Progression

Progression

I started off this course having achieved a place at university already. I will be going to University College London in September to study English. 

Doing Art A Level left me thirsty to make more art because my creativity was constricted by stress and limits of the mark scheme. I knew I also wanted a year away from conventional education (exams etc) so I thought doing the course would be really good for me. I thought having the teaching and resources available to me was an amazing opportunity. 

I have enjoyed this course hugely. I have found it hard being so self-directed but I think it has set me up in good stead for the way of working at university. My way of thinking has matured and the way I view art too. I feel I am able to express myself much more fluently through my art. 

I feel sad that I will be leaving my study of art at this point. However this year has given me the skills I need to carry it on in my own time. I have no doubt after this year that I was enter the creative industry somehow, either via my literary skills or my artistic ones. I would encourage anyone to do an Art Foundation - I have gained so much. 

Overcoming More Problems...

Overcoming More Problems...

I sent my slide film off to be printed straight away after I finished the shoot on Wednesday the 11th May. They quoted to me that it could be ready in a week's time on the 18th. When I rang to collect them they said they weren't ready. I rang everyday until they told me on the Friday that the film was developed and scanned, but they hadn't mounted them into slides. Obviously, my whole installation is based around the physical slides. The slides still haven't come back to me. 

I won't get the slides back till tomorrow. I find this very frustrating because there isn't much I can do until I get them back. Hopefully, they will turn out okay - on the phone they reassured me that the exposure looked fine. It is a shame because now I don't have time to retake any photos if I didn't like them. It also means I have to continue doings bits and boobs here and there to make up the time. I thought I would just have a week doing sketchbook work etc but I have had two now. 

However, there are things I could be getting on with to keep myself useful.

• Keeping my blog and sketchbook up to date
• Helping to prep the rooms for exhibition
• Preparing a frame for my screen
• Going to see any final exhibitions or looking at any final research to help me display my work

Reflections on Shoot

Reflections on 'Dig Haushizzle' shoot

After I wan't able to use Bristol Museum as a setting for shoot I searched for alternative locations. I found an interior design shop nearby called' Dig Haushizzle' that sells antiques, taxidermy, print and lighting. The owners let us use the shop for an hour before they opened for sales. I paid for this service which I thought was fair and allowed use to feel more comfortable in the space as we could engage with all the pieces; technically it was 'ours' for the hour. They were very friendly and relaxed about it, urging us to not rush off if we needed more time and giving us fifteen minutes grace time to set up. I would recommend them to anyone needing an interesting setting for a shoot.

I thought an hour would be enough to capture two films of slide images on the Pentax K1000 as well as capture digital images just in case the films don't develop well. I managed to fill the two films but I didn;t get time to capture as many digital photographs as I wanted. Luckily I brought a friend with me as a helper: for filming behind-the scenes footage, aiding me with equipment and, of course, moral support! She was able to use the digital camera with my direction while I focused on the analogue one.

I tried to keep the whole event light, friendly and fun in order to help keep the model comfortable. I was quite nervous beforehand, but we actually ended up having fun! Emma was avery good model that listened to me and helped generate ideas too for example we tried using long shutter speeds to capture her motions. 

I think it would have been beneficial to have more time, but then only having an hour made us quite driven and conscientious. I found the whole shoot very stimulating as it was a very visually interesting place to capture and it was fun to be working socially with other people for a change.  In conclusion, I am really pleased with the experience. Hopefully the slide films will turn out well but if not, I have some good digital ones and I really enjoyed myself regardless!

Dig Haushizzle instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dig_haushizzle/

Week 8 - Uh Oh

Week 8 -
Uh Oh

I genuinely didn't think I would be where I am at the point in the project at this point in time. 

Here is what I have achieved thus far:
- a semifinished short experiment film

- half a film of screen slides

Here is what I have yet to achieve:

- a full film of photos from the shoot that is happening tomorrow
- the idea for how I am going to arrange these photos etc on the slide projector

Yesterday I was feeling very anxious and upset about my progress. Having slept on it, I decided to just keep cracking on and do my best. Today I read through one of my classmate's sketchbooks for a review which actually helped me focus to just draw myself out of my own project for a while. Then I went back into my film and did a bit of fiddling. I found some audio that I had recorded a while ago of background noise in the museum and I put that in and changed the duration that I displayed each photo and...I actually quite liked the result! I want to record a bit more audio for it and then I think it will be done. 

My next steps are:

- concentrate on making the shoot tomorrow successful

- get film developed asap

- record audio for short experimental film and finish it

- keep my sketchbook updated with my thoughts. 

Although I haven't gotten as far as I thought, I don't have as far to go as I thought so I just  need to keep ploughing on and remember that progress is not linear!