Pathways
The past few weeks have centred around the recurring theme of pathways and trying out the various different artistic methods and techniques to come to a conclusion as to how you wanted to progress. Working solely as a Media person for two years I initially felt bewildered by what at the time seemed like a diversion of my time and effort though I participated secure in the knowledge that if they are asking us to do this it is most likely not without good reason.
These pathways were a very interesting experience indeed as we were guided through many abstract ways of creating "art". From fine art to textiles we were guided through many varied exercises that were met openly by some, and with utmost resistance from others. Nevertheless the next few weeks of "pathway rotation" served both give us a taste of the various and pathways and most important of all to give us all a sense that these seemingly pointless variations in working environment were giving us a toolbox of transferable skills that we could bring into our intended routes of progression.
Textiles
Among the first departments my group visited was that of textiles. This was without doubt the single most unrelated pathway I have undertaken so far. The aim of the day was experimenting with the various different "methods" of working with dyes fabrics and drawings to create an abstract piece of work. The atmosphere although highly creative was one filled with cynicism as people who came to create videos and photographs with pieces of intricate machinery were instead creating abstract paint works with dyes bleaches and drawings. And yet the result of this was a renewed sense that abstract work need not be complex, that spontaneous creativity can be nothing more than small bursts of spontaneous creativity resulting in a finished product.Fine Art
A very unconventional pathway indeed with a very absurd piece of work as a result the fine art pathway was one not soon to be forgotten. The work centred around photographs though not in the way you may think. This piece of work was about painting over artwork already made. This absurd practice was met by animosity from some and intrigue by others, nevertheless it proved to be a most interesting afternoon as we created new meaning through mad artistic practices. The great positive result of this session was that we were shown that meaning could be changed by unconventional means and a reconfirmation that abstract thoughts need not be complex.Media
Scratch film, the aim of the session for which I had originally chosen to come on the course was unsurprisingly yet another exercise in abstract creativity. We were shown the great bizarre scratch film works of Len Lye and given an introduction to the practice of direct to film animation. What followed was a reel of blank 16 millimetre film and various different felt tip pens and stamps, the idea was that we would create a piece of work that we could see the results of almost instantaneously. To an extent this was largely the case as within the next few hours we all created our very own elaborate parades of colour and light that would be combined together into a reel that we have yet to see.There seems to be a recurring theme here of abstract creativity resulting from all of the pathways. The prime result of this being that we were all given a great renewed sense of creative zeal to our consciousness, that all of our work was in the service of a great purpose.
Photography
The photographic pathway was the pathway that I have without doubt spent the vast majority of my time in so far. The aim of the first exercise in this field was elaborate light photography with a slow camera shutter speed. The results of this in most cases was utterly spectacular with many elaborate light shows created will be seen in my next entry. Following this I was encouraged to continue work in photography as what was happening in the media department I had originally intended to work within was standards and practices that I and many of us that came here from media already knew. And so the next few weeks centred around photographic imagery and how to produce it using objects that we had to taken from our visit to Blackburn museum. The results of these photographic experiments were very interesting. Using nothing more than leaves and a rams skull (not to mention the several different types of lighting available to us at the time) I created a series of portrait photographs using many different angles and light filters etc.The transferable skills that have resulted from all of this have been absolutely immense and widely varied. I am now capable of manipulating light sources and filters to achieve desired results and to adequatley position subjects to create meaning.
Visual Imaging
A pathway to blend several pathways this was a most interesting exercise in both abstract thinking and working with materials. We were guided through the process of creating works of art through highly convoluted means that highlighted themselves as the session went by. The most readily accessible example of this being the tracings we took of various images for a purpose I'm still not entirely sure of.Of all the sessions we have done so far this without a doubt is the one I have both understood and spent time on the least.
