Reflection
For the final project of our first year we have been asked to create a piece of work based on our reflection of this semester. We should think about our strengths, weaknesses and improvements we can make in future projects.
I started this project by brainstorming my strengths, weaknesses and improvements that I have observed throughout my work this semester. I found that a running theme throughout all my projects and the thing that needs the most improvement going forward is my time management, or lack of. When I've thought about my lack of time management I came to the conclusion there seems to be several reasons for it. I think the biggest reason is a lack of confidence and perfectionist tendencies that mean I often struggle to find the motivation to even start a project for fear of it not turning out exactly how I'd imagined it and feeling like I've failed. For future work I need to be able to just go with the flow and see where the process takes me, and realise that 'mistakes' are a normal part of the process of making art and may even improve it.
I thought my biggest strength this semester was the 3D album cover project. This was the project I enjoyed the most and had a lot of fun creating. As this was my favourite piece I decided I wanted to base my reflection piece around the theme of albums and vinyl records. My first idea was to create an album sleeve, naming the songs after my strengths and weaknesses. However I decided this was a bit too similar to the original album cover project and so decided against this.
I thought my biggest strength this semester was the 3D album cover project. This was the project I enjoyed the most and had a lot of fun creating. As this was my favourite piece I decided I wanted to base my reflection piece around the theme of albums and vinyl records. My first idea was to create an album sleeve, naming the songs after my strengths and weaknesses. However I decided this was a bit too similar to the original album cover project and so decided against this.
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After thinking about the reasons for my poor time management skills I found that it was partly dependent on how excited I am about the project. I wasn't as excited about the 2D module as it included using photoshop which I really don't like and struggle to use, and this is why I also really disliked the 4D project as it was technology based and I'm a bit of a technophobe. I thought it would be best to base my reflection project around the 3D album module as I found this the most exciting and therefore should hopefully use my time better and not leave everything until the last minute. Leaving work until the last minute is a habit of mine that I've had for as long as I can remember throughout school, and definitely a habit that I need to break.
My next step was thinking about how to combine the theme of time management with albums/records. I came up with a few ideas as you can see from my notes on the right. I decided my initial idea of using a vinyl record as a clock face was too literal and obvious so discarded this idea quite quickly. I quite liked the idea of using a song with the theme of time as my starting point as there's a few songs that I personally like and listen to like Pink Floyd. However I realised I was maybe going slightly off topic with this idea just because I like the songs, so also decided against this.
I then started thinking about how to use this project to practice going with the flow and stop being a perfectionist. I came up with the idea of creating an abstract collage made out of pieces of vinyl records. I thought with it being abstract I wouldn't be too worried about the end product. I determined that this was possibly straying too far from my theme of time management and didn't end up going with this idea.
I then started thinking about how to use this project to practice going with the flow and stop being a perfectionist. I came up with the idea of creating an abstract collage made out of pieces of vinyl records. I thought with it being abstract I wouldn't be too worried about the end product. I determined that this was possibly straying too far from my theme of time management and didn't end up going with this idea.
After some soul searching I discovered that there are several reasons for my lack of time management skills. I think a lot of it stems from a lack of self confidence and self belief, which means that I often find it easier to not start a project rather than try something and possibly fail. It almost feels like a vicious cycle, wherein I worry about failing which means I put off starting the work, which then makes me more stressed and find it even harder to do the work. It also seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy, I assume before I even begin a project that I will fail, and by not starting it I then do. I have realised that going forward, in order to improve my work, I need to break this cycle.
With this in mind, I came up with the idea of using a vinyl record to represent this 'vicious cycle/circle'. I'm going to break the circle by smashing the vinyl. I wrote my negative feelings and the things that impact my work around the outside of the vinyl, and the positive things I need to think to improve my work on the inside of the vinyl. The final piece of work is made up of a piece of performance art which is a video of the vinyl being broken, and a canvas with the broken shards of the record arranged on it.
With this in mind, I came up with the idea of using a vinyl record to represent this 'vicious cycle/circle'. I'm going to break the circle by smashing the vinyl. I wrote my negative feelings and the things that impact my work around the outside of the vinyl, and the positive things I need to think to improve my work on the inside of the vinyl. The final piece of work is made up of a piece of performance art which is a video of the vinyl being broken, and a canvas with the broken shards of the record arranged on it.
This is the vinyl record after writing on it. I used a gold permanent marker as I initially printed out the words after writing them on the laptop but I didn't like how this looked. I thought the words stood out more against the black background when written in gold. I covered the center circle in white card and wrote the positive words on this in silver permanent marker. I think if I were to do this project again I would use a different colour for the positive words to make them stand out more, but perhaps them not being as bold gives the effect that I have not yet achieved these feelings yet and they are further away in the future.
I have attached a link to the final video below:
I have attached a link to the final video below:
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I've never created a piece of performance art before so this was a new experience for me. I decided I wanted a piece of music playing in the background during the video to link my theme of music and to make the video seem more dramatic and exciting. I wanted an upbeat song to show that I'm happy to be smashing and breaking the circle and leaving negative thoughts behind . I also thought a more up tempo song would fit better with the smashing. My first few ideas for song choice were 'Beautiful Day' by U2, 'Walking on Sunshine' by Katrina and the Waves and 'Here Comes the Sun' by The Beatles. However, after researching happy songs, I saw 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen and instantly knew this would be a perfect fit. I thought this summed up the feelings of motivation and confidence that I wanted to portray when creating the video. I chose this part of the song because I wanted it to start slowly and introduce the vinyl record, and then pick up the pace once I started smashing the record, which all fit in time with the song.
The record was slightly harder to smash than I had imagined and I would have used more force were I to do it again. I also wanted the middle part of the record to stay in tact as these were the positive words that I hope to achieve in future work. I was skeptical about the center section not smashing but it luckily turned out not to which worked out really well. I decided to smash the record up slightly more after the video as there weren't quite as many shards as I had wanted for the end image. I then fit the pieces back together on a white canvas with small gaps in between all the shards, which is the other part of my final piece. I like how the positive words are untouched in the center of the canvas with negative words in pieces around the outside. I found it very therapeutic smashing up the vinyl and enjoyed being more free during the process and not worrying so much about the final outcome so I'd definitely like to let go more in future projects.
The record was slightly harder to smash than I had imagined and I would have used more force were I to do it again. I also wanted the middle part of the record to stay in tact as these were the positive words that I hope to achieve in future work. I was skeptical about the center section not smashing but it luckily turned out not to which worked out really well. I decided to smash the record up slightly more after the video as there weren't quite as many shards as I had wanted for the end image. I then fit the pieces back together on a white canvas with small gaps in between all the shards, which is the other part of my final piece. I like how the positive words are untouched in the center of the canvas with negative words in pieces around the outside. I found it very therapeutic smashing up the vinyl and enjoyed being more free during the process and not worrying so much about the final outcome so I'd definitely like to let go more in future projects.
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