Day 1
First day was extremely overwhelming for me, from the icebreaking activity to working on the first project “Ideas Factory.” But I actually enjoyed when working with 2 of my peers and creating a work that included our personal characteristics, from which we got to know each other and has established a lovely relationship with each other. And that was such a lovely and helpful activity for a lonely kid who came here without knowing anyone.
When the tutors introduced the project to us, I felt nothing but confused. Then the intense studio time came after and I felt like being destroyed. The brief was quite abstract to me and I got the word “Masochism” which I’ve never heard before. Having no idea what it should be like, I just did what was asked to do. Brainstorming went quite well and there were lots of ideas came out of my brain, but I still felt unsafe without knowing what could happen next. At the final stage of mixing all the ideas altogether, I just tried and did it without worrying too much. For me, being open and brave is one thing I had to challenge myself in this project.
Today was quite intense, we were asked to do things in a limited time and every step was connected, so I needed to think as quickly as I can and try my best to catch up. I was really impressed by the interesting project which provided a free zone for me to think deeply and to work on things I’ve never touched before.
Tired but extremely exciting. Keeping an open mind could make all of these more easier.
Day 2
1.What did I learn about how choice of media affects visualization?
I have tried texture drawing, collage,3D and adding notes as media to communicate ideas.
-I think selection of elements is really important for drawing, you need to choose strong and effective parts of the object you observe and transfer them on paper. And drawing tools are significant as well. For example, I find charcoal can create a strong expressionism sense with tough strokes and blur effect when drawing with my fingers.
-I think collage is an effective way to create a surreal world. Through combination of different objects, a sense of layer could be created as well. I tried to tear the pages instead of cutting them, and it turned out to be rough, rude, broken and it looked isolated with other parts on the picture.
-I think 3D may not work well for my work, because what I am focus on is creating an effective narrative. But when I transferred it to a 3D form, I find something were missing.
2.How did the visualization task help you contextualize your idea?
I’ve tried to combine things together in visualization task (and I continued at home). For example, using charcoal to draw on painted masking tape could create a very interesting texture and gave a dark, blocky sense (like a wooden texture). These textures I created in the task actually gave me some directions on how I created my narrative and which kind of feelings it was going to be.
3.From the student work you saw
-which one was the most engaging idea? Why?
I like the one that engaging collage and painting together. Black and white collage with colored painting worked out a very sensitive image strongly.
-which ones were the easiest to understand? How?
I think a work called “Brace Yourself” is interesting and easy to understand. It’s about a new tool to brace people’s teeth, which is located in a dentist’s office. It is created with several illustrations, explaining what is happened clearly, and with sense of humor.
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After one night of thinking and struggling, things got more clearer for me. And through today’s “technique introduction”, I’ve tried lots of ways that could be possible to visualise my idea. In a very long time, I was always worrying that I don’t have skills of drawing. I felt a little bit relax after today’s tutorial because I got to know that drawing was not the only best way to present my idea. How to visualise the scene happening in my brain in a most appropriate way is much more important.
Day 3
How did the pitch help you focus your idea?
-Some questions arose by my group member make me think about what it is originally for the first time. Is it an installation or a collage work? Also, I realize that the broken umbrella in my work seems too abstract and hard to recognize. So I think the pitch helps me to think about some important questions I’ve ignored, but related to concept communication.
-I think my oral communication skills need to be developed, because I haven’t explained my work in order and missed some important points. Why so nervous?
Looking back at the week, what where your expectation and where they full filled?
I was eager to show my abilities and style, and honestly I was confused and has been worried too much in the beginning. I think I’ve focused too much on the concept itself, and haven’t managed time appropriately. I wanted to create a strong narrative, it turns out okay and in a right direction, but it could be better if I pay more attention to the details.
If you had to do it again, what would you change?
I would fix some details, such as the shapes and directions of the collage parts. And maybe I can make the broken umbrella more recognizable, but I don’t know how to do it yet. I also would think more about the balance, red parts in the centre seem too strong and gain too much focus than the part outside. I would try to add some red things (maybe ink?) to the newspaper part to find a balance.
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The exhibition at end of the day was quite inspiring, from which I saw more possibilities to present an idea. The works of Fine art specialist were extremely amazing and had really opened the door to a new world for me! The one I was deeply impressed by was a video of squeezing a guava. It was not complicated, but her sketch book showed her start point of her idea and lots of development and connections in detail, such as the connection with breathing system. All the stuff included in her sketch book showed her deep exploration to her idea, which was awesome and exciting. Thanks to her, now I have some idea of how to use my sketch book as a tool to develop my ideas. It doesn’t have to make sense to everyone, personal experiments are the things to be included. Also, details are significant, research and think deeply to make the outcome strong and powerful.