course seminar 1 defining practice

assumed knowledge

what is needed

• A 2,000 word research report with bibliography and references that critically reflects upon the impact of your research and the methods used in relation to the work produced.

• b) A body of work that responds to your research for the unit.

• c) An annotated research file.

reflective practice

reflection

in action - (while doing something)

reflection

on action (after you have done it)

ask yourself questions

lots and continuously

why do you make work?

what’s it for?

what do you want from your work?

what do you get from your work?

what is your work about?

who is your audience?

where does the work go?

what do you like doing?

building a reference point(s)

connections

art history

music

dance

writing

general history

geography/place

contemporary practice science

materials and process’s

understand what you work with

become an expert

defining practice

your making - contextual framework

social political

personal

critical/theoretical

historical geographical

institutional cultural

social context

Making and seeing an image always takes place in a social context. The way it is seen and how it is seen are culturally constructed.

Audience for work - who is included/excluded/implicated on the ways an image is produced, circulated and consumed

political context

Specific political issue

broad political issue

gender - race - ethnicity - sexual orientation - class - disability - religion

personal contextBiography - narrative of the selfparticular issues - memoriesWhat motivates/ drives you?Your particular skills as an artist/ designer/writer/photographerWhat strategies do you use when the work is not going well?How do you relate to the forces that in part condition what you know and in which you make things?

critical/theoretical context

Does your work relate to particular critical debates about contemporary art and design practices?

Is your work informed by/engaging with/contesting particular theoretical frameworks/issues?

historical context

Understand how/whether your practice relates to a tradition, with a history

How knowledge relates to periods in time.

geographical contextLocal, regional, national, international, global.

Where do you make your work?

Do you make your work in relation to a particular place?

studio home church city rural cyberspace

institutional context

MA Course - school of design

Your educational background/experience

Your professional background/experience

Your family background/experience

cultural context

In it’s broadest sense - ‘a whole way of life’ - this relates to all the other categories.

More specifically, what works of artists, designers, writers, filmmakers, photographers, musicians are important to you and your work - why?

mapping your practice

Any other contexts worth considering?

Importance

Overlapping

change - evolution of practice

why find one?

vacuum moving forward

learning growing

position aspiration

HOW

what is a journal?

formatA4, 5, 6, 7, 8

pocket

phone

i pad

a journal is a place for...Recording

thoughts, ideas, observations, things

Reflecting

to gain understanding

Analyzing

to further your learning

Concluding

setting out what you have thought about

what’s in it - actual?written notes

diagrams

drawings

sketches

what’s in it - ideas?personal insight

observations

questions

speculation

the work of others

contentraw

un-thought-out observations

recorded close to the action

think police note book

reflection

stuff you have thought about

connections

notes on the unexpected

questionswhat happened?

why did it happen?

what do I think about this?

what should I do as a result of this?

how do I do this?

how to use itwrite often

note down dates and times

write freely - without hesitation

write down stuff even if its not relevant