Tea & Talk

Tea and Talk

As apart of progressing within visual communications we had a ‘tea & talk’ afternoon with where we were sat down with the 2nd year students to ask them about ‘what being a second is like’ As a year group we collectively compiled a set of questions that we could ask the 2^nd years as a basis, we then took this list of questions into afternoon tea and talk session.

List of questions and notes from the session:

As there were separate tables with a few students on each the 2^nd years had divided themselves up into categories such as ‘illustration’, ‘the lost ones’, ‘textiles’ etc. The three tables that I visited for a chat consisted of illustration, bits and bobs and multidisciplinary. Using the list of questions below are some of the important information I took away from the session.

 Have you changed your practice?

One of the most important questions that I asked many of the second years was’ Have you changed your practice’? The response that I received from this ‘yes’ by the majority of 2^nd years that I spoke to, they advised me that this was an ongoing and reoccurring question that they most commonly asked themselves throughout first and second year. As the college is an art based college they advised me to utilize all facilities within the college one of the lads that I spoke to made a broad statement that has stuck to me this being

“” It doesn’t matter what you make try and not limit yourself to a certain specialism, it’s the outcome that speaks not the specialism you work within to create your work”

This statement stuck with me as it made me think about my work and the specialisms that I predominantly tend to use within my work. As I have recently moved from graphic design I have realised that I have jumped straight into illustrating again - this is a good thing as I have realised that the time that I spent on the graphic design course 98% of the time my work was digital and did not show a sense of variation within my work. As soon as I moved to vis com I have decided to rekindle my love for illustration and photography and base my SDP on this. However I feel that over summer I should gather my thoughts upon the specialisms I feel I haven't utilised within the college and the various workshops that are available to me that I would like to experiment with so that as soon as second year begins I will be able to be clear in my mind as to how to execute experimentation before its too late! 

Do you have access to workshops if you have missed them in first year?

This was the questions that I was most enthusiastic about asking the second years as it directly effected me more-so than my peers in first year due to my transition in courses, thus having missed out on the many workshops that fellow vis com students had already been inducted on.

The feedback I received from first years was that workshops are open and available to everybody and if you want to use a certain specialism or workshop within your work then to go and speak to the technicians as they are more than helpful. Receiving this feedback was helpful and necessary as I was disheartened when I realised how many workshops I had missed out on. However recognising that they are all available has put my mind at rest and has opened many doors for me to continue to explore in second year. 

Other useful tips and advise for second year:

- Make sure your always doing something creative whether it may be for uni or whether it may be your own project.

- Ideas - write everything down before you forget, also write down future plans you may have in your head about your creative journey in the field or things you want to do, experience or get into in the future.

- Work through the summer to keep your creativity flowing, this is important as is it may help, inform or direct your initial ideas at the start of first year.

- Work experience opportunities may come along- seize them don't disregard them, they may be volunteer programs and likewise experiences you can get involved with - make sure you get involved!

- You'll be collaborating a lot next year so get to know your peers and the way they work so that when you do collaborate it is a lot smoother.

- KEEP A DOODLE JOURNAL - As I am very interested in illustration keeping a journal with creative illustrations doodles and similar style creativity is important as it may help me develop initial ideas for potential briefs in the near-future. 

- Workload is manageable just be sure to stay on top of work. 

Critical Review - Hepworth Visit

The exhibit that I have decided to select that I feel was very worthy of seeing at the Hepworth was the Linder Sterling exhibition. The photomontages that were displayed within the exhibit produced by Linder were heavily influenced by the vast amount of research Linder conducted into Barbara Hepworth’s ‘life, her love of dance and music, the attention she paid to fashion and jewelry and the sets she designed for opera, along with being heavily influenced by Barbara this series of photomontages reflected Linder’s fascination in ballet and nature.  The work that was presented within the exhibit inspired me greatly, there was a sense of elegance within the photomontages, this sense was portrayed through the way sterling had composed and positioned the bodily figures within her work, along with sense of elegance there seemed to be a level of class and sophistication a symbol of purity largely conveyed through the use of the predominately colour white. The integration of nature and animals within this photomontage focusing specifically on the two pieces shown here which incorporate various types of birds represent freedom and create this feeling of humanity being in touch with wildlife.

 

The piece below of the black and white ballet dancers holding a frame is one of the pieces that I found the most powerful. The reason behind this being that not only does it directly reflect Linder Sterling’s love for ballet there is also a poetic melody running through the piece which is displayed and received through an traditional photo frame prop in the mis en scene.

Other images taken of this particular exhibit:

PPP1 - Reading Week Task - Blog about a international political issue

The article on

It’s International Women’s Day, but where are the female role models?

is and interesting reflection/opinion on the international event 'international women's day'. As the event is a celebration of the status of women this article looks at the status of women within work and society today, it outlines the progress of women's rights and independence however it tends to focus on the way women are portrayed within society through the lack of 'real female role models'.

To a certain extent this article is true however within society there are 'real' role models for women to look up to .I feel that the celebration of International women's day should not be negatively put down through an opinion of a newspaper that chooses NOT to focus on the positive role models in society. I feel that International women's day should be a celebration of the independence of women and the equality that they have gained over the years- this celebration should not be negatively covered by reporters.

Full article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/its-international-womens-day-but-where-are-the-female-role-models-8526182.html?origin=internalSearch

PPP1 - Reading Week Task - Blog about a national political issue

'Lagging UK health? We should blame ourselves not the NHS' is the political article that I stumbled across on The Guardian 'Politics blog' on the 5th March. The headline clearly addresses the issue of from a direct and opinionated point of view, I think this is what has drawn me to this particular article straight away - the level of bias portrayed through the wording in this headline clearly addresses a debate within politics that has arisen. On this particular day there seems to be a sense of blame on one party that has supposedly lead to the decline in the UK health service.

The article begins to read:

Find the full article on:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/05/lagging-health-blame-ourselves-not-nhs

On the politics blog that this has been posted on the blogger has grabbed headlines on this issue from the different newspapers that have covered the issue. It is interesting to see the alignment that the different papers have taken and the perspective that they have taken when distribution/reporting this political event. Some newspapers have covered the story from a bias perspective reporting from the point of the view of which there institutional political alignment supports. Below are some examples of the headlines that have been used to cover the issue.

From this article I have found it incredibly interesting on the way that media institutions portray politics and the issues that arise on a daily basis. I have also found it particularly interesting that the way that this issue of the UK health service declining is portrayed in different ways depending on institutional alignment- the blame of whether the lag of mid staff shifts from the NHS back onto society dependent on the owner of the newspapers persecutive. 

PPP1 - Reading Week Task - Do a good deed for someone

DOING A GOOD DEED - THE LOST LICENSE

Whilst walking from university on my way home to Liberty Park I stumbled across a drivers licence which was sitting on the pavement on Woodhouse Square. I decided to pick this up and firstly see who the identification belonged too.

After doing so and recognising that the driver license belonged to a female of a similar age to me who was from Oldham near Manchester I decided to take the drivers license home with me. Once getting home my initial thoughts were to located the nearest police station and hand the license in there. However after being in possession of the license I thought that the girl of whom the license belonged to would probably be at university in Leeds and be in frantic panic of losing her license.

So instead of handing the license into the police I thought it would be a better option to post the license to her in the post to her home address- that way I would be at piece of mind that the license would be safely returned to the right person and so that she wouldn't have to play goose-chase around Leeds to find the police station to pick it up from.

Once doing so and posting the drivers license back to the girls house along with a little note which just addressed where I found the license and the day in which I found it along with just my name I received a lovely message back from the girl via Facebook messaging that simply thank'ed me for being kind enough to post license back her home address.

A simple yet good deed that left me with a warm feeling inside and that left that girl happy to have received her lost license.