Enter05 is Watermans inaugural showcase of this year's finest work by South Asian new media graduates. It features six upcoming young creatives working in a range of fields including animation, interactive design, digital media arts, sound design and photography. The exhibiting artists were selected for their innovative use of new technology and ability to present diverse views on everyday life.

The showcase is designed to introduce the best of graduating new media talent to London audiences, and to assist in developing relationships between the graduates, creative partners and the cultural industry.

The six artists are:

• Sukhjit Gill animation graduate from Ravensbourne College is exhibiting two short animation films In Between Breaths and Take 2.
• Anab Jain designer from the Royal College of Art, presents Yellow Chair Stories.
• Ayisha Mirza a fine art graduate from Central St Martins College of Art & Design, exhibits Made You
• Ibrahim Serra- Mohammed who trained in sound design at the London College of Communication uses wireless camera technology and atmospheric sound design for his film, Night Bus.
• Amit Sharma a graduate from Chelsea School of Art and Design visits the Silent film era, through his work The Space Between Your Ears.
• Chandni Sondhi a graduate in interactive media together with three other collaborators from Middlesex University presents Life in Motion.

SUKJIT GILL
Animation Designer

A short romance, set in a Parisian Café, exploring the interaction between strangers in public places. The thoughts of the two strangers act out an almost telepathic role play, represented by the dreamlike quality of the stop motion animation.

‘TAKE 2' (2005) (2 mins)
Stop Motion Animation.

A lighthearted insight into the glamorous world of popular Indian Cinema or Bollywood. Initial thoughts of the plot lead the viewer to predict the ending; however an unexpected twist to the main character resolves the film. Storytelling, environment and character design were the main aims of this piece.

Sukhjit Gill is a resident of Hounslow graduated from Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication, Animation Department. Her dissertation subject was ‘An exploration into the development of target audiences for animation, from the 1930’s to the present day’. She is skilled in 2D animation - basic walk cycles, character design, 3D modeling. She has worked as Assistant Producer (Animation) for the BBC ‘Hot Rocks’ Series.

ANAB JAIN
Interactive Design and Film

“My WiFi network is open for neighbours and passers-by. Free access from the yellow chair.” By placing a sign with this message in front yard of her home, along with a yellow chair, Anab Jain, invited neighbours and passers-by to use her open wireless network outside her house creating a ‘live’ grass roots design project which challenges the idea of open networks being largely virtual and often impersonal.

Generating a dialogue with people and making them participants in the development of the design process was an important element of this project. A documentary film and an accompanying book of the project illustrates how a ‘grass roots’ design approach can re-invent spaces for conversations, at the threshold of the public and the private, the physical and the electronic.

The project also shows how the meaning of personal space and identity changes when geographical and virtual spaces merge.

Anab Jain, of Indian origin, graduated in Interaction Design from the Royal College of Art. She is a 1st Prize winner of ‘GMW Award for Working Life’, Design for our Future Selves Awards 2005, Helen Hamlyn Research Centre for Inclusive Design, RCA, London. Jain’s main interest is to explore the consequences and implications of new and emerging technologies on everyday lives. People are the 'contexts' for her work, whether it is the design of services, products or interfaces.

Aiysha Mirza
Digital media & photography

‘“My images are purposely confrontational”, says artist Aiysha Mirza, whose work is concerned with race and identity of the young British Muslim community. The physical size of the four images that make up MADE YOU LOOK make it almost impossible to escape the gaze of the woman covered up in a Palestinian kaffiyah. The images are aggressive yet alluring. The eyes tell the viewer to read the individual as a person and not by their own judgments or misconceptions. So by placing a young Muslim in front of you, the artist, forces you to recognize the image as being that of a British Muslim.

The series was named after a pivotal track by rap artist Nas. These photographs are politically charged, addressing issues of identity and cultural misrepresentation by the mainstream media of young British Muslims due to the current political climate.

“I am trying to capture the spirit of many young British Muslims as they spoke to the public with out speaking through their eyes their portraits spoke of how they felt. Most people try to avoid looking into the eyes of a person... but when that photograph is in your face and those eyes are staring at you.... you cannot escape the questions, the aggression, the confidence, whatever the individual wants you to understand, and undoubtedly his or her presence.”

Aiysha, a Hounslow resident, graduated in fine arts from St Martins College of Art & Design.

Ibrahim Serra-Mohammed
Sound and Moving Image Design

The work represents a new wave of cutting edge guerrilla-style filmmaking. Using wireless camera technology, Ibrahim traveled on a London bus to Trafalgar Square on a Friday night to capture an aspect of London nightlife. The resulting innovative and intriguing imagery combine with an atmospheric sound track to reveal a shared yet individualistic sense of city existence. Filmed before the 7/7 bombings, this film provides a window into a London communal life that is now shattered.

Ibrahim Serra-Mohammed, from South London graduated in sound art and design from the London College of Communication. Combining sound and moving image Ibrahim produces extremely emotional work that generates certain ambivalence, leaving viewer to create his/her own narratives. Besides moving image and sound he also works with more complex digital devices like striped down computers and bluetooth connectors to create installations that could not only be appreciated for its aesthetic value, but also be controlled and affected by their users. He has produced a series of short movies, and has worked on numerous sound track and web designs. He has collaborated and worked for Brockley Max Festival which celebrates music, art, and the diverse culture in the borough of Lewisham.

Amit Sharma
Cross Disciplinary Art

Amit Sharma pays homage to the Silent film era in this work. In early cinema, a musician would accompany the images on the screen with live music. For the night of the private view, Amit will recreate and modernise this forgotten experience. The short film itself is shot on mobile phone thus through image maximizing our experience of present. By using a live band, the music aspect of the film will also be updated as the band will write music that is current to this very moment.

"I've always been intrigued by the ephemeral quality of an experience and its decaying existence in/through memory, like fading smoke trapped in a room, or a colour either dulling or becoming more vibrant over time in memory. Keeping this idea in mind as a basic conceptual framework for my current practice, I try to create moments of experience. “

Amit Sharma is a graduate of Chelsea School of Art and Design, Fine Art and Design Department. He lives in Hounslow and his main interest lies somewhere between sound, vision and performance. He has produced improvised sound designs for theaters and dance performances. His graduation piece was to compile a book with all his ideas entitled: Fictional Stories for Fictional Art, now part of the collection at the Chelsea College of Art and Design College Library in Pimlico. (Location: Chelsea - Artists Book - 3 hour library use only Shelfmark: 700.9242 SHA)

Chaandini Sohdhi with collaborators:
Seung Jae Black , Dimitrios Gasparidis Elisavet Kok kini di
Interactive Design

An interactive comic for teenagers aged 13 to 16, telling a comic book style story that teaches several lessons on ways of behavior and decision making, using a single Flash file presentation. LIFE IN MOTION is the story of a teen skater boy, ‘Joe’, whose life goes through various challenges that take him to different paths of life. Participants can interact with Joe as he struggles with choices and at the click of a mouse become a part of the story.

Artists’ Statement: “On scrutinizing several possibilities of creating interactive experiences for a teenager, whilst being educational, we thought the main issues were drugs, sex education and bullying. We wanted to tell something to teenagers and what better way than through a comic? But we also wanted it to be interactive. We decided that we could add the interactivity by creating scenes inside the comic - but having them inserted in the story in such a way that the teenager would feel they were also a part of the story and be able to participate actively.”

Chandni Sondhi, Dimitrius Gasparidis, Elisavet Kokkinidi and Seung-Jae Back are four individuals whose paths would never have crossed if it weren't for their shared passion of design. Graphic design, computer animation, illustrations, programming and a desire to express themselves is the common thread that connects the four.

“A collective effort and valuable individual input enabled our team to conceive this unique idea. Its social appeal coupled with an attractive layout represents interactivity in its highest form. "

For further information visit www.watermans.org.uk/enter/

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