Stencils and digital workshop

Print is the second technical block for me. When I was in foundation course, I was really enjoyed printing. I think that is why I looked forward to learning more skills in this print block.

On the first day, I drew stencils for the whole day. To develop my drawing, I tried to overlap and make some marks. It was a quite hard process.

 

We had been shown some amazing works of seniors. Their works inspired me for printing. I think I need to work hard for brilliant works like them.

On the second day, I learnt to use Photoshop and Illustrator to edit and create patterns. I had no idea about PS and AI before. The workshop was really useful for me. There were so much information in the workshop, I can't follow all of it. But I believe practice make perfect.

I enjoyed playing different with tools, and I also created some interesting patterns.

Have fun in drawing class

We drew in a quite different way today.

Firstly, we were asked to lay out our lining paper across the studio, then we drew one of our own objects on each end of the lining paper with our partner. It is really interesting to look at other's work. After this practice, we had a break. We had to tread carefully when we tried to pass the paper. Everyone looked like they were dancing, it was so funny.

The next practice was so amusing. We were asked to draw our partner opposite, but we need to tie the pens with string, this string must be straight while drawing. After finishing, we should guess who has been painted on the paper in different groups. Everyone enjoyed this game.

Even though today's practice was tiring and made my knee painful, I still had fun.

Drawing without objects

Today we were drawing without the objects we collected for box project, the tutor John Bently led us to draw by our imagination.

First, we drew the outline of objects we own in the world. I think it is quite hard to remember what objects we own, but it was getting better. It's also interesting to look at other people's drawing.

In my opinion, the most interesting part about today is drawing with newspaper. The outcome was quite different but nice. I believe most of us enjoyed this practice.

At the end, we showed one of our favourite drawing on the wall. They were so amazing.

Tutorial and Weave Assessment Result

It was really nervous before tutorial today. This tutorial is about the first technical block assessment yesterday, I got this result sheet during the tutorial.

My mood is quite complex when I saw this result sheet. I was happy, because I didn't get any "Fail"; but I felt upset about the only "D" for research part. I asked my tutor Mel Bowles that is it normal to get grade "C" or "D". She told me the grade "C" means good for this stage, but if you get a "D", it means there was not enough work, you must work harder. Then Bowles and I discussed my research part which I didn't do well. After viewing my sketchbook, Bowles said I did a good job on images and samples making but I need more drawing for research. To answer it, I showed my drawing to her, and told her I didn't present my drawing book yesterday, because I was really confused what I should present for the assessment. Bowles told me that I should show my drawing on presentation and revised my score to "C". She also said the information for us to prepare our presentation may be not so clear, it must be improved next time.

I think it is good for us to find out our strengths and weaknesses by assessment and tutorial. After this feedback, I had confidence to work and got the idea what should I improve  next time. It is really helpful for developing myself.

A cold drawing day

This morning we started the second drawing week. We were working on colour mixing.

I think it is a good way to be inspired by drawing colour from objects. It was really interesting to see the outcomes when I drew on different qualities of paper.

Week 5 Blog Task - The pathology of collecting

Everyone plays different kinds of roles in our own life. At some point, I believe being a collector is a very important role. We love to collect our favourite things, it is just like a natural instinct. We can see lots of videos where collectors show their collections on the internet. I found a really interesting video on youtube, which shows the collection of soap powder boxes.

This lovely collector is Suzy Mason. I was amazed by her collection. Mason collects soap powder boxes from all over the world, and I can even see some vintage boxes back to 1950s in her collection. We can find those kinds of soap powder boxes all around in our daily life, even some people may regard those boxes as rubbish. But for Mason, they are her happiness and passion. There are over 100 different brands of soap powder in her collection, for those accumulations of the same brand, she gave them a lovely name, called "family". Besides, she felt relaxed and happy when she used the powder. Her love was getting further, she had the same feeling while she was just walking down in soap powder section of supermarket. As mentioned by Baudrillard(1994, p. 7), the loved object is 'Anything which is the cause or subject of a passion.' Her smile and excitement when talking about her collection show me her love for her collection.

Baudrillard(1994, p. 8) indicated that 'Once the object stops being defined by its function, its meaning is entirely up to the subject.' Mason took the normal value away from the soap powder boxes, and then gave them a new value. In some ways, she kept the diaries by collecting those boxes. She was recording her passion and feeling when she first saw each box. For example, one of soap powder box looks chemical and she thought the powder might cause pollution. She can easily read every story behind each box. What's more, it is a way to read history.

After watching this video, I also felt happy. Her smile and passion inspired me. I love the lively music and cute images on this video. I believe that collecting favourite things in life is happy. As we can see how happy Mason is, even it's not important for others, however, it's meaningful for ourselves. The main point is that we decide the value of the collection and we collect the meaning of them.

References

Chapter in a book

Baudrillard, J. (1994) The system of collecting. In: Cardinal ,R & Elsner, J. The Cultures of Collecting. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press

Youtube video

Leedsmuseums (2012). Contemporary collectors - soap powder boxes [internet]. Available from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcqHqfwKFdA> [Accessed 5 November 2013] 

Technical Block Assessment

Today is the first assessment for last two technical block weeks. All of us should display our samples and development works on DG17 before 10am.

It was really exciting to look at all the works of my peers. I think everyone has done amazing work. After viewing the works from other three subjects, I really look forward to experiencing them.