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Assignment 5 · Research & Reflection

Feedback from Assignment 5

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An immediate improvement for this assignment would be to ensure I provide an introduction that outlines the line of discussion clearly. Whilst I think introduced Do Ho Suh’s work, I perhaps didn’t highlight what themes and ideas I would intend to look at in the essay.

My tutor also commented on the fact that I should ensure I start each paragraph with my own statement or opinion, rather that a quote. Instead I should follow it up with a quotation in order to back up my point.

Early on I acknowledge that Suh comments on concepts of space and home in his work, however I could’ve expanded on this further. For instance, one aspect of these themes that interests me is a sense of place and belonging. This feeling is usually created when we become familiar with a space and develop an emotional connection. A home is probably one of the most personal spaces to an individual which is why Suh’s work is so relatable. He shares a representation of the spaces he called home during his life and takes us on a trip of these various locations. This allows us to reflect on the places and homes we may have lived in, obviously this varies depending on experience. Some people may have only lived in one location whereas others may have moved multiple times, for both positive and negative reasons. This links to the idea of ‘rootlessness’, a term my tutor highlighted, which was used by Stalin as a term of denigration. It is something I’d definitely look into further when thinking about Suh’s hubs again.

In order to develop my essay further my tutor suggested I consider both social and aesthetic aspects of a home. For people that are homeless, a home would offer a solid, private house. Therefore it is probably more about function and safety, than the nostalgia created by memories and experience.

I would also consider the title ‘Passages’ more closely. The meaning of connecting places obviously makes sense in reference to Suh’s hubs as it allows you to travel to the different homes he lived in. However, as my tutor pointed out, the term can also be associated with sea-voyages, such as the Middle Passage in reference to the Slave Trade. If I was to look at rewriting this essay, I would ensure that I gave more thought to why he might have named the installation ‘Passages’.

My tutor also identified that I have looked at other textile artists and wider themes of fashion and textiles in my learning log. To expand on my essay I could have compared Suh with some of my wider research. Looking at it now, there are similarities in Christian Boltanski’s installation ‘Personnes’ (2010). Like Suh’s hubs, this is a large installation that transformed the space it was displayed in. However the connection between the two is more about the personal aspect. In Boltanki’s installation, he uses the sound of heartbeats and each one is unique to a person. The pile of clothes also represent people, symbolising someone’s life and story. Therefore there is an emotional side to his work, like Suh’s. In Passages, the hubs represent the homes he inhabited and the stages of life.

You could also compare Suh’s hubs with Yayoi Kasama’s ‘Infinity Mirrored Room’ (1998). Both installations are immersive and due to the bright colours, it’s like you’re being transported from reality and to somewhere other-worldly.

Suh’s Passages comment on the importance of a home – both the function and mental health aspect – often improved by a feeling of belonging and connection in a familiar space of safety. You can also think about wider issues such as sustainability, when building homes you need to consider where the materials are sourced, as well as the use of machinery and electricity, It can be done sustainably by working with the environment more – like using renewable energy sources but this is something that still needs improvement in the building industry.

Assignments · Coursework · Research & Reflection

Conclusion

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Looking back on my experience of the CAT course, it’s clear that my research skills and confidence in discussing the information has improved greatly. In my opinion, I feel like my later work, particularly my assignments, show an ability to research wider themes and concepts which help me to form a more critical analysis.

Research is an integral part of all learning and is a skill I have and will keep improving throughout studying with the OCA. The ability to utilise different resources – both primary and secondary allows you to gain a better understanding of the subject, whilst allowing you to refer to wider themes, concepts and theories.

I always ensure I dedicate a large amount of time to the research I put into my work, perhaps too much time sometimes but without this research, I wouldn’t feel as confident in commenting on a subject as complex as the creative arts. Often I found it beneficial to create a mind map, outlining my initial thoughts and the areas I wanted to research further. Doing this helped me to collect my thoughts before collecting both primary and secondary research.

Visual research and investigations are just as important as the theoretical, especially in such a visual course like Creative Arts Today. I find that they prompt more contemplation because the information isn’t necessarily as obvious to it causes you to think about the subject on a deeper level. Often it may represent various concepts and themes already mentioned in other research but seeing it visually can help you to understand better or consider it from different perspectives. I think this is particularly important in a creative course because there often any wrong or right answers in art – it’s subjective and can mean something very different for each person.

You can then research the potential themes, symbolism and concepts further to develop your knowledge and gain a better understanding of context. This may be about a movement, other artists/designers, characteristics of someone’s work etc.

To begin with, I found it challenging to ensure that my points were backed up by a reference in any assignments. Although I’d done extensive research, I perhaps hadn’t organised it enough and written down the sources in which I found the information clearly. There are stages to research and the organisation of it is vital to ensuring you are able to build a well thought out essay.

Upon reflection of the work I’ve explored and analysed during this course, there are definitely some themes and concepts that are more common. Place and Time were obviously running themes but in addition, I found that concepts such as life and death could also be linked to many of the works I looked at.

Therefore, theoretical research is important and can help you to understand why an artist, writer, photographer or designer may have made a certain choice. However, it is the visual research that what develops your own opinions and connection to the work.

Assignment 5 · Research & Reflection

Assignment 5: Research

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There were two prompts for this assignment and I opted for this one:

‘Select an art installation where its primary medium is considered a textile. Analyse its formation and contextual presence; question the creation of the piece and if it has been informed by the space it inhabits or if there is no connection and the gallery/environment is a secondary component.’

I decided to look at Do Ho Suh’s ‘Passage/s’ for this last assignment.

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When researching and planning for any essay I always prefer to write down my notes before typing anything up. I find it easier to collect my information so that I have it to refer to when starting to write my essay and always highlight the key details to ensure I include them.

I attempted to arrange my notes as best as I could – for example, I wrote down my initial thoughts, the physical properties/qualities of the textiles and then looked at the work in regards to wider themes and concepts.

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Below are my notes for my reflective commentary about Part 5 as a whole, including my initial thoughts and the parts of the Textiles content I enjoyed most.

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Assignment 4 · Research & Reflection

Feedback from Assignment 4

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I know I need to spend time gathering my references when planning for my essay as this will help to ensure I find it easier to integrate them better. In doing this, my points and comments are backed up fully and readers know where I’m getting my information from.

My tutor also suggested I could analyse the ideas of time and place in greater detail. Hockney’s Joiners lend themselves well to these as he stretches the boundaries of time and place in his process of work and subject matter. I’ll try to look at this more closely to offer better analysis.

Linking to this, my tutor advised that I consider what a ‘better sense of place’ actually means. When using this phrase I know what I mean, however, I understand this isn’t always clear to the reader so I need to ensure I explain this. To me, a general sense of place means that someone can experience and become familiar with it, even if they haven’t physically visited themselves. Photography allows people to see images of places around the world in which they wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Assignment 4

Assignment 4: Research

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For my photography assignment, I chose to write about David Hockney’s ‘Joiners’. Below are the notes and research I made when preparing for my essay.

I also made some notes in regards to linking Hockney’s work to Place and Time.

I thought it was important to look at Hockney’s work on a wider scale, as well as his opinions on the relationship between photography and art.

I then created a mind map to help me plan for the essay as it helps me to condense my notes and to see them visually.

Like with the previous parts of the course, I also reflected on my experience with the photography section.

For this, I again wrote down some notes as I find it easier to collect my thoughts before typing it out.

Assignment 3 · Research & Reflection

Feedback from Assignment 3

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After reading my tutor’s feedback I know I need to reference Ian Harvey’s interpretation of political and economic symbols in The Wizard of Oz more clearly. In my essay, I use his analysis to form my own opinions and arguments as it was a source I found very useful and informative. Therefore, I know that I need to reference back to the article properly and not just in my bibliography.

My tutor also highlighted the difficulty of comparing a single still image (my re-appropriated image) with the original that comes from a film, based on a book. This is because there are more political and social to refer to compared to a single image. The re-appropriation is almost a follow on and modern response to a small part of the political implications in the entire film and book.

Context is also important and whilst I think I did touch on it, my tutor suggested I look more closely at the political situation in the 1890s particularly (when the original book was written). As well as in 1939 when the film was first released. I can then compare similarities with the symbolism in my re-appropriated Ikea image.

Going back to my first feedback point, I also need to ensure all statements/points are backed up by a reference. This makes it clearer for the reader to see where the information comes from and how it helped me to form my own opinion and critique.

Assignment 2 · Research & Reflection

Feedback from Assignment 2

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The feedback from my second assignment was very useful and eye-opening. My tutor questioned whether song lyrics can ever be considered apart from the band, music and performance.

I don’t think there is any reason you shouldn’t be able to analyse song lyrics in the same way you do poetry. Many songs are well thought, creative and have a narrative line in the same way poems do. However, I agree with my tutor’s comments about how you either need to argue a case for ignoring the music (which risks diminishing the overall song). Alternatively, you can show how the music supports, increases or lessens the impacts of the words. I’ll certainly be looking to incorporate some better analysis into the music when I re-write my essay for assessment.

She also pointed me in the direction of a BBC article written after Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 – particularly for poet Simon Armitage’s comments. In the text, he says ‘songwriters are not poets, or songs are not poems…in fact, songs are often bad poems.’ He details reasons for this opinion which is something I’ll definitely look at when I come back to this assignment to make improvements.

Other feedback from my tutor includes being clearer about how certain poetic devices and techniques impact how a lyric is interpreted. I’d given some examples but perhaps not explained in depth so I’ll try to ensure I expand on this in future work and when improving this essay.

Assignment 2 · Uncategorized

Assignment 2: Research and Reflection

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The Assignment for the Creative Reading section is to complete a close reading on a text of my choice. It has to be between 100-200 words and should allow me to talk about the theme of time and/or place. I thought about what sort of text I’d like to do for a while, the most obvious choices were a novel or poem of some kind, however, as I like a challenge I wanted to go down a different route. A arrived at the possibility of taking an extract from song lyrics and knew it would probably be best to choose one I was familiar with so that there is enough for me to discuss.

One of my favourite bands are Bastille and they are known for their colourful and often political lyrics. I opted to use lyrics from ‘Doom Days’ as it is full of controversial topics and also has some links to time and place.

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I completed various pieces of research, starting with annotating the extract and listening to it a few times over. This helped me to begin my close reading and to start approaching it from a different perspective, also as the purpose of a song is to be listened to, it’s important not to only use the written lyrics. I then made some initial notes – including things about themes, mood, narration, plot, character, point of view and poetic devices. When planning essays I like to highlight key information so that my research and thoughts are more organised.

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As I believe the discussion of the themes is what provides the most content, I also created a mind map so that I could see these more visually. In turn, this allowed me to make links between various themes and helped me to decide the main points I wanted to make in my final assignment.

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Once I had established the themes I wanted to write about in my close reading (as well as ensuring I contemplated the significance of place and time), I decided to make a rough plan. This allowed me to make sure I included all the points main mentioned in the course materials but also things I’d learnt from the previous close reading exercises. For example, I wanted to think about the choices that Bastille made and how this could change the overall impact of the song if changed. In addition to this, I also made notes on structure, language and my own opinion of the song as I believe they are also important features of close reading.

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I am someone who likes to research and write down notes in order to plan the final piece of writing and I think the images I’ve provided above convey my style of working. Something I also find useful is colour as this helps me to feel more organised about the points I want to convey. Overall I am pleased with my choice to use Bastille’s Doom Days for my assignment because it utilised the skills I’d learnt in this part of the course well.

The final part of the assignment is a reflective commentary piece in regards to what I’ve learnt in this part of the course and how I’ve demonstrated this in my close reading assignment. Reflecting on the knowledge and skills you’ve developed allows you to see progress and therefore I think it is an important step of studying.

Below you can see my notes from my reflection piece.

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After receiving feedback from my tutor I did extra research in order to re-draft my assignment. Below are the notes I collected in order to hopefully improve my essay.

Assignment 1 · Notes · Part 1 · Research & Reflection

Feedback from Assignment 1

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In this post, I’m going to reflect on the feedback that was given to me in regards to Assignment 1. Obviously, since it was the first I’d done, I was expecting and hoping for some constructive criticism. Whilst I enjoy writing essays and responding to an overall question, I’d not done anything like it since finishing my A Levels two years ago so wasn’t sure what exactly was expected.

I enjoyed the experience of studying independently and the responsibility that comes with it. It was hard not to procrastinate at times but overall I think I worked hard and am pleased with the content I produced in this first unit.

I’m glad I chose to keep an online learning log in the form of a blog, being able to look back at different exercises is useful and I know this will benefit me throughout the course. So far I’ve preferred to write my initial notes by hand but find it relatively easy to type them up as a final draft in my learning log.

In regards to Part A of the assignment, my tutor encouraged me to go into more detail with the points I make. For example, I should reference particular works of art rather than making more open and generic comments.

I was also reminded that I need two separate bibliographies for both Part A and B. I’d say this was definitely one area I was expecting to receive some improvements on as I’ve not used the Harvard Referencing System before. My tutor gave some helpful tips, especially in regards to the references in Part B – like ensuring I always put the last name first of the artist, author etc. I’ve now spent more time looking back at the referencing system and hope to use it in my work more consistently.

Additionally, my tutor said that I made some perceptive comments in Part B but that some were more generalised and could be improved if I backed it up with a specific piece of art. For instance, I referenced Baroque paintings but didn’t name a particular piece.

These are all things that I think should be fairly straightforward to improve upon when working towards my future assignments, however one aspect that I did have some trouble with was the word count. I’m definitely someone who writes a lot so sticking to a strict word count was a challenge and the thought of having to add in extra detail did make me wonder how on earth I’d fit it in! I actually read over my assignment again to add in some of the specific artworks and then tried to make my points more precise to stick to the word count. It was something I found easier than I thought I would and am glad I practised a bit before doing the next assignment.

At this early stage I’m not sure if I would choose to pursue Contemporary Art at a higher level, however I feel more confident in my ability to write a critical essay based on my research and know this will only improve as I progress through the course.

Overall I think the main aspects that I need to work on going ahead is my references and bibliography, as well as ensuring I utilise my research and the pieces of work I’ve looked at in my learning log. Hopefully, I can make these improvements in my future assignments.