Summative Field Assessment – Reflective Writting

Field Term 1 option; ‘Faking It’

At the beginning of the field module ‘Faking it’ we were quickly informed about what the module consists of and how we would develop throughout the module, we were given our  story and assigned into our groups to analyse the dialog. As part of this module we were asked to create a movie set or theatre stage throughout this term which would be our final piece at the end of term. My group consisted of another fine artist, an illustrator and a maker, I felt that this was a good combination of different styles and mediums which gave us a variety of ideas.

At the beginning of the sessions, my group read though the story given and happily agreed on which aspects of the story we felt were most important. We felt it was important to focus on aspects which would create a dramatic staging. Our first decision was to make a theatre stage focusing on the ideas of a futuristic appearance using bright colours and directed at a young audience. We did however have some challenging issues with differences in opinions near the final display of the work. By each expressing our own ideas we were able to make compromises and focus on the more beneficial concepts.

Having a number of workshops throughout this module became very  valuable with our theatre progression, one of the main workshops which I feel was a great inspiration was with Max Humphries and his puppet crafting. His workshop broadened our ideas allowing us to create moving parts within our theatre stage, this came in particularly useful when  focusing on the exploding rocket scene. We thought that the rocket itself could be made of several parts, allowing us to build and disassemble with ease.

Our final outcome of this project was a large stage made from recycled materials which provided challenges at times. There were many issues with the sizing of the theatre and considering the scale of the objects within the area.  One of the hardest tasks was trying to attach the two front pillars onto the frame,  the pillars shapes were uneven, making it hard to glue together. When we were able to attach it to the frame it brought the piece together allowing the project to take shape. After adding all the props, lighting, and our jig-saw like rocket, our project was a complete success.

I really enjoyed working within this field group as I have learnt how bringing different disciplines together with unique ideas can be beneficial to learning new techniques and methods. It was interesting to create a 3D model of a stage and I feel that using different textures and painting techniques really made the work stand out.  Although a lot of our set was painted, I feel that I have learnt about new materials and machinery which were beneficial towards the theatre stage.

Field Term 2 Option; ‘Drawing  As Experience’

For my second field module  of this year I chose ‘Drawing as Experience’, this course was situated at Cardiff Bay’s exhibit  ‘Crafts in the bay’ and was heavily based around exploring  the engagement with the five senses. As we began our project we were shown around the exhibit ‘The Sensorial Object’ which related to our new project, around the exhibit were artworks which attempted to relate the viewer and encourage them to be reminded of a previous experience through their senses. From this we were given our first task of working in pairs to interpret our own work inspired by a piece in the exhibit, this worked well for me as it was a good experiment to engage with my senses and understand the concept of the project.

Each week we were given lectures on different ways that we could develop our senses and how it can help others who are less fortunate, with this we explored each sense and considered how it would affect others. Guest speaker Joanna Grace spoke to us about her creation sensory stories which help stimulate children and adults with disabilities, going through the ideas of the stories was really inspirational and pushed me to experiment more with different senses and considering how I could portray them.

One of the most influential workshops was materiality of drawing with Zoe Preece, who showed us different ways of using materials to create unexpected gestures. In this exercise I was able to explore  different textures and materials creating new gestural pieces by creating and using drawing tools made of random objects which became one of my main influences in my final outcome.

As I had focused on synaesthesia within my first year in my field module, I already had an experience working with my senses, however I did find that this course was more involved. For my final outcome I connected it with my subject works concept, concentrating on the subconscious mind. The key concept was to capture how our minds synthesise our senses and fragments of our memories to interpret visions, hallucinations or dreams – producing a surreal reality. Unlike my subject work the field work was very expressive and using a vast amount of mediums inspired from my workshops to create different textures and colours.

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about other people’s ideas on the senses and how they have developed it within their artwork to connect to the viewer in such imaginative ways. Originally I was going to film the process of my final outcomes but unfortunately I did not have the time to film/edit what I had made. I am unsure if the idea of filming would have improved the surreal aspect of the series – but it would have been nice to try. I feel that working in this gestural way has really opened my ideas on abstract expressionist art and will benefit me within my subject work.

Overall Field Written Reflection

Within the field module I have explored outside of my comfort zone and used materials which I would not have considered beforehand. Throughout the duration of the 2 field choices I have been able to work in a group, time management, learn about the advantages of new materials and how to adapt them.

I found that within my ‘Faking it’ module, I was given the opportunity to work in different workshops and expanded my knowledge on equipment and working in 3D, having never really had an involvement with the 3D aspect it was a very beneficial way of expanding my knowledge. Working alongside others was also another way that I learnt to use and create different materials such as modelling blue foam, welding, and also exploration of more conventional materials. ‘Faking it’ inspired my subject work to experiment with the 3D idea, I started creating clay models and faces as well as  creating fabric dolls from clay which I would not normally consider in my work. These clay models are one of the influences towards my final piece within subject.

‘Drawing as Experience’ was extremely influential towards my own practice, this module definitely made me consider emotional responses within my work and how others would perceive it. As my practice is about the concept of dreams I wanted to attempt to connect my emotional response with dreaming, this then would be how the dream has affected my emotional state when awake. Lectures which influenced this work would be Becky Lyddon and Sensory Spectacle. Becky discussed her artwork which she had created to make people understand autism and its effects on that person. We were asked to create a work in response to one of the pieces exhibited. This work was to represent our emotional response, which for my chosen piece was uncomfortable. This was the inspiration which started my idea of creating an emotional response within my own work after my dreams. As I was documenting my dreams every morning this idea of emotional response became part of that routine, I used different mediums such as charcoal, inks, paints and pastels and also different equipment to apply them to paper. The idea of application was influenced by the lecture ‘Materiality of Drawing’ with Zoe Preece, discussing the idea of creating tools to make certain gestures within the work which also depends on the medium. Using all different types of materials in that lecture was a great inspiration, not only using paint and inks but also using soil, coffee, and string was an interesting way to develop my dream journal.

I feel that both ‘Faking it’ and ‘Drawing as Experience’ has really helped to develop my work this year making me consider forms, materials, mediums and colour. Using new materials in my subject work has really influenced my final outcome this year and I am keen to continue with these ideas in my third year.