Unit 2 Assessment

Learning Outcome 1:

Develop and realise a self-directed programme of learning which draws from wide-ranging subject knowledge. (AC Knowledge, AC Process)

Overall, I would say that my practice has matured in two key ways over Unit 2. Firstly it has become more fluid, approaching each piece as a living part of a journey, rather than a project with a brief. Secondly I have become better at noticing, appreciating, and acting-on what I am experiencing as I make art.

Meaning (and thus, I guess, artistic purpose) has continued to be very important to me, but I have matured in my attitude towards it:

• Shifting from meaning-up-front to meaning as a dialogue with the piece (and here)

• Embracing meaning as something that is co-authored with the viewer and left for them to complete (and more prototypically)

• Moving from meaning as a message towards meaning as a process of searching (culminating in the squeezing of the nut!)

• The shift to embracing ‘irrational’ urges and finding meaning and ideas from them

Moving from thinking of a series of artwork ‘projects’ towards thinking of the work as a more fluid interrelated continuous thing (and here):

• Developing an appreciation for curation

• Developing a deepening appreciation for the importance of presentation in my own art, and in the gallery setting (and more aggressively!)

Becoming more independent in:

• Exploring and sampling different forms of art (book art from participatory art, performance, video art, digital art, sculpture, etc etc) but also taking control of learning (the power of light, working with resin)

• Embracing more experimentation and prototyping in my physical art

• Exploring different ways to explore ideas in art - tools for thinking about ideas e.g. thinking hats, projecting art through a persona, even different ways to document my experience

• Becoming my own critic (also here)

Moving from direct angry expression towards seeking more universal

• The slow process of moving from making art that metaphorically shares my personal experiences (“look-at-this art”) to art that uses personal experiences to explore more general themes (“consider-this art”) - culminating in passion vs detachment post

• Moving from quite an ‘angry’ aesthetic to something more coolly detached

Learning Outcome 2:

Articulate a thorough understanding of your research and establish an informed critical position. (AC Communication)

• I wrote a research paper on the relationship between fine art and play, which is something that interests me as it connects to my interest in play as art, and to my wider interest in the value and purpose of art. I also wrote a piece for the postgraduate community around my research paper.

• I have also been considering and exploring through research, what makes good art engaging, my emotional response to galleries, and the impact of AI on fine art

Learning Outcome 3:

Analyse and critically reflect on your practice and its context. (AC Enquiry)

I have enjoyed strengthening my powers of critical reflection in Unit 2, especially around a number of key topics below, culminating in writing a first attempt at a personal art manifesto to set-out the artist I want to be.

I have been reflecting on the how my work could relate to the world

• A new social role for the artist

• Whether art can influence society

• How CSM might view my work

I have been reflecting on the value of my work to me, personally

• Can a quick assembly of clothes really be art?! If not, why not?

• Is art a physical thing, or is the physical thing just a proxy for the intangible art?

• Art as part of a life well-lived

• Art as a life, not a career

I have become much more aware of my evolving aesthetics

• Recognising the desire to shock

• Recognising the desire to shock as coming from anger

• Starting to want to move beyond anger

• Recognising the desire to present my pain directly, and the potential to use it as a catalyst instead

• Understanding what I do want, by reacting to what I don’t

• Breakthrough in thinking about passion/anger vs detachment/reflection as a balance in my art

• Art as a way to explore the world, not present opinions culminating in art as the byproduct of a deliberately impossible task

I have been building the habit of reflecting on completing individual pieces of work art

• International Manly Crying Championships

• Rivers of Silver: Guilt

• The interim show

• A Month in my Head

• Pain and Acceptance

• Book of Wish You Were Hear

• My Hole (working title!)

• Reaching Through