A BLACKBURN University art graduate is ‘proud’ to have his works on display in the town centre.

Christian Bell, 29, applied to a call-out from the Festival of Making and was commissioned to produce new artistic work based on a post-pandemic era.

Bell’s ‘glitchy’ text display in the town centre reflects social and cultural activity past and present and delves into the manifestation of youth culture, now and in the future.

He said: “I was really pleased to get the commission and then working with Blackburn College students on things like their relationship with social media and how young people are perceived in the modern day - sometimes unhelpfully, I think.

“I only graduated last year so it was brilliant to be able to do this and the timing was perfect as when you do something like art at university, you’re never sure you’ll actually be able to work in that field.

"I'm really proud of the work and everyone involved in making this idea come to life."

During the collaboration, he explored, shared and observed local contemporary youth cultures over a series of digital workshops inspired by a local youth disco of the late 1970’s, including the shared experience of a digital Friday night out during lockdown, with Instagram the virtual venue.

In his research, Bell found that modern youth cultures are ‘transcending the clearly defined trends and sub-cultural interests that are recognisable in youth cultures of the past’.