Interview: Tia O’Donnell – I Want a Refund
This summer, Tia O’Donnell created a commission for Shoreditch Arts Club, utilising the opportunity to put the writing on the wall about the exploitative nature of art education during the pandemic.
I Want a Refund by Tia O’Donnell photographed by Edward Howell.
Tia O’Donnell’s university education was thoroughly disrupted by Covid, forcing students to produce and showcase their work online with no compensation offered. Therefore, her response to the commission was to use the Shoreditch Arts Club’s wall as a platform to continue her protest for a refund.
Her protest all kicked off when she graffitied ‘I Want a Refund’ onto a piece of fabric which she pinned to her graduation robe and uncovered during the ceremony. This is now a centrepiece of the new commission which includes the total sum of profit made by the universities painted directly onto the wall.
The club curator, Ché Zara Blomfield interviewed Tia about her university experience and what led up to the creation of this artwork.
pavement, 2022 byTia O’Donnell
CZB: Firstly, what drew you to studying art?
TO’D: I dreamt about attending Central Saint Martins since I was young. Everyone has heard of this famous top university, which has bred some of the most iconic creatives of our time and I stupidly believed I was going to be one of them. The moment I got accepted into Central Saint Martins was the most proud I’ve ever felt. I chose to study fine art as I had declared myself as an artist from the age of 15.
Was it what you hoped it would be?
The first day of university was everything I expected it to be, filled with excitement, awkward getting to know one another games and falling in love with the excellent amenities. But this all quickly changed when the pandemic hit. I wish I could say the four years I have invested in CSM were magical, however, my time at university felt very empty.
My university experience was not really what you would call a ‘traditional’ university experience. I did most of it from my bedroom.
Going to university is supposed to be a life changing experience, it's been the biggest commitment of my life so far.
Since the majority of my university experience was online and I still have the anxiety of paying the full price, it’s not surprising I feel that I haven’t received my money's worth in terms of education. Simply put: the university did not follow through on their contracted promise to students. Students have paid for a service, which was not delivered.
Tia O’Donnell protesting at the Royal Court of Justice.
Do you mind telling our readers how much your university education was?
A steep £9,250 a year... Dedicating and investing my time and money into my career was, as you can imagine, a rather daunting thing. As a young person starting off in the world with a large amount of student debt not equating to the quality of education expected, the situation really made me feel like a bug that’s been completely taken advantage of. It just did not sit right with me. As I’m sure it didn’t with many others.
How did you arrive at the decision to protest?
I felt like I had no choice but to protest at my graduation ceremony because I felt that my voice and my fellow students’ voices were ignored. It felt like students were the lowest form of life in the university food chain and we were about to get eaten.
‘I want a refund’ was the first thing I said when I handed in my final degree work.
Knowing this itchy feeling of injustice wouldn’t scratch itself, I saw my graduation as a chance to be heard, a chance to speak up for not only myself but for my peers and for the CSM hierarchy to actually be forced to listen to the students’ opinion. Basically the graduation ceremony was a stage for my performance piece.
Will I Get Home Safe, 2022 by Tia O’Donnell.
What were some of the low points that led to this?
There have been many moments during my course where I felt like quitting was the only option. What I expected to feel like as a student was the complete opposite of how we were treated.
Picture this. The first day back of 3rd year. The final curtain pull. The last hurdle. The moment. The tutors summoned all of the students to an online video call to tell us that our physical degree show would be cancelled and would take place online, despite covid restrictions being lifted and other universities having physical in person shows.
As you can imagine, I was absolutely heart-broken. All the hard work we did in our bedroom was to be displayed on a website and that did not sit right with me. The degree show is where you would get recognition, potentially picked up by a gallery and for some it was meant to be the first time they would display their art in a gallery space. I was absolutely devastated that the university was so quick to try and take that away from their paying students. As students we had to protest and go on strike ourselves to fight to have our physical degree show back, whilst making the work and stressfully writing our dissertations. Eventually after striking and protesting we managed to have our physical show back, spending most of our energy into demanding what we have been promised. When really our main focus should have been our work.
Even after writing an email to the Dean of UAL stating that some form of compensation is due, I received no response.
Protest wasn’t just something students were doing, right?
The constant strikes from the tutors are also another issue, for example one strike happened just as we handed in our final degree work and tutors threatened to not mark our work. I stand with my tutors and understand why the tutors had no choice but to go on strike due to their pay falling behind inflation etc, however, what I don’t see as fair is how the students have to bear the brunt of this protest. It seems that students are treated as the lowest form of life in the university food chain and no-one cares.
It is interesting to think that art schools just converted to online when art is so often very physical practice.
Attempting to study a physical degree like Fine Art behind a computer screen is depressing. I’m not alone in saying that as we all, as a collective, became keyboard typing professionals during Covid. But paying a large portion of money per year to be watching powerpoint presentations is soul sucking. It’s worse for the international students who are paying almost double and have to endure online education in different time zones. Not quite the university experience any of us imagined.
I am an artist and in my practice I like to talk about topics that are considered uncomfortable. I have a great love for performance work and exhibitionists. I saw my graduation as a chance to be heard, a chance to speak up for not only myself but my peers and for the CSM hierarchy, to actually be forced to listen to the students’ opinion.
Tia O’Donnell walking across the graduation stage for her ‘I Want a Refund’ protest
Can you tell us about the ‘I Want a Refund’ performance?
I felt compelled to use the graduation ceremony as a stage for my performance piece. Having to also pay to attend the graduation, rent the gown and have a photo taken riled me up enough to let everyone know how all the students were feeling. It would not be me if I did not contemplate boycotting the graduation ceremony, I decided to go with a statement graffitied onto a piece of fabric which I draped across my graduation gown. Feeling paranoid and that security would tackle me to the ground, I tactically hid the masterpiece underneath my armpit until my name was called.
Knowing that all the tutors, deans and officials would be there was the perfect moment but also a nerve wracking one. Initially I had no idea how anyone would react. But inside I knew what I was about to do was what every student was thinking. All I could hear was my mum screaming her head off as I trotted across the stage like a prized pig. I just wanted the university to know how their customers were really feeling, putting my British politeness in the bin and telling it how it is. I was finally free but financially chained.
And it worked?
My protest has gone further than I could ever imagine it to. Believe it or not I have managed to start a movement. These issues are not only just something that has occurred at my university, but universities all over the UK. I have seen students in Manchester boycotting their graduation ceremony using my ‘I Want A Refund’ moment, which has really validated my protesting. Students have been given the green light to sue universities for pandemic-related disruption after the High Court ruled in our favour. Almost 1,000 current and former students can now launch legal action against University College London (UCL) for the breach of student contracts during the Covid and on-and-off teacher strikes over the past few years. Which in short means it could pave the way for more lawsuits against other UK universities, with the UCL lawsuit acting as a test case.
We are one step closer to changing the education system.
The quality of education has been affected and therefore some form of compensation is warranted. Students are consumers who have paid for a service which has not been delivered. If the principle of paying for goods/services and then asking for a refund if said goods/services are not received is acceptable in any other scenario - why not this one?
Have you been supported?
The next step to move this conversation forward is to join The Student Group Claim (www.studentgroupclaim.co.uk). They are magic people doing everything they can to help students across the UK have a voice. I encourage all students who feel like they deserve some form of refund to sign up. Some form of compensation is deserved to all the students across the country who were forced to pay the full university fees whilst being a bedroom student. I want a refund.
Tia O'Donnell (b. 1997 London) is a multidisciplinary artist who graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2022. O’Donnell creates artworks that include illustration, painting, collage, sculpting, and video narratives that bring her drawings and sculptures to life. Exhibitions include at Colebrooke Row, Saatchi Gallery, and Groucho Club. Her work has been featured on It’s Nice That and TMRW Magazine.
