Medway Eyes Goes To College

A few weeks ago, artists' collective Medway Eyes was invited by Steve Keevil, a lecturer at Mid-Kent College, to speak to the Creative Media Diploma students there. Eventually, this was arranged via a flurry of Tweets to take place on Thursday 19th November. So, on Thursday morning, I headed off on the bus to meet Steve for a chat over a cheese and Marmite sandwich (college food is great, by the way) to talk through what I would be doing with the class after lunch.

I hadn't prepared anything. Steve had said it wasn't necessary. That's OK. Unpreparedness is one of the things we do best at Medway Eyes. We were set up to put on an exhibition just over a year ago, then it was gigs, then we decided to go multi-media. OK, we know that stuff, but since then we've had to learn a bit of law and PR because of Monaxle's arrest under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act in July, and how to handle local and national press enquiries (two completely different worlds there). Recent weeks have found us attempting to engage, by invitation, with Medway Council about the appalling lack of consultation surrounding the regeneration of Medway and being interviewed by Radio Scilly (myself, Groovy Uncle and Rich Clark on separate occasions - each talking about the free ME1 compilation, as well as our own stuff).

Anyway, enough of that. Back to college.

After a tour of the department, it was time to talk to the students. Fortunately, I had written 750 words on Medway Eyes for Your Medway the evening before, so I took that crystalised idea of what it is into the classroom and proceeded to ramble for half an hour. I likened Medway Eyes to an Indie record label, thanks to a conversation I'd had with former Dentists drummer Ian Smith just moments before leaving the house, and talked about how independence means freedom of expression. I described the promotion of artists from the roots up, how the collective was inspired by the Medway bands' co-op of the late Eighties, how we thought of the name at the last minute, what had happened in our first year, how we'd put on the most visited exhibition ever at the Brook Theatre gallery, how we operate on a break even basis, how broad our spectrum of contributors is, how they jump in and out of the group on a project by project basis, and so on, and how we need more structure as we expand. As I waffled like an utter arse, I began to appreciate the scope of what we've achieved in our first year and I felt really chuffed, and really appreciative of everything the creative community has contributed to our projects.

Keeping me on the rails, of course, were Steve and the students. They saved me from a random, babbling meltdown a few times with their questions. I must say, too, that I was very impressed with the way the class responded to me, giving me their complete attention, nods, smiles and encouragement even. They could have shouted "Shut up, Beardy", but they didn't, and I'm grateful for that.

The next part of the lesson was a great idea from Steve, who is clearly a very gifted teacher. The eight members of the class were to pair up and interview me on camera, based on the discussion we had just had in the class. I argued that it was only fair that I should photograph them right back, and so that's what happened. I disappeared to the video suite and stared at the interview chair and my camera bag on the table next to it with Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat" bubbling away in the back of my mind. Then, in they came, two at a time, each pair first trying the wrong door in classic sitcom style.

I was impressed by the care and attention taken by the students operating the massive, intimidating, it's-going-to-eat-you video camera, and by the quality of the questions put to me by the interviewers, who each had very much their own distinct style. I was pleased that I was marginally less random. I described a Medway musician as a "demented talent", when I really didn't mean to use that word at all. "Driven" or "eclectic" or "prolific" might have been better, but apart from that it was a good experience. The whole thing was a good experience that I'd happily repeat, and it was nice to be recognised by the broader community and asked to speak at the college.

Now then, finally...

The new campus is excellent, but it's not as turquoise as the old one. I think that should be fixed, maybe a splash of orange here and there, too.

The video shot by the students will eventually be shared with Medway Eyes and could well go online as long as everybody is happy with that.

My photos from the day can be seen on Flickr.

On behalf of Medway Eyes, I'd like to thank Steve, Bex, Nathan, Michael, David, Luke, Ravina, Millie and Tim for this excellent opportunity.