‘I’m more than just an Oxbridge reject’

Slade art students unveil exhibition showing they are definitely over their Oxbridge rejection
Elgin Edison
Graphic by Kotryna Taujanskaite

A brand new exhibition has opened in the Slade School of Fine Art titled “More than an Oxbridge Reject”.

It comprises paintings, tapestries, prints, collages, marble statues, and more, depicting the feeling of rejection by prestigious institutions and definitely being able to move on.

One such piece involves a pile of torn paper fragments taken from several Oxbridge rejection letters from the artists. Participants are then invited to stick the paper fragments on a wall to create a communal collage, highlighting how something new can be built from failure.

The artist of the piece, Amelia Slate, said “My art has empowered me to move beyond my rejection. As a matter of fact, I was at a house party yesterday and I only twice mentioned that I almost got into Oxford. I only realised until I got home, it’s a massive improvement where I mentioned it 27 times during freshers.”

A critical darling of the exhibition has been the performance piece by Sora Fuki. Titled ‘It Doesn’t Bother Me’ it involves Sora running across an empty, white stage with a projection of Cambridge’s Trinity College overlayed, repeatedly uttering the phrase “It doesn’t bother me. The running is interspersed with immersive dance underscored by the song that plays when you search ‘sad violin music’ on YouTube.

“It’s obvious I’m over the rejection,” Sora said. “I’m having a great time studying… here. You can tell that I’m not upset about it, right? I mean doIreallylooklikeIwouldstillbeupsetaboutnotgoingtocambrid—”

One of the most popular pieces in the exhibition is a marble carving of the number ‘39’, the IB score of artist Reginald Reneé, who missed the Oxford cutoff score of ‘40’. Overall, the exhibition has been a complete success.

“We’ve got exciting plans to take the exhibition all over London,” Reginald Reneé said. “We’re showcasing it in Kensington, Camden, Bankside, Shoreditch, and Soho to name a few places. I feel like our story of hardship and disappointment in private school and making do with the cards we’re dealt with is going to resonate with many people. We’re even in talks with Oxford and Cambridge themselves to host the exhibition there! It’ll be a great way to show off how we don’t need them anymore. Once we settle the £5000 administration fee, we should be good to go! Man, we’ll really show them who’s boss.”

This article appeared in CG89