for these weeks we didnt work on our projects as the personal project had to end during week 9. we did however have to present the proposal form for the project during week 10. this was an interesting assignment as i hadnt really done anything like it before. presenting a PDF rather then a Powerpoint was a new one for me. not only that, but i felt like the 10 minutes wasnt enough to get everything mentioned (something i liked as it made me really think about what parts of the proposal form i felt was the most important).
from the feedback i got, i mostly got positive comments, but some saying that i need to be more confident when presenting. i totally agree with that as i had no idea what i was supposed to mention. i needed more planning prior to the class as i could practice and get more confident in what i needed to mention and what i could leave out.
as for the layout, i personally feel i need to take some more time and get the PDF looking a little more professional. at its current state it looks more like a draft then a finished proposal form. i am going to take inspiration from Dee next semester and try to make the proposal form look less like a “fill inn the answers here” type of form, but a “here is my work” type of application.
for week 11 we presented these Notebooks! this was such a fun experience as i got to present in front of the other group and properly see what they were all working on. although it was sad not to conclude the semester with my own group, its nice to switch things up every now and then to get to know the others.
i did end up planning a lot more for this presentation then my last one as i didnt want to feel unsure when presenting this whole semester in 10 minutes. what i ended up doing instead of writing a script was to separate every Notebook in to different parts and mention some of each part per week.
-Class work.
-Research.
-Personal work.
-Tutorial.
after that i wrote down bullet points i need to mention during the presentation for each week on small pieces of paper (using one note per Notebook).
i then timed every single notebook to see if it was more or less then a minute and tried to balance the larger Notebooks with the smaller, less important ones. i feel like this presentation really tested how i problem solve and how to present something complicated in a short and efficient way. 10 minutes felt like nothing when i was presenting, but that was cause i knew i had everything planned, and looking at the timer just confirmed that i was on track the whole way through. i only got positive comments on this presentation.
if there is anything i want to do better with the notebooks next semester however, it would be to thing about the layout a lot more. i didnt really have time to play around with the different options on here during the semester, so i might play around during the holidays and just see how it works. i also want to add more research earlier in the notebooks so its consistent, rather then forgetting to add any of it before the last weeks.
here is a small collection of images from this semester IP!
conclusion:
Well, this has been a semester to remember! Starting the semester capturing sounds of anxiety through a medium I have never attempted before. Having one of the worst depressive episodes I have had in a long time, leading to a change of project and fully relating to trash.
Starting the Trauma Dump project from the small Cup exercise in week 3, was probably the best decision I could have done for myself this semester. It gave me so much life and 153 new friends I can relate to. Having felt very alone as I couldn’t go home during week 6, it was nice having constant companions to share and listen to. I could never have thought I would end up with such a close bond with binned objects, but here we are! Closer than ever, with 6 full bags of them still in my room.
If there is one thing, I am proud of, it is managing to continue to push forward even when everything within me was going against me. Yes, I didn’t get to record all the objects as intended, but I didn’t even plan on having 153 objects to begin with! Hearing all of their voices and just listening to all the sounds really taught me the importance of just sitting down and taking inn your surroundings. I feel like we take a lot of our everyday for granted and overlook the beauty of the everyday. Everything has its own story, we just need to look for them.
Class wise I really enjoyed the group I was placed in. I don’t think this semester would be anywhere near as good if it wasn’t for the amazing classmates I had. Nidhi, Abidish, Oscar and Dee in particular, helped me stay motivated a lot and I can’t state how grateful I am for that. I also really enjoyed the classes as they all had something different to gain. From learning how to find inspiration from everyday objects, to seeing how daily life can be a performance piece, and even how to present your work in a professional manner! This semester has taught me so much, in such a small amount of time, which is why I decided to take this course for at least one more semester to see how my own artistic practice grows with the help and guidance of Miranda.
For next semester I think I will be planning my time a little better in order to create a project that doesn’t take over the majority of my time as this semester ended with me falling behind on my painting module. I will also try and have some free time during the weeks as I forgot to take time for myself and ended up fairly burnt out by the end.
Overall this has been a great semester! I learnt to appreciate the small things in life and push through even when im in a bad place. Ive become more confident when presenting and have gotten a few new friends im looking forward to spending more time with in the following semester. ive gained knowledge on multiple new contemporary artists and learn a little bit about how to use a new medium ive never tried before (sound) and become better at planning and installing an installation.
thank you very much for reading, and im looking forward to the next semester with the theme of Time!