Conceptualised by Fine Art lecturer Maureen de Jager and curated by Rat Western and Tanya Poole, the “10 Days...” exhibition by Rhodes University Fine Art students opened on 30 July, in the Standard Bank Gallery of the Albany History Museum.

The project's brief was simple, calling for ten days holiday work by each individual student across all four years of study. Not every project is on display, due to space reasons, but those that are, are thought-provoking and unexpected.

The overarching goal was to encourage the students to do something outside their usual comfort zone. As Western says, in only ten days, you can't be precious, and you can't over-plan. These are works straight from the heart and the creativity of the artists.

The criteria for passing the project were simple: did you apply yourself? Did you push yourself and your boundaries further than usual? Was it truly 10 days worth of work? The result is an original, adventurous collection. In almost all cases, the students passed with flying colours, often demonstrating, says Western, a “fantastic sense of humour” in the process.

The winner, announced at the opening of the exhibition on Friday last, is Francois Knoetze, a second year student. His artwork involved creating a sculpture each day out of found objects, manipulated and inserted into spaces. An example is his hovering flying saucer, created from Steers burger boxes, which is in the process of abducting a chip box cow.

The exhibition includes two other artists whom the judges felt worthy of commendation. Jessica Bosworth-Smith, with her “Ten Lessons in Disobedience” displays artefacts creating a narrative of bad behaviour. Her work wryly subverts these objects of discipline, with the striking example of a bar of soap carved into a swear word particularly catching the eye.

The other commendation, for Romie Sciscio, acknowledges art's enduring ability to come at you out of left field, changing the way you perceive it and constantly reinventing itself in the process. Sciscio glanced at the clock each time she thought of this project; 'Time Occupying Space' consists of the clear vinyl cutouts of these digital times placed across the display space, over and around the other artworks, like punctuation.

This exhibition, which runs until the 13 August, opens a door into the work, lives and passions of our Fine Arts students. Western smilingly terms it a “kooky show”; it is certainly well worth a visit.