28/11/22
Last semester I was elated with my grades but let myself down with an inadequate proposal form. So tonight I have been going going full on with my proposal form, making sure it’s as tight as possible when it comes to cohesion and effort. I have also been thinking of what the hypothetical exhibition plan could be, so for this I have thought of this plan:
In the centre of the room will be the book on a stand. Around the stand on walls of the room or hanging up in a circular motion will be the best photo from each chapter that I think worthy of being displayed. On a separate pedestal when you enter the room will be a film camera, each person who enters will be encouraged to take a photo within the room. These photos will then be printed by myself at a later date to be held within another book, this will eventually make a trilogy of books as it were. This is vital as I feel that the exhibition should be interactive whilst also adding to my own project too.
This was another lesson learnt from the takeover last year. Because even though the response from my clay film (the theme of home) was received incredibly well with honest emotional feedbacks too, it didn’t have an interactive feel to it. In this hypothetical I have remembered to include that.
Today I spent my day helping my friend Mike from the creative documentary module with his film.
I have also been thinking on what inspired me with my photography for this project. The first was the idea of observational filmmaking with the short film ‘Pockets’ by James Lees in 2006. This film is short but effective, it shows what the public have in their pockets and they tell the camera what it is and describes it. ‘Pockets’ influenced my decision on photography because it made me want to go and observe the public/school of art with my camera and see what I can discover. The idea of the focusing on eyes and hands led to some of my influences of the photos too.
James Lees
2006
29/11/22
Wixam order has arrived. Interestingly they have sent me three copies of the book instead of two which is great! Overall first impression is underwhelming, most probably because I have seen the photos dozens of times and know the book of by heart or it could be because I overslept and am exhausted from it. Turning through the pages, the photo quality is fine – the paper feels very light, maybe too light? Next time I will have to opt for a heavier gsm. Also the cover probably should have been a hardback of some kind for some protection maybe.
Other than that I think it’s been a great first attempt, there’s not any immediate issues and its nice and big for detailed views of the photos. It’s useful to have three copies too, as now one can go to the student union for possible showcasing during open days as it’s all about the university!
So now the print was a success, there’s nothing else for me to do but prepare the rest of my proposal form and start my script for the presentations of the notebook and the proposal too. This has probably been the most successful semester so far in terms of completion and timekeeping. Managing to print this in time was a big deal for me as I was worried I wouldn’t have enough photos in time for week 8 etc.
An interesting day for sure. Tonight I have focused a lot of attention to the proposal form; focusing on the best artists for my hypothetical exhibition and how effective the link between mine and theirs would be.
Below is an example from the proposal form:
30/11/22
Today was great! Group project was a success and everyone seemed to enjoy the outcome and the process. This will be the 2nd project I have hosted with it being a success, this time with a proper end result as the first film hasn’t been finished yet.
Below are some photos I took, I couldn’t get much sadly due to filming the stop motion project. But here are some:
Below is the final result:
Hugely well done on finishing and printing the book, I am so sorry to hear you felt ‘underwhelmed’ by it, the thin cover and pages sounds like a good possible reason for this, when using this company I experienced the same thing, I wish I had had a chance to advise you before you printed, I am on my 4th print run now – I just accept that I am never happy with things first time! I do hope the School of Art, TFTS and the SU will use, perhaps pay for another print? the book for open days as you suggest, I very much look forward to seeing it. Massive well done for running another successful group workshop, this one was very simple and so very easy for each of us to fully engage with, it was especially acknowledged how well you did to set up the animation for us to see at the end, this made a huge difference to our satisfaction overall. Some tweak suggestions for another time – check and make sure the clay is suitable/workable, arrange the room so the animation table is more central so there is room around it, give an idea of how many moves we will be doing so we can plan our narrative individually and together, although we all enjoyed the spontaneity, give time for a brainstorm and discussion on the characters and narratives so we are all more aware of each others work. Perhaps you could do this workshops in schools, I could try and set it up for Plasgrug school next semester.
Thanks for the great feedback Miranda! I will think about the School workshops over Christmas?
Nice one!