Arts Recommend: Chocolate paints, puppy portraits and more …

Every week we bring you our special selection of all things arty. From interesting websites to highly anticipated performances for your diary, there is something to spark all kinds of creative interest.

1. Chocolate paints

Chocolate-paint by Nendo for Seibu, 2013.
Photo Credits: Ayao Yamazaki

Created by Nendo for the Seibu department store in Japan, these tubes of paints are completely edible. Each colour has a different flavoured syrup inside, from green tea to melon and raspberry. They look amazing.

Nendo describes the project as “a design that combines the childhood excitement of opening a new box of paints and the thrill of opening a box of chocolates you’ve been given unexpectedly.”

2. Aesthetica Magazine Blog

Aesthetica is an Arts magazine which “combines dynamic content with compelling critical debate, exploring the best in contemporary art and culture.” Visit their blog here for all kinds of interesting articles about photography, visual arts, film, music and fashion. We particularly like this article on Avant-Garde Japanese fashion and this interview with South African Sculptor Anton Smit.

3. Puppy portraits

Photo Credits: Sophie Gamand http://www.demilked.com

These portraits of just-washed dogs are adorable. View many more here on Demilked.

4. Christmas time in the Forum

You’ve probably already seen the beautifully decorated Forum ready for Christmas, but did you know that you can make your own decoration tag to hang on the tree? There is a table next to the tree, near AMT, with everything you need to create your own little decoration and you can also submit a prayer request into a box. If you hang around this area during late afternoon or early evening you will be lucky enough to experience the magnificent live piano music which adds to the cozy wintery atmosphere.

5. The world’s most realistic finger painting: Morgan Freeman

Watch this video showing the creation of an incredibly realist Morgan Freeman, using only a finger and an iPad. For more great content like this download the mobile app we found this on: “Digg”, or visit the website here.

Bryony James and Giverny Masso

 

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Forum wins international architecture award

Image credit: Niklas Rahmel

The Forum has won the Higher Education and Research Category award at the World Architecture Festival. Beating thirteen other worldwide projects, the Forum was described as a “hugely uplifting space for the students” by the judges. It was the only UK project to be shortlisted at the international festival which took place at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore.

Opened by the Queen in May 2012, the Forum was designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and constructed by Sir Robert McAlpine, a company which has also worked on the O2, London’s Olympic Stadium and the Eden Project. Beginning in March 2010, it took 72,594 hours of work and 2409 metres cubed of poured concrete to complete.

Recently, the Forum has also been awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) South West Award 2013 and has been short listed for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building 2013.

Michele Shoebridge, Director of Academic Services and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, commented: “The Forum reflects and represents the importance placed on the student experience here at the University of Exeter, and we are delighted that our investment in world-class facilities has been recognised with this award.”

Angela Potter, a second year Law student, said: “The Forum is a focal point of the university. It’s a great place to gather with peers to work, promote societies and socialise! It offers a real sense of community making you feel as though you’re not just on campus to go to a lecture, but that you are actually part of something, therefore capturing the spirit of Exeter.”

Laura-Jane Tiley, News Team

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University hands out over £18.5m in scholarships

Image credit: Niklas Rahmel

• 49.1% overall increase since 2009/10

• 54.9% increase in means-tested bursaries in same period

• Over 60% of funds go towards postgraduate research scholarships

An investigation by Exeposé has revealed the amount awarded in scholarships by the University has increased by 22.5 per cent since 2011/12. This figure, in excess of £18.5million, has risen from just over £12.4m in 2009/10, an increase of 49.1 per cent.

The figures, obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, cover from the start of the academic year 2009/10, while using the first eleven months of the last academic year, 2012/13.

£6.2m of the scholarships were handed out to undergraduate students in 2012/13, a 47.8 per cent increase on 2011/12. There has also been a 54.9 per cent increase in means-tested bursaries since 2009/10; last year, the University handed out over £5.5m worth of means-tested bursaries to undergraduates.

Figures also indicate a 19 per cent decrease in academic merit scholarships handed out since 2011/12, with £256,000 being awarded in this way in 2012/13.

The biggest portion of the University’s scholarship fund goes towards postgraduate research, with 60.4 per cent of the £18,517,635 awarded going towards postgraduate research projects. Just under £11.2m went towards postgraduate research scholarships in 2012/13, a 15.9 per cent increase since 2011/12. This also represents an 85.4 per cent increase since 2009/10, the first year which the Freedom of Information request covers.

The University of Exeter joined the Russell Group in 2012, and the Russell Group website cites Exeter’s abilities to combine “world class research with high student satisfaction”, as well as stating that the Russell Group is “committed to maintaining the very best research”.

Also evident is a significant decrease in the amount of money offered in bursaries for Graduate Teaching Assistants and Graduate Research Assistants. The amount of money offered for this in 2012/13 was 87.1 per cent less than what was offered in 2009/10. £33,323 was offered for this form of bursary last year, as opposed to £258,412 in 2009/10.

In terms of scholarships for taught postgraduate degrees, the amount being offered in scholarships has steadily decreased in the past few years, with the £1,118,549 being offered in 2012/13 constituting a decrease of 45.8 per cent since 2009/10. As part of this, there has also been a drop of 90.1 per cent in the funds offered as part of academic merit scholarships in this area, as well as a massive increase in the amount of maintenance offered to Home and EU fee-paying postgraduate taught students. The amount paid in maintenance has gone from £150 in 2009/10 to over £100,000 in the last academic year.

The University could not be reached for comment.

Alex Louch, VP Academic Affairs, said: “I am pleased to see the University investing more in scholarships in line with increasing student numbers. The precise allocation of scholarship funding is affected by complex factors but I am delighted to see that the overall value of awards made has increased strongly this year after a period of modest growth”.

Megan Furborough, a third year English Literature student said: “As a recipient of the means-tested bursary, I think that it’s fantastic that the number of people who are receiving this and other scholarships has increased. The cost of living and learning at university is more expensive than ever before, so this monetary aid can go a long way in alleviating some of that pressure.”

Owen Keating, News Editor

Additional reporting by Harrison Jones, Online News Editor

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