CRITICAL REFLECTION UPON LAST TERM
If I’m completely honest I was really disappointed with the mark I received in third term last year and it was really hard to not become deflated and demoralised by it. I have always understood third term as a continuation on in terms of development but also refinement. I pushed really hard to refine my work and really focus on how my current practise at the time could be most successful.
I felt that I was far more critical with my reflections and didn’t let myself slip down an unneccessary tangent that I didn’t need to – I felt I was very focused on the idea and work I had in hand.
It was disappointing to receive the feedback I got as I personally was unsure how I had ‘failed’ so badly. To go from and A- to a B was really hard to hear as I felt that my work ethic and ability had in fact improved in the final term.
However that being said, after a step away and think over summer I as usual have reflected upon the comments and will strive to do better and push forward to achieve the grades I’d like to achieve.
- “Knowledge only reflects a vey broad range of artists” – therefore I need to continue with collecting a variety of different artists but also really focus on who inspires me most, who is most influential and why and what impact could that have on my own practise.
- “Need to look at more contemporary artists exploring environmental issues from a contemporary perspective” – no more 1950’s! Try and stick to researching modern and contemporary artists only. I will be really interesting to see what impact that brings to my practise.
- “Light pen on a dark background is strong and offers a lot of potential for you to develop your ideas” – I need to continue to push the boundaries and not be afraid to try new things. I need to make it clear that I am taking risks and pushing the boundaries in terms of what I can do in relation to what I am also trying to say.
- “Lot of danger in the work becoming repetitive and engaging more with nature than natures destruction” – Need to focus on where the root of my ideas have come from and what I can do with that rather than working with aesthetics and the drive to create a finished article rather than my focus being on the journey to get to that point.
- “Keep your intent in mind and see if you can emphasise the environment element to greater extent” – I feel I have become lost in creating an environmental image with hints of ‘damage’ rather than it being a clearly though out piece of art that is about destruction. I need to reverse my motivation and avoid conceptual work, but rather poise to create work that screams “activism and awareness”even if it is still in an abstract form.
- “Further consideration of underpinning theoretical ideas, which would strengthen the work” – what theoretical theory have I connected to my work/ what theory will I connect? This is an important aspect within my practise and needs plenty of research, reading and thought put into it.
- “In particular contemporary writers on the Anthropocene and Climate Change” – worth reading up about.
- “These ideas might connect with your own and enable you to push forward your practise” – I really need to focus on pushing forward rather than getting stuck in ruts and focusing too hard on the grades.
GOING THROUGH THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
LEVEL OF ENQUIRY: This term is need to thoroughly explore my ideas through a sustained critical engagement within my practise.
- In terms of exploring ideas I must also focus om the quality. I sometimes lose the high level of attention in my work which can be reflected through critical engagement and reflections. When looking at this in regards to my work last term into this term, I must focus on whether my work is saying what I want it to say. For the top mark I need my work to be more reflective of my ideas and less conceptual. Last term is got lost in the ideas of creating a landscape rather than working with the idea of ‘destruction’ that all my background knowledge and blog work was based on. If I make sure that my research and practise, are working together side by side then my enquiry and engagement will be much more highly focused.
- One thing to note is material exploration too. By final term I was determined that I knew what materials to use and how which is not necessarily the case. The material usage was strong but what it produced was weak so I need to explore other materials and ways of the using my mediums (dye, varnish and pen work) to make it a massive step up, more engaging with my enquiry and developed. I can reflect on this through my critical reflections too.
LEVEL OF THINKING AND UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR PRACTISE: I need to make sure I have made the relevant distinctions and decisions in relation to my area of practise.
- An important one to note here is the us elf contemporary artists rather than older artworks as my idea is extremely contemporary so therefore that should be reflected in my research and the artists that inspire me most.
- Need to ensure I show every single thought process and research I have completed. I believe sometimes I miss out information as I am worried it is irrelevant or not needed but in fact I should include everything as it shows I am independent and can attain a high level if independent learning and thinking without a lot of guidance and support.
- Ensure tutorials are self led. Make sure I am confident in my one ideas but happy to take ideas and feedback on board.
- Make sure I am aware of issues and problems annd possible hiccups I will have along the way and be sure to reflect on these and note them down. Use my sketchbook to
WHAT NEXT?
Questions to ask myself to push my work into a new and exciting direction…
WHAT NEXT?
- 1. WHAT IS THE ROOT OF ALL MY IDEAS?
My ideas originally came about after being annoyed by a person I knew. I felt that they were really hypocritical in regards to climate change and this really triggered a build up of annoyance. They posted a lot on social media yet their actual decisions in life failed to represent this ‘eco warrior’ that they had created for themselves online. It became more than just an annoyance for me as I started speaking about it to others and moaning to people about how I hate people being fake on social media bout such a pressing issues such as climate change. This person would preach about human destruction on our beautiful world but jet set several times a year around the globe on a jumbo jet, dye her hair using chemical based produced which most likely had been tested on animals first and not really live up to the persona she created on social media.
For me it became an issue that took over a small part of my life as it wasn’t necessarily that I wanted everyone to be green eco warriors as I know that I am definitely not that myself, I am meat eater but I do try and do an awful lot of recycling. It can be argued that my approach on the topic is that I do my small bit, sure I could do more but I also haven’t created a false persona for what I am.
The chameleon so to speak is what has triggered my ideas of ‘hypocritical activism’ which I started exploring last term. This idea is something I would like to continue within this terms practise as well.
- 2. HAVE I REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT MY IDEAS MEAN?
I guess having felt a little lost by the outcome of last term, I have realised that it is extremely important for me to have a full grip on my ideas, what they mean and what I plan to do with them. I think its really important to understand why I have been driven by this idea of ‘ human destruction’ and ‘ecology’ and how I can produce work hat really reflects this issue.
In terms of how much I have thought about my ideas and what I must do to improve my current practise I have realised that my topic is very very ‘broad’. As an artist I am trying to show destruction whilst producing a landscape image and the cross over is not working. the depth gets lost in the colour scheme and the compositions tries to hard to be something it natural cannot be soo therefore the painting itself becomes forced. One thing I can be sure of is that the medium being used is still very effective. the matt finish of the dye which is then fully enhanced by the thick gloss varnish creates a really vivid and contextual image. The line work in the reverse colours (light hue rather than a grey or a black) is also really effective and creates a really strong impact so this is also something I should continue to explore. However the line work itself and the composition in terms of what I want my work to say is weak. It is pushing to be too conceptual.
- 3. WHAT DO I NEED TO RESEARCH AND LOOK AT NEXT?
- 4. HAVE I SPREAD MYSELF TOO FAR IN TOO MANY DIRECTIONS?
- 5. WHO IS MY TARGET AUDIENCE?
LAST TERM AND PUSHING INTO NEW IDEAS
- WHERE AM I GOING NEXT
I think I need to focus in on what my work is really about first as at the moment its too many ideas trying to merge together.WOULD OIL SPILL LINES ALSO BECOME REPETITIVE?
- HOW COULD I PREVENT THE REPETITION OF LAST TERM?
Take more risks as at the moment the work looks repetitive as I have got stuck in a bubble of comfort and control rather than pushing what I know and make further.
- SHOULD I EXPLORE FURTHER FOR A STRONGER TOPIC?
YES. Definitely. Exploration and research will be really beneficial in ensuring I really push my project further this term.
- HOW CAN I FIND CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS TO LOOK AT FOR THIS TOPIC?
- Tutorials
- Library
- Online
- Often when you find one artists within the field you are exploring you can find more.
- WHAT NEXT THEN?
I think I need to really brain storm my ideas and focus on the root driving point of my ideas. What is that? How can I focalise my work simply on that topic alone?
I need to explore my current ideas through exploration of mediums whilst also maintaining a high quality standard of work. There is no point completing work that is ‘half hearted’ and I know that I will reflect more on the fact the quality and thought isn’t there rather than driving the ideas and techniques forward in a far more useful fashion.
I must explore mediums further. There must be a way of making my practise more exciting even if that is in regards to the process to get to the final painting. I need to be sketch and recording and taking photos to really spark that commitment and excitement.
READ! I must read more about the topic I am exploring this term. Short snippets from library books and online daily just to really nail down what my work is about, trigger new ideas and a historical and political motive that sits along side my work.
ARTIST RESEARCH
- HOW IS THAT GOING?
- ARE THE ARTISTS REFLECTIVE OF MY IDEA?
- ARE THEY CONTEMPORARY?
- IN WHAT WAY ARE THEY INSPIRING?
- IN WHAT WAYS HAVE THE ARTISTS INFLUENCED ME SO FAR?
REMEMBER THESE POINTS WHEN LOOKING AT ARTISTS
WHAT DOES ‘CONTEMPORARY’ MEAN?
The Oxford states that Contemporary is ‘living or occurring at the same time” or ‘belonging to occurring in the present’.
Having said this, I can understand how my work can be seen to be stuck in the past. Emma described my work as having been stuck in the 1950’s which would then contrast and contradict my complete thought process and ideas as they ere arguably very contemporary and modern.
I feel being driven by contemporary notions regarding climate change, ecology and activism so therefor this should all be reflected within my practise. It is important that my ideas can be followed and identified through out the term and dont get lost on a final idea or a vision of how I want something to look as last term that became quite a substantial issue.
In order for my work to become more successful, I need to stir away from the conceptual hole I fell into last term and ensure I keep my work fun, exciting and modern.
I feel it needs to modern and invigorating so that it really speaks out about the the driving factors that influence my work.
HOW CAN I MAKE MY WORK BETTER, HAVING LEARN’T THIS:
- Experiment with a wide range of materials and test out the outcome of each – reflect in great detail to gain a greater understanding
- Research more contemporary artists, my current inspirations can be seen as dated as they we from the 1950’s onwards which ultimately classed as contemporary.
- Be prepared to take risks and enjoy doing so. Mistakes are good and can be useful for reflection purposes – not every piece of work needs to finished and seen as perfection.
CREATIVE CORNER
Having had a tutorial with Pip I created a ‘creative corner’ where I choose to collect a load of waste and recyclable material and create something interesting from it. I was driven to create interesting formations from the waste that made something bad into something more elegant and beautiful.
This idea of something bad transforming into something bad triggered my ideas.
What if my final paintings could look beautiful but the overall idea behind it was bad. This is something to definitely explore further.
I created interesting compositions that hung like a light fixture or like a baby mobile. From here I recorded quick sketches from different angles really focusing on the shape and line. I want a fluid material to work with so choose to draw the sketches in charcoal. It was a suitable material to use as it gave me the freedom to create different types of line work, thick thin, dark and light and adjust the hue fluidly whilst also having control to some extent about blending and highlighting.
I really liked the fluidity of the charcoal as I could work fairly quick with it without losing the control. I find myself working into pencil too much and the same with pen and the overall outcome of the image getting lost.
THIRD YEAR - TERM ONE 