Assignment 4 – Review

Assignment Review:

Did you find this more theoretical approach helpful, interesting, inspiring, restrictive or boring?

I found it very interesting.  The artist names supplied all had different specialities, some of which I hadn’t explored before, so it has increased my knowledge in a variety of disciplines.  From this start point I was encouraged, when selecting my own list, to search for artists I might not otherwise have considered.  Taking a cue from the supplied list I endeavoured to find people from different disciplines.

Were you already familiar with some of the designers and artists in the set list?  Whose work was completely new to you?  How did you respond to it?

Lucienne Day was completely new to me and finding a book solely relating to her and her husband in my local library was very opportune.  As a result of my research I have purchased 2 new books for my own collection.  Both contain further samples of her work amongst others and relate to fashion fabric designs of the 1950s and 1960s.

Magdalena Abakanowicz is another artist I was unaware of.  I really enjoyed discovering her installations and have a fairly large file relating to her works now.  What draws me to these is not only the construction methods and materials she uses but the sheer size of her exhibits.

Did you find the questions we gave helpful as a basis for your analysis?  If not, how would you have preferred to approach this task?

Not having done a critical or in-depth analysis before I found the suggested questions an excellent guide.  Some questions didn’t apply in every situation but I incorporated answers to those that were applicable.  I read through the whole section before starting and made an initial decision not to write in a question-and-answer format as I am keen to improve my essay writing skills for future work throughout the course.

Do you think that an awareness of the context in which work is produced will influence the way in which you approach your own work in the future?

I cannot give a definite yes or no at this stage.  I’m sure it will in some instances.

Do you feel stimulated to do more research work of this nature in your own time?

Yes I do.  However, my time is very limited so future research will likely be artists who relate in some way to what I am currently working on or what I am considering working on.

Other:

This assignment, in total, has consisted of :

• Researching 16 artists or designers
• 1 in-depth study of an artist
• 5 analytical studies relating to individual pieces of work

The course manual states that around 70 hours is required to complete this assignment.  Perhaps I’m doing too much or I’m excessively slow but I find that at no point, in any of the assignments, can I work even closely to the suggested time frame and this section has been no different.  I see no point in a half-hearted approach to any of the course as it will be me who suffers in the long run so I accept that I will always be putting in more hours.  Is it me, or is the time suggested unrealistic?

This assignment (4) has been pure research and assignment 3 was pure hands-on sampling.  I wonder if there is scope for these two to somehow be amalgamated.  I enjoy both areas and would love to research an artist, or two, and then work on pieces within the same sphere but develop my own style.  As an example: rather than just produce deconstructed or disintegrated samples (as per workshop 7 assignment 3) I would like to research artists within this field, look in-depth at a piece or two of theirs and then move on to the creating aspect.  It feels that a good marriage could be made between these sections which could produce better quality work as some research/material knowledge will already have been attained before attempting the practical parts.  It would also encourage students to be continually looking at other work and artists throughout their studies.

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