East Sussex College Hastings & MSL – D2B & Tempest, Tides & Timbers

Clay Pilgrim badges made by students at East Sussex College, Hastings

UAL Level 2 Art and Design Diploma students at East Sussex College, Hastings have been busy making  pieces inspired by our Dungeness to Bulverhythe activities and our Tempest, Tides and Timbers project.

They have produced wonderful work in response to the project themes and taken inspiration from our Short Voyage and Loss of the Amsterdam trailer. The students made pilgrim badges out of different materials. These will be available to purchase at our walking and talking events taking place in May/June.

The students have also:

• Visited Bulverhythe beach to collect shells and objects to create journey sticks
• Made pictorial maps of our walking route
• Made a stop-motion animation about our coastal area
• Visited the Grayson Perry exhibition in Lewes to look at the artist’s maps
• Developed a group piece about our stretch of coastline in collage and ink
• Designed seafaring tattoos

Students were asked for feedback on what they had gained from working in collaboration with MSL. They said: 

“I found the video of the Wreck of the Amsterdam to be quite impactful because of the loss of life, the tremendous hardship faced by the individuals on board and the fact that they all got bare robbed by the locals who jumped them.”

“I liked connecting with the history of my local area and finding out more about this stretch of coastline. I like stories about pirates and sailors. The ‘Wreck of the Amsterdam’ video helped us to visualise the story of the shipwreck that the tutors were telling us about when we went on the trip to the beach”.

“I feel that this project has given me the ability to push my limits and work through topics that I would not normally be interested in.”

“I enjoyed pewter casting. I think that I would use this skill again. I told them about it on my work experience and they showed me some new techniques. I showed the results to the class which made me feel proud.”

Cuttlefish casting using pewter

Kate Lewis, Deputy Head of Art at the college described how “it was fascinating and really beneficial for us to have such inspiring material to work with”.

Thank you to the college staff who facilitated these exciting creative activities that link so well with our projects. We are looking forward to working together more as the projects progress.

MSL works with colleges, schools and educational organisations. If you work in the education sector and would like to collaborate, please contact sophie@mslprojects.co.uk.

Glass pilgrim badges