOME campus. The transparent nature of the imaginary space recalls the new rooms (and spirit) of the university, and in addition to the being able to move between the floors, specific visual signs, such as the iconic semi-circle window of the Master building, the vertical division of the facades and the wide stairwells also recall the image of the campus.
It’s relatively easy to navigate in the space, but if we got lost, the colors, the figures of the floors and the gallery images all facilitate orientation. The four floors symbolize the institutes of the university (Theoretical Institute, Institute of Architecture, Design Institute and Media Institute). The projects are accompanied by images, a description and sometimes even a video and 3D model, and we can also click on the diploma site of the student for further information and contact. Immersing ourselves in the exhibition is facilitated by the music composed for the space.
The exhibition is open between June 18, 2020 and July 26, 2020, in both Hungarian and English languages. The institutions also offer live guided tours, visit MOME’s site for details.
Congratulations to the graduates!
Photos: Sziklak Virtual Gallery
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