above: film still, Imogen Pring

The title of this year’s BA Fine Art Degree Show at the University is £383,911.73, and this time around the show has been named for the theme: the concept of value in art. Photographs of many of the 3rd Year final pieces have been debuted over the show’s twitter page @LeedsDegreeShow and those paying attention will have noticed the snippets from the artists themselves posted on the £383,911.73 Facebook page. Judging from the title and the subject of the symposium alongside which the work will be shown – university tuition fees – you can’t fail to notice that the works ready to go on display engage directly with the theme of capitalism.

above: structure, Phoebe Eustace

In Becca Adams’ mighty sculpture a magnificent tree trunk has been felled ostensibly for the creation of ugly, redundant man-made cuboids. Collaborative exhibition ‘Home Sweet Home’ juxtaposes suggestions of family life – an unmade bed, rolled out gingerbread dough – against a stark lack of material comforts. Perhaps the most conspicuously connected to the theme of value we have been offered so far is Ashleigh Owen’s minimalist sculpture of a disembodied, androgynous white head obscured by an inflatable gold crown. The collection of teaser works is undoubtedly intriguing, highlights including Tamsin Pearson’s photograph of a corpulent bunny rabbit, which, intentionally or otherwise, works as an optical illusion as we watch the fur of the creature seem to expand and expand into the negative space around it.

above: ‘corpulent bunny rabbit’, Tamsin Pearson

With mysterious, primary coloured geometric shapes appearing on campus and a sign announcing the exhibition standing proudly outside Lifton Studios, the anticipation is heightening. The Fine Art Degree Show will open tomorrow in the Old Mining Building and Lifton Studios, running until 19th. The Symposium will take place on 17th June.

Rachel Groocock