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Summer Dissertation Support Sessions

Want to get a head start on your dissertation? Come along to our Summer Dissertation Support Sessions!

The Library and Study Zone are joining forces to put on sessions to teach you how to find resources, read and take take notes, reference and use theory!

New books from the 'Documents of Contemporary Art' series.

Destruction  /  edited by Sven Spieker.  (2017) 700.108 SPI

Essays explore contemporary artists' engagement with destruction, and how it has disrupted the perceived integrity of built structures and institutions.

Practice  /  edited by Marcus Boon and Gabriel Levine.  ([2018]) 

700.1 BOO

Summer support sessions for Dissertation!

Are you second year student? Have you been given your dissertation assignment brief? Not sure where to start?

Don't worry!

The Study Zone and Library are running dissertation support sessions this summer, in July and August, to help you feel prepared to do your dissertation research project.

How to renew Library items!

We've all been there... find loads of really interesting books, take them home, and then forget to read them.

If you need to renew a library item you can do this by:

1 - logging into your library account, here (you might need to set a password if you have never done this before - click on the 'forgot password link')

2 - by replying to the overdue items email that the library sends (these may be in your spam folder)

3 - by emailing the library at library@pca.ac.uk

4 - by calling us on 01752 203413

5 - by popping in to the library and either using the self service machine, or coming to the library desk.

A History of Screen Printing.

We have received a lovely donation of 'A History of Screen Printing' by Guido Lengwiler .

This is a comprehensive guide to the history of screen printing, and has some wonderful examples of screen printed work, from advertising and mass production, to recreation of art works.

You can find it at 764 LEN

Wabi Sabi.

Wabi - Sabi
'this Japanese term means “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.”' Collins, 2018.

Wabi-sabi for artists, designers, poets & philosophers  /  by Leonard Koren.  (1994)

701.170952 KOR












Wabi-Sabi - Further Thoughts.  /  Leonard Koren.  (2015)

701.170952 KOR




Wabi-Sabi Wisdom: Inspiration for an Authentic Life.  /  Andrea Jacques  (2016)

158.1 JAC

Kintsugi : heal your life, repair the cracks and embrace imperfection - the Japanese way  /  Tomás Navarro.  (2018)

158.1 NAV

Illustration books for April!

A river  /  by Marc Martin.  (2016)

741.642092 MAR

There is a river outside my window. Where will it take me? So begins an imaginary journey from the city to the sea. From factories to farmlands, freeways to forest, each new landscape is explored through stunning illustrations and poetic text from this award-winning picture-book creator.






Reportage illustration : visual journalism  /  Gary Embury and Mario Minichiello.  (2018)

741.6 EMB The power of reportage drawing is in the immediacy of the images that are created and the feeling of the illustrator's presence on location. Comparable in some ways to photojournalism, reportage illustrators are acting as visual journalists, proactively creating narrative work about issues and subjects, translating what they witness into handmade imagery.

Beautiful Book Covers!

The illustrated dust jacket 1920-1970  

Martin Salisbury.  (2017)

741.640904 SAL

The middle decades of the twentieth century saw an extraordinary flourishing of the illustrated, pictorial dust jacket. From the 1920s, as the potential for the book’s protective wrapping to be used for promotion and enticement became clear, artists and illustrators on both sides of the Atlantic applied their talents to this particular art form. Rising to the wide-ranging challenges posed by format and subject matter, leading artists and illustrators, including John Piper, Edward Bawden and John Minton in the UK and Ben Shahn, Edward Gorey and George Salter in the USA, brought their unique personal vision to bear on the world of books. Many of their designs reflect the changing visual styles and motifs of the period, including Bloomsbury, Art Deco, Modernism, postwar neo-romanticism and the Kitchen Sink School. 

Martin Salisbury has selected over fifty of the artists and illustrators who were active in the period 1920–1970 in the UK and USA, as well as others such as Tove Jansson and Celestino Piatti, and discusses their life and work. A selection of dust jackets – both known and too long forgotten – for each artist reveals how far the book as an artefact had travelled from the days of the plain wrapper in the nineteenth century.

The Body.

New books about the body, and body image.

The disabled body in contemporary art  /  Ann Millett-Gallant.  (2012)

704.942 MIL

The honest body project : raw stories and untouched portraits of women and motherhood   /  Natalie McCain.  ([2017]) 779.2 McC This is who I am  /  Rosanne Olson ; foreword by Rita Charon.  (c2008) 779.22 OLS The body at risk : photography of disorder, illness, and healing

Brand new self service machine!

The Library has recently installed a shiny new self service machine - this means that the process of borrowing and returning books should be much quicker and easier.

All you need to do is touch your card to the reader on the front of the machine - and then place ALL the items you are taking out, onto the shelf.

It will then give you return dates, which you can either have as a printed slip, or and email notification - helping to use less paper and protect our environment.

Library staff will still be on hand to help out!

Let us know what you think!

library@pca.ac.uk

Harvard Referencing Sessions!

Harvard Referencing Help!

Dear 3rd year students,

As the dissertation deadline looms, the library are offering help with Harvard referencing.

From Monday the 15th of January and all of next week, Donna and Emily will be offering sessions to check over your referencing.

We welcome drop-ins, however to ensure that we can see as manystudents as possible it is advisable to book a session by emailing library@pca.ac.uk

New Off Air Recording!

Did you know the library has a license that allows us to recording films and tv programs? 




We have just recorded 'Song of the Sea' 




From the team that brought you 'Secret of Kells' The enchanting Irish animation SONG OF THE SEA tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse – the last Seal-child – who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. The film takes inspiration from the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land.

SONG OF THE SEA, directed by Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells) features the voices of Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny.

email library@pca.ac.uk to request a recording.

Book of the week 21st November 2017.

'People of London' by Peter Zelewski is our Book of the Week!

Commercial Photography students met Peter last week, and he kindly donated and signed the book.

779 ZEW

Acclaimed portrait and documentary photographer Peter Zelewski has spent the past three years capturing the people and faces of the streets of London. His images, which have be seen in the National Portrait gallery and throughout the press, are both intimate and considered and as such are closer to art photography than snapshots. The images are accompanied by arresting quotes that reveal the inner lives of the strangers that make this the world's most colourful city.

Wildlife Photography.

Into wildlife photography? Want to see some stunning images of animals? 
The library's current display is all about wildlife photography! We have also purchased a copy of the book ' The Photo Ark' by Joel Sartore - to accompany the National Geographic series 'Photo Ark' which we have made an off-air recording, available to borrow today!

The photo ark : one man's quest to document the world's animals  /  Joel Sartore
779.32 SAT



Joel Sartore intends to photograph every animal in captivity in the world. He is circling the globe, visiting zoos and wildlife rescue centers to create studio portraits of 12,000 species, with an emphasis on those facing extinction. He has photographed more than 6,000 already and now, thanks to a multi-year partnership with National Geographic, he may reach his goal. This book showcases his animal portraits: from tiny to mammoth, from the Florida grasshopper sparrow to the greater one-horned rhinoceros. Paired with the eloquent prose of veteran wildlife writer Douglas Chadwick, this book presents a thought-provoking argument for saving all the species of our planet.



Borrow the book and DVD today!

Book of the week - November 13th.

Surrealism, Occultism and Politics In Search of the Marvellous - Studies in Surrealism

709.04063 BAU

This week's book of the week features an essay by Plymouth College of Art Dean for Media, Judith Noble, where she discusses the work of Maya Deren. 

Examines the relationship between occultism and Surrealism, specifically exploring the reception and appropriation of occult thought, motifs, tropes and techniques by Surrealist artists and writers in Europe and the Americas, from the 1920s through the 1960s. Its central focus is the specific use of occultism as a site of political and social resistance, ideological contestation, subversion and revolution. Additional focus is placed on the ways occultism was implicated in Surrealist discourses.

Book of the Week.

This week, our book of the week comes from Illustration alumni Isaac Lenkiewicz.

A Castle in England, 741.5941 RHO

A collaboration between writer Jamie Rhodes and the National Trust, this unique graphic novel plunges us into the rich and often dark history of Scotney Castle in Kent.

Recreating the castle’s past from the Medieval to the Edwardian ages, five rising stars from the UK comics scene (Isaac Lenkiewicz, Briony May Smith, William Exley, Becky Palmer and Isabel Greenberg) have illustrated five short stories that mix fiction with fact, creating a visually striking graphic collection that is steeped in historical context.

See this on our new books stand today! #plymouthcollegeofartlibrary

New books from HE Fashion Lecturer Ilker Cinarel.

Ilker Cinarel works as a lecturer on HE Fashion here at Plymouth College of Art. His new books 'Adopting A Father' and 'Boy Room' are newly available in the library.

'Boy Room' explores ideas of belonging, personal space, home and inter, through installation and photography. 
709.2 CIN

'Adopting A Father' documents Cinarel's research project about father- son relationships and what it means to be a man. Cinarel invited potential 'fathers' to become part of a performance at the Newyln Art Gallery, in 2015, and the book displays the fathers in a series of 'family album' style photographs and interviews with the men describing their ideas of father-son relationships. 
779.2 CIN

After studying fine art at Marmara University Istanbul, Ilker Cinarel moved to the UK in 2000 to work in London, as a Designer Assistant for Vivienne Westwood's Gold Label range. Ilker then went on to work as a Designer Assistant for Giorgio Armani in Milan and as the Visual Merchandising Co-Ordinator for all Giorgio Armani UK stores. He studied an MA Fine Art Contemporary Practice at Falmouth University and graduating in September 2011, won the Sandra Blow Award and 2014 Inland Art Festival Award. 

Book of The Week: Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramics in Contemporary Art.

This weeks book of the week is 'Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramics in Contemporary Art' 
738.0922 LIL



Featuring the work of Plymouth based artist Keith Harrison.
and with contributions by Plymouth Art Centre's curator, Ben Borthwick. Keith Harrison is a studio holder, at KARST in Plymouth. 

A global survey of 100 of today's most important clay and ceramic artists, chosen by leading art world professionals.

Vitamin C celebrates the revival of clay as a material for contemporary visual artists, featuring a wide range of global talent as selected by the world's leading curators, critics, and art professionals. Clay and ceramics have in recent years been elevated from craft to high art material, with the resulting artworks being coveted by collectors and exhibited in museums around the world. Packed with illustrations, Vitamin C is a vibrant and incredibly timely survey - the first of its kind.

Artists include: Caroline Achaintre, Ai Weiwei, Aaron Angell, Edmund de Waal, Theaster Gates, Marisa Merz, Ron Nagle, Gabriel Orozco, Grayson Perry, Sterling Ruby, Thomas Schütte, Richard Slee, Clare Twomey, Jesse Wine, and Betty Woodman.

Research Week Sessions Happening Today!

Sessions take place at 10am and 2pm.

We look forward to seeing you!