Assignment 1 Reflection
I was extremely pleased that my tutor found my work ‘exploratory, loose (I think) and questioning. This positive opening feedback was very welcome having undertaking, what was for me, out of the ordinary exercises and studying at a level which is a new and uncertain thing for me.
At the same time the tutor informed me of the things I ought to be doing at this level; such as colour coding, annotating images, using human profile figures to provide scale in models, all of which I can now see would benefit and enhance my work.
My tutor provided me with some research around a question I raised – ‘why did so many take to the right’. A question I asked myself about the direction people took through a gallery. I left this question open without trying to find an answer – something which I have been informed I should do. I read the research and again realised how much my learning can be improved by undertaking such a task. It allowed me to explore the question further and provided reason’s, in this case why people behave in a certain way and which provided me with a possible answer to the behaviour I witnessed.
For exercise 1:5 I was to visualise the space and experience through one sketch. I chose to complete this in monochrome, which my tutor felt was a poor choice, loosing some of the richness and visual contrast which had been provided in other examples. I think I may have felt this was the right thing to do because the examples shown in the course work are in monochrome. I probably thought monochrome would be a little more sophisticated and I was possibly a little concerned that adding colour would have created something a little too childlike. The feedback allowed me to see that I should not think in these ways, to push myself, not to worry and to experiment.
Although some feedback around my assessment piece was positive I am disappointed in myself that I did not continue with the first attempt at this piece or at least continue with a dual aspect piece which I originally intended. The tutor was dissatisfied that I did not continue with adding angles in this piece, angles which I had referred to throughout the exercises. My first attempt for this assessment piece was a tall diagonal wall like structure with a dangling ball of ‘fuzz’ to represent an audio hum. The ball had shapes and different materials sticking out from the fuzz to represent the different sounds which interjected through the hum. I however could not get the wall to stand tall enough at an angle to also hold the ball. Further to this I was unsure if the ball of sound was convincing enough, thus I ended up with the box of sound waves and representation of irregular noises. Having now had the feedback about this piece I feel I copped out and should have stuck to including angles as I had intended, in some form or other. I have no doubt this feedback will make me more persistent in future activities – to continue to portray the visual elements which affected me the most.
My tutor commented that I could be more balanced with observations concerning physical elements, materials and spatial layout in terms of function and how these contribute to the feelings you experience. Begin to draw in the views of others from research to develop your thinking. The last comment again is about looking for research and information around the subject, which I aim to do. I however felt I had observed the elements he mentioned so will ask my tutor to expand on this for me, so I can understand where my observations have lacked and what text he can recommend for me to research further.
The tutor commented that a gallery is perhaps not the richest of interior spaces architecturally, given that its design is as a bare canvas for other work. I fully appreciate this and initially did not think I would choose the gallery to complete this exercise but once I was there I was taken in by it’s height, space and those angles! Having a glimpse at further exercises I can see that this space may not provide me with such a productive subject?
Overall I was pleased with the feedback I received which was both positive and instructive. I am glad of the instruction and guidance received to help direct and push me on.
Work after feedback from my tutor
As mentioned above I felt frustrated with myself that I did not produce a model with angles, reflecting how I felt about the power of the angles in the Nottingham Contemporary. Therefore I decided to create another piece and, as suggested, add a human profile for scale.
This piece has many angles. I have tried with this piece to portray the varying shapes of the galleries in the Nottingham Contemporary and the angled walls ability to pull you in. Although there were no steps in the gallery I added these symbolically to represent the changing heights in the gallery but also that you are being lead/pulled into spaces, the way steps lead you to another level. I also aimed to illustrate the changing quality of light in the galleries by have some parts of the model open, others covered and gaps where it is possible to see in and out, as I was able to see in and out of the gallery window or through some of the gallery doors.
The folded paper represents the hum which could be heard in gallery 1 – and the greater tension I felt when I spent time in this gallery.
Photographs taken in the sunlight
Lee's study journey 