I feel I’ve done better on Context of Practice this year. I feel my practical element is stronger and has a better idea behind it than my poster last year. I also tried to pick a narrower subject for COP this year as last year my topic was broader than I realised, similarly this year I tried to get a narrower subject and it still ended up being too broad. I think there was a lot to tackle but in the end I do think my essay is up to a good standard and has a nice argument which I feel could be the start of a bigger conversation. This year whilst researching for my essay I definitely found more relevant and interesting sources. I enjoyed reading quite a bit of them and even bought one as a book I liked it so much. I’m pleased with my essay overall as I feel it puts across some good points, and my passion and interest in the subject comes through.
My theme was very hard to illustrate and get across so I wasted a lot of time worrying about what to draw instead of actually getting it out there. I feel I did get more into a rhythm in the end, but it was quite late on.I wish I’d done more development for the practical side style wise, as I created a certain amount and ran with the one which most appealed to people in my peer crit. On one hand the concept was the most important and strongest part, so technically style is secondary. I do however think the style is cute and very feminine, romantic and also optimistic, which is the kind of tone I wanted to end my essay on and the feeling I want to convey to those interacting with my final piece.
I feel my mount board panels look and feel nice, I was really pleased to have the opportunity to print digitally onto mount board as without it I would have had to drawn directly onto the board or screen printed it, both very time consuming, and considering I messed up cutting my first set of boards I was really lucky I didn’t have to. My final piece is very well received so far, as everyone who has seen it has played around with the panels immediately and enjoyed swapping them around, playing their own curator. I’m proud of the idea of my practical. I know that we were told not to illustrate our essay but instead pick from the general theme, which I think I’ve done because although the practical was inspired by quotes from my essay it does not directly illustrate it. I also think it pairs nicely with my essay as a simple way of engaging the person playing with the panels.
The cardstock the box is printed on isn’t the best for folding, I tried to ease this with a scalpel running lightly over it and a bone folder but there are still a lot of imperfections. However compared to the panels I don’t feel the box was too important, as it acts to protect and store the pieces and makes them have more of a game type feel rather than actually adding artistically and theoretically to the idea. It’s more like a belly band on a book than apart of the interactive piece. Although, if I were given more time I would have liked to have created a better box but I feel the one I made suits it’s purpose and fits in with the panels I created.
I feel I’ve definitely learnt about how to pick correct topics for writing about with this project. Both years I struggled to find art to illustrate my points as my arguments were mostly about invisibility etc. I did however learn that analysing one or two pieces in more depth can be worth more than many smaller ones. This is why I will be having an art based subject (although still following the theme of my last two essays) for COP3. I feel I’ll continue to progress in COP3. I’m finally getting better at blogging, (although this doesn’t reflect too well in my COP2 blogging as I started getting better only a month or so ago, it’s a painfully slow process.) I’m also getting more and more confident with writing and discussing my informed opinions and ideas, which I’ve always struggled with.
