“I’m a filmmaker and my work is centred around public engagement and documentary.”
Hi Alice, tell us a bit about your work, your influences etc
“When Boris Johnson announced lockdown on 23 March, I embarked on a project, documenting the pandemic through letter writing. My intention is that the project will become a time capsule by collating international accounts from a situation, which has turned ‘normal life’ upside down. As well as receiving letters from across the UK, submissions have flown in from Hong Kong, Germany, Israel and many more countries. I now have over 150 letters internationally, with more coming in each day.
I am currently sharing these on Instagram via @lettersfromcovid19 and over the next few months I will be creating an online archive of them on www.lettersfromcovid.com. My hope is that through these platforms, the project will offer people a sense of connection during this period, albeit remotely.
See Alice’s work on the Graduate Show 2020 website
How have you found your course/time at Brighton?
I have found the course challenging but have enjoyed it’s open structure. The freedom to work across multiple disciplines within the Illustration course, has pushed me to communicate in ways I wouldn’t have predicted when embarking on it.
University teaching during the pandemic has remained consistent and focused, which has been a great help in terms of providing a stable framework to work within, especially during such an unstable time globally. The staff team that I’ve had contact with during the pandemic could not have offered better support given the circumstances.
What are your plans after graduation?
I hope to continue the letters from COVID project. I am still on the hunt for more hand-written and dated submissions and I’m looking for a coder to collaborate with. My aim is to create a tagging system for the website archive, allowing you to sort through letters by key word, location, age etc.
Aside from this, I am part of a European arts collective called On The Point. I am collaborating with members of the collective to exhibit work in 3 shows across Belgium over the next year. The pandemic is providing some new challenges, but I hope to continue in with my socially-engaged art practice for the forseable future.
Alice Gompels Instagram @alicegompels
Letters from COVID
Open call/project explanation video on YouTube
Letters from Covid Instagram @lettersfromcovid19
See Alice’s work in the Graduate Show 2020
