Crossroads II

Over the past 8 weeks, I have been given the chance to experience four main areas within ‘art and design’. I have spent two weeks on each rotation, working in Fashion/Textiles, Fine Art, Visual Communications and 3D Spatial Design.

I feel that my least successful project was 3D spatial design. I think the reasoning behind this stems on the fact that I have never worked well in 3D before and have never felt passionate about it. Because of this I feel that I have failed to produce such exciting and spontaneous work when compared to some of the other subject areas.

In contrast, I really enjoyed the Fine Art rotation. From the very beginning of the two weeks I was excited and intrigued by the subject itself. As soon as I walked into the Fine Art studio, I faced a completely different atmosphere to what I had previously experienced in Fashion/Textiles. It was busy and fast-paced- this made me feel driven from day one.
The projects that we were set sent my mind into overdrive. I was thinking about the subject both consciously and subconsciously- pushing my thoughts further each day and letting my ideas flow from one into the next.

However, over my two week period in the fine art studio I became frustrated and angry with myself, as I knew deep down that the work I was producing was not reaching the standard I know I am capable of. I believe that this was due to not being brave enough to execute my thoughts and ideas fully in the studio.
One of the teachers in Fashion/Textiles did warn us that sometimes students do least well in the subject they want to achieve highest in, because we are prone to over thinking things and not having the courage to let go and be experimental in case we go wrong.
Looking back at my work, the material I produced in Fine Art seems fairly rigid and uncomfortable. It lacks looseness and spontaneity that the work from other areas which I was not so interested in portrays.

Regardless of this, I am still very keen to proceed forwards with Fine Art. I see it as a challenge and one that I am very eager to succeed in.
Although I was frustrated with myself at times, I feel that this was only down to my own performance. Never once was I disappointed with the actual subject itself.

I bonded well with the Fine Art teachers and after talking to David felt much more confident that this is the area in which I want to study. He has encouraged me to push my painting skills to a new level and I want to be able to take the opportunity to prove to both him and myself that this is the right decision.

As each rotation passed I began to feel more and more confident within myself. Although, at times I struggled, I never once gave up on my ideas. I have gained a much broader concept of Art and Design since being at Chelsea, as I now understand how vast the subject area is. I have never been given the opportunity to take part in subjects such as Vis Com before and have really felt that these rotations have offered me a very important experience.

Although I have always enjoyed Fine Art, I did not come to Chelsea with the preconceived idea that I would continue within that particular subject area. I have always been very open minded and given every subject the same amount of energy and interest as I have wanted to give myself the best possible chance and opportunity.

Both my work and approach have changed quite dramatically over the past 8 weeks. I have developed a much more curious and experimental mindset towards the subject and have learned that the more confident and open I am to new ideas, the better.
After listening to Dominic Wilcox’s lecture recently, I have been thoroughly influenced by him to be as creative as possible. Although most of his work falls under the Vis Com/ Illustration area, the way in which he sees the world around him is fascinating on every level and I admire his perception and views greatly.

I think the feedback given to me in crits has been very important and highly valid. Most importantly, I find the negative comments are a great help and make me think about things that hadn’t even crossed my mind until discussed. For example, in Vis Com, it was said that my layout was confusing. To me, it was clear and it was only when I thought about it from a fresh perspective that I realised it made no sense to any viewer other than myself. I learned from this, that the way in which I present my work has a substantial impact on the message I portray to others.   

I would appreciate the chance to be able to continue my foundation year specialising in Fine Art. It is something that I am extremely passionate about and will push myself as hard as I can to excel in all areas.

Blog. Pt.6.

Missed a week. Woops.
I am now on my second week in 3D spatial.
So far, it has gone well and I have enjoyed it. Last week we created an installation and drew manyyy drawings from all of the different ones.
I really enjoyed the drawing aspect of it. I think a little more than the making?
Today we got given the brief for our final project and well, although my ideas are only at a basic stage so far, I think/am hoping that it will all work out quite nicely.
Will discuss the outcome of my week later on...

Blog. Pt 5.

SO.... Week two of VisCom. Is it going well? Am I enjoying it? ... Well, yes...and no.
As I spoke about in the previous blog, project one went quite well.
Project two, also went quite well. We had to develop ideas of whatever subject/story we wanted and present these ideas as images within our sketchbooks.
At first I found this fairly challenging, because wrongly I thought It was vital to come up with a story-line before creating the actual story... And I am definitely no author.
After a chat with the lovely Fiona, I realised that I was going about this topic in a much more difficult way than necessary. So, from then on, I just went for it and took each page as it came, working quickly through my sketchbook, not over-thinking things and letting my ideas flow without forcing a narrative.
I stuck things in, reversed images, used carbon paper, mono printing, fine-liners, newspaper. etc, keeping the colours all monochrome throughout (this was actually unintentional but turned out for the best..).
Then, last Friday, it was time for the dreaded crits. In preparation for this I had worked hard at home to come up with a final set of images of which I was to present on the wall. I created these images using an ancient slide machine, ancient slides and a not so ancient camera. After projecting the 50 year old images onto an A1 sheet, I began to draw directly onto the paper using a thick marker pen. I drew the outlines of the images from the slides and then shifted them and worked with new slides- eventually creating a very muddled up looking work of art that was documented gradually through photography.
My whole idea throughout the project was 'defacing people'. This wasn't planned, but just happened. I realised as I flicked through my sketchbook that a pattern was occurring. I had in some way distorted the face of almost every figurative drawing that I created without even noticing. So anyway, quite neatly, my final outcome corresponded with my sketchbook ideas fantastically.
So... Great week really......
But.
WAS IT ALL A FLUKE?
This is the question I have been asking myself ever since we moved onto this horrendousss 3rd project. 'Audience'. It is causing me far to much stress and heartache than it should be, that's for sure.
A very difficult concept to grasp I have found. And I think that most of my peers will agree...
Although the brief has been written very well, it sends out a completely different message to what the teachers do?
Apparently... according to the brief... we have to come up with ANY sender and ANY receiver. Well false. All of our teachers have pushed US to be the senders as it will then be more personal. Fair enough I guess.
Anyway, as I am still getting to grips with the concept (this is like 4 days into the project..) I will wait and see where my quite frankly, pathetic ideas take me before broadcasting it over the Internet.

Ps. Went to an exhibition with Steph yesterday called Art London. It was fantastic and has reallllyyy inspired me to get the oils, easels and paintbrushes out again! One day I want to be able to sell my work for £38,000 a pop please?

Blog. Pt.4

Monday- First day of Vis Com complete, check.

After being paired up we were given a single word each. Mine was 'Fork'. My partners was 'Window'.

We began by working independently- drawing anything we could think of that spun off our given word.

I began by drawing different types of forks into my sketchbook, then as each page was turned my ideas began to expand and flow. I drew sketches of guy fawkes- leading to fireworks. I drew a fork leading to a knife, leading to death, leading to the grim reaper. I drew sharp shapes, such as a pin, a party hat etc and developed the idea of spiky shapes, such as a heart rate monitor pattern. This was symbolic of the fork shape.

We were then asked to link our ideas with our partners. As the words 'fork' and 'window' have no connection what so ever, we had a challenge on our hands!

I particularly liked the idea my partner had come up with of 'window in time' and she particularly liked my idea of a 'fork in the road'. After sketching out more ideas that popped into our heads, we were both drawn to the idea of a shape growing and taking off in different directions, forking outwards and onwards. The drawings began to look tree-like, and even vein-like. It brought both of our ideas together as it links with the idea of time, whereby the image develops, and the pathways, where the kind of structure takes shape.

The idea of veins was particularly strong as it shows the skin being translucent and 'window-like' as well as portraying the idea of each one forking off into a different direction.

This is a photo I took at lunchtime- Links in with the word 'fork' quite nicely.