MONDAYS’ GROUP TUTORIAL
For our first IP class on Monday, we had a group tutorial! It was really nice getting to know everybody else in the group, and learning about their creative practices – especially since I haven’t really had the opportunity to be in such a small class yet. As scary as it was, being encouraged to participate was really good for me. I’m usually a bit too content with sitting back and letting other people speak, and I can’t really do that here! The whole point of taking this module was to force myself out of my comfort zone a little, and it’s definitely working already 🙂
We also did a short automatic writing exercise. I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this, as I’d never really done anything like it before, but I thought that it was quite therapeutic! I found myself writing a lot about feeling lost, which has sparked a few ideas for my project that I’m looking forward to experimenting with! We then turned our thoughts into a spell to look back on. I liked that there wasn’t really a template for this, and I chose to phrase mine a bit like a manifestation – something not too unachievable or overwhelming. I think it’ll be nice to reflect on in a few months!
FRIDAY’S CLASS
On Friday, our class was a bit more practical! For our first activity, we did some active listening in smaller pairs/groups and talked about some initial ideas for our projects. I found it really interesting listening to other people talk, but I did find it a little daunting having them listen to me. We then paired up again and did some blind drawings of one another, which was also terrifying. I thought that the intense staring and fear of badly drawing my partner would make the activity kind of awful, but it was really fun, actually! I did a few more of these drawings at home because I really enjoyed loosening up and not actively trying to make something that looks good, and it was a good way to shake the perfectionist mindset I tend to struggle with 🙂
Finally, we worked together to create a kind of mindmap of our skills on the classroom wall. We connected our names together with pieces of yarn where we saw things that we wanted to get better at – which got a little bit crazy at the end! This activity was great for ideas – and encouraged me to start watching more films (thanks Matteo) 🙂
RESEARCH
I’m still not too sure which direction I want to take my individual project in, but I decided to do some research into transgender artists this week. Being trans is a big part of my identity, and I think that I’d like to incorporate this into my project somehow. I also figured that not restricting my research to a particular medium at this point would be a great opportunity to find some more things to branch out into 🙂
One work I found that I was particularly interested in was a performance piece by Cassils – Becoming an Image. I thought that the photos were so full of emotion, and really powerful, and that the project ties in quite nicely with our theme! It’d be nice to experiment a bit with performance art during this module. (https://www.cassils.net/cassils-artwork-becoming-an-image)
I also really like the work of Greer Lankton; the story behind her art practice is really touching, I found 🙂 I really love seeing how other trans artists express gender dysphoria in their work, and I LOVE how Lankton portrays it. Her work is unconventional and unafraid to showcase the ‘ugly’ parts of transitioning. She might be one of my new favourite artists 🙂 While doll making isn’t necessarily something that I ever thought I’d be interested in, I think it’s still something to consider! (https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-1980s-icon-greer-lankton-explored-glamour-gender-eerie-dolls)
I made a quick mindmap of some creative practices I’d like to explore this term. This module is a great opportunity to work outside of painting and drawing and I wanna take advantage of that! I think that I definitely want to incorporate writing into my project somehow, but I’ll otherwise just keep experimenting for now 🙂
