Welcome back!!!! So year two is upon us, and I'm at the end of my first week back enjoying a moment of piece, a cup of coffee and Scuzz on the TV in the background. It is possibly the first time I've stopped save for sleeping since Monday. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, I'm at my happiest when I've got plenty to do, I just didn't realise we'd have so much and so little time to prepare for it!
Are you wondering about the title? Well today's buzz word is commutation, or rather, lack there of. I've felt that despite having our briefs explained, that different tutors interpret them differently, and this has caused me a fair bit of confusion. I'm not alone in thinking this either. Then there's confusion about where are lectures etc are being held this year.
It would've been nice to have been informed about the layout of this term's critical studies lectures (contextualising design) turning up at 9am (to get a parking space) only to be told at 10am that the first half is geared towards fine art and the second towards the design students. It's great that the uni took into consideration what we agreed on last year that the subject matter was too broad to appeal to all types of art students and that it was mainly aimed at the fine art students. However, communication was lacking here too when one tutor told us we only needed to attend the hour intended for us, and another said both were important and relevant.
Perhaps what I'm saying seems petty or whatever, but this is a space meant for me to review and reflect on my lectures and university life. They're not massive issues, and I probably won't dwell on most of them outside of this blog, but it's important to draw attention to them as I'm sure I'm not the only student who has felt a little lost this week.
So, getting back to contextualising design, we were shown roughly half of a video called 'Beautiful Losers' about a group of artists (in a wide range of artistic disciplines) and their trials and tribulations whilst trying to 'make it' in their chosen field. It was quite a visually stunning, and impacting and sometimes brutally honest including one film maker who was stood in a children's park with a big ceramic dragon who told children nearby 'in 1986 we found Samuel's head right there' while pointing to the centre of the dragon. It got a laugh out of the audience, but I'm not sure about it's relevance. Another artist who was speaking about never really wanting to be an artist when he was younger and how he wanted to be a rubbish collector and that for his birthday one year he asked his folks to not only take him to a landfill sight but to also collect a bag of rubbish so they could all throw it on the pile. Amusing.
The general feeling I got from the film, so far, is that art comes from a part of you. Be it angst, wanting to be part of a sub culture, anger, or a need to save your own life through making something all these people shared a very visual way of thinking. I enjoyed the film, but looking at my scribbled notes from the day I don't think it had much of an impact on me. I guess we'll see once the second half is over....
On Thursday, I finally set foot over the threshold of the Centre for Creative Industries. A £5m structure designed to give students a taste of the industry, from sound booths, to a full size TV studio with lighting rig, green screen and removable seating for a studio audience, and an upstairs gallery it really has everything. Of course I cannot fail to mention the 3 amazing Panasonic £5000 cameras on tripods that have handlebars to move it around, needless to say my eyes nearly popped out of my head! The idea of being able to get in there and learn how to set up the studio, film, edit and work the gallery is exciting to say the least!
I feel a little more confident with the majority of my ideas for the upcoming projects, so we'll see how they go. Sorry that there's been no pictures to look at in this blog, but it was really to bring it up to date.
I hope you all have a great year two!
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