New Channel 4 Digital Strand Based on Three Young Artists
By Edd McCracken, Arts Correspondent
It gave the world the Scottish indie music scene, the Glasgow Boys, and the finest example of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's design. Now Glasgow School of Art has a new progeny: it is set to become the backdrop of a new Channel 4 drama, based entirely online.
Told through YouTube-style video, photo-sharing site Flickr, and social networking sites, Central Station will portray the lives, loves, and artworks of three fictional second-year art students. But like the best art, Central Station has ambitions beyond the superficial gloss of teen soaps.
A Web Drama for Artists and Art Lovers
Channel 4's new strand for digital content, 4iP, hopes that Scotland's first web drama will act as a hook to draw real-life artists into a new online artistic community, and "discover the new Banksy or the new Warhol" in the process.
"This isn't Tartan TV," said Ewan McIntosh, 4iP's digital commissioning manager in Scotland. "We chose Glasgow School of Art as a backdrop because it represents a world-class heritage of Scottish graduates together with an expanding international student body. This is what Central Station is: coming out of Scotland but, through the web, having a truly international flavor."
The Characters and Filming
The three main characters in the web drama will be:
- Nikki, a 19-year-old textile student from Chester who sings in three bands and lives her life like a pop promo.
- Con, from a wealthy family but with a radical social agenda, who uses portraiture to protest against modern injustices.
- Sam, an ambitious 20-year-old Glaswegian studying environmental art and using her art to explore personal issues such as self-harm.
Casting for the web drama will begin in the spring, with filming taking place around the world-famous Mackintosh building to coincide with the 09/10 academic year. The drama will be shot in such a way as to mirror the most talked-about contemporary art during that time frame.
A New Online Artistic Community
The online community will begin in the spring as well, with monthly calls to action encouraging artists from around the world to post their work online. The best submissions will be rewarded with prizes, including studio time and arts-based trips abroad, culminating in "the world's largest and first social media art prize."
In order to support and mentor the online community, a team of professional artists will be involved in the project. Channel 4 hopes that Central Station will make publishing original art on the web easier and more commonplace.
An Exciting Venture for Glasgow and Art Lovers
Central Station plans to run for 18 months with a budget of £750,000. A spokesperson for Glasgow School of Art expressed their excitement for the project, stating, "We're very excited about this project. It is very innovative and should be great for the art school and the city as a whole. It shows internationally that Glasgow is a creative and cultural center."
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