BA1

Micro, Macro, Matter

BA Craft

Micro, Macro, Matter explores how careful observation can transform the way we understand objects, materials, and scale. As part of this project, students conducted close studies of artefacts within the collections of Manchester Museum, examining intricate patterns, surface structures, fragments, and forms found in natural history and cultural objects.

Through magnified observation and detailed visual analysis, students investigated the hidden geometries, textures, and rhythms embedded within these museum objects. These discoveries became the starting point for material experimentation and creative interpretation.

Working in ceramics, metal, glass, and mixed media, students translated their observations across scale. Some expanded microscopic details into larger sculptural forms, while others condensed monumental structures into intimate objects for body or home adornment.

For this Open Studio Exhibition, the works presented are material experiments, and developmental studies created during the project. Rather than final outcomes, these pieces reveal the investigative process behind the students’ practice, showing how observation, experimentation, and making gradually shape ideas into craft forms.