COP2 research: gathering quotes

current essay question:

• how is modern conceptual art perceived by the public?

research -> gathering quotes

INSIDE THE WHITE CUBE: THE IDEOLOGY OF THE GALLERY SPACE
by Brian O'Doherty

• "we have reached a point where we see not the art but the space first" p.14
• "the ideal gallery subtracts from the artwork all cues that interfere with the fact that it is "art". The work is isolated from everything that would detract from its own evaluation of itself. This gives the space a presence possessed by other spaces where conventions are preserved through the repetition of a closed system of values." p.14
• "things become art in a space where powerful ideas about art focus on them" p.14
• describes the modernist thinking as "ideas are more interesting than art" … "as modernism gets older, context becomes content" p.14 (a) + p.15 (b)

• describing the clinicalness of art galleries he goes on to say "in this context a standing ashtray becomes almost a sacred object, just as the firehose in a modern museum looks not like a firehose but an aesthetic conundrum" p.15
• "art exists in a kind of eternity in display and though there is lots of period (late modern) there is no time. This eternity gives the gallery a limbo like status; one has to have died to already be there" p.15
• "the space offers the thought that while eyes and minds are welcome, space-occupying bodies are not- or are tolerated as kinaesthetic mannequins for further study" p.15 

• "the stability of the frame is as necessary as an oxygen tank to a diver. Its limiting security completely defines the experience within… there is no suggestion that the space within the picture is continuous with the sapece on either side of it" p.18 (ABOUT OLD, FRAMED ART)

• "through the fifties and sixties we notice the codification of a new theme as it evolves into consciousness: How much space should a work of art have (as the phrase went) to breathe? If paintings implicitly declare their own terms of occupancy, the somewhat aggrieved muttering between them becomes harder to ignore… all this traffic across the wall made it a far from neutral -zone" p.27

• "The picture plane, like an exclusive country club, keeps reality out and for good reason. Snobbishness is, after all, a form of purity, prejudice a way of being consistent. Reality does not conform to the rules of etiquette, subscribe to exclusive values, or wear a tie; it has a vulgar set of relations and is frequently seen slumming among the senses with other antithetical arts" p.38

• "… contrary to the modern myth that art is 'useless'. If art as any cultural reference (apart from being 'culture') surely it is in the definition of space and time. The flow of energy between concepts of space articulated through the artwork is one of the basic and least understood forces in Modernism. Modernist space redefines the observer's status, tinkers with his self-image. Modernism's conception of space, not its subject matter, may be what the public rightly conceives as threatening." p.38
• "as we move around that space, looking at the walls, avoiding things on the floor, we become aware that the gallery also contains a wandering phantom frequently mentioned in avant-garde dispatches- the Spectator" p.39

• ("He" being the spectator) "he frequently watches his own image chopped up and recycled by a  variety of media. Art conjugates him, but he is a sluggish verb." O'Doherty then describes how the spectator sees himself in the art but is confused that he can be so much. p.41
• on installation photos / shots "the Eye is the only inhabitant of the sanitised installation shot. The Spectator is not present." p.42

• "the spectator in a tableau somehow feels like he should not be there. Segal's art makes this clearer than anyone else's. His objects- great lumps of them- wear a history of previous occupancy… their familiarity is distanced by the gallery context" p.49

• "hostility to the audience is one of the key co-ordinates of Modernism, and artists may be classified according to its wit, style and depth… this hostility is far from trivial or self-indulgent, though it has been both. For through it is waged an ideological conflict about values … each party- audience and artist- is not quite free to break certain taboos. The audience can't get mad… its anger must be sublimated, already a kind of proto-appreciation. By cultivating an audience through hostility, the (74) avant-garde gave it the opportunity to transcend insult… and exercise revenge" p.73-74
• "at its most serious, the artist/audience relation can be seen as a testing of the social order … by the support systems- galleries, museums, collectors even magazines and house critics… the main medium of this absorption is style, a stabilising construct if there ever was one" p.74

AESTHETIC THEORY

by Adorno

• "all efforts to restore art by giving it a social function- of which art is itself uncertain and by which it expresses its own uncertainty- are doomed" p.1
• "artworks detach themselves from the empirical world and bring forth another world, one opposed to the empirical world as if this other world too were an autonomous identity. Thus however tragic they appear, artworks tend a priori toward affirmation" p.2
• "the belief that the first artworks are the highest and purest is warmed over-romanticism" p.2
• "art is the social antithesis of society, not directly deducible from it" p.9

• "what popular consciousness and a complaisant aesthetics regard as the taking pleasure in art, modelled on real enjoyment, probably does not exist… whoever concretely enjoys artwork is  a philistine… yet if the last traces of pleasure were extirpated, the question of what artworks stood for would be an embarrassment. Actually the more they are understood, the less they are enjoyed." p.15

• "even the traditional attitude to the artwork… was that of admiration that the works exist as they do in themselves and not for the sake of the observer." p.15
• "the relation to art was not that of its physical devouring; on the contrary, the beholder just disappeared into the material; this is even more so for modern works" p.15
• "for him who has a genuine relationship to art, in which he himself vanishes, art is not an object; (16) deprivation of art would be unbearable for him, yet he does not consider individual works sources of joy. Incontestably, no one would devote himself to art without- as the bourgeois put it- getting something out of it" p.15-16
• "the fetishistic idea of the artwork as property that can be possessed and destroyed by reflection has its exact correlative  in the idea of exploitable property within the psychological economy of the self… yet precisely because they are sacred they were not objects of enjoyment" p.16
• "the concept of artistic enjoyment was a bad compromise between the social and the socially critical essence of the art work. If art is useless for the business of self-preservation- bourgeois society never quite forgives that- it should at least demonstrate a sort of use-value modelled on sensual pleasure." p.17

• "the harmonistic view of the ugly was voided in modern art, and something qualitatively new emerged" p.61
• "the impression of the ugliness of technology and industrial landscapes cannot be adequately explained in formal terms, and aesthetically well-integrated functional forms, in Adolf Loos's sense, would probably leave the impression of ugliness unchanged. The impression of ugliness stems from the principle of violence and destruction" p.61
• "the concept of the ugly may well have originated in the separation of art from its archaic phase" p.62
• "the more art is dominated throughout by subjectivity and must show itself to be irreconcilable with everything pre established, the more that subjective reason- the formal principle itself- becomes the canon of aesthetics" p.63
• "the price art has to pay for raising itself above the domination of natural powers only in order to perpetuate them as domination over nature and human beings" p.63

INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE AND AFTER

by several different authors

ALL THE ART THAT'S FIT TO SHOW

by Hans Haacke 1974

• "products which are considered 'works of art' have been singled out as culturally significant objects by those who, at any given time and social stratum, wield the power to confer the predicate 'work of art' onto them; they cannot elevate themselves from the host of man-made objects simply on the basis of some inherent qualities… museums and art institutions belong to that group of agents" p.53
• "a museum is a carrier of socio-political connotations… the question of private or public funding of the institution does not affect this axiom" p.53
• "'artists', as much as their supporters and enemies, no matter of what ideological coloration, are unwitting partners in the art syndrome, and relate to each other dialectically. They participate jointly in the maintenance and/or development of the ideological make-up of their society. They work within that frame, set the frame, and are being framed." p.55

WHAT IS AN INSTITUTION?

by John R. Searle

• "a status function must be represented as existing in order to exist at all, and language or symbolism of some kind provides the means of representation" p.36

COP2 seminar 5: planning and structuring an essay

I was feeling a bit lost in regards to the essay question but was given some guidance! Whilst the idea of "the public's relationship with art" could be a broader topic for my practical work it would be too broad for an essay question. Something along the lines of "how is modern conceptual art perceived by the public". I could look into the Turner Prize, post-modernism, money and esoteric knowledge (how people make knowledge only available for certain groups).

suggested research question:

• how is modern conceptual art perceived by the public?

which academic sources will you reference?:

• O'Doherty, B (1976) Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space, 1st edition, University of California Press, Los Angeles
• O'Neill, P (2012) The Culture of Curating and The Curating of Culture(s), 1st edition, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, Massachusetts
• Adorno, T (1991) The Culture Industry, 16th ed, Routledge, New York
• Adorno, T (1997) Aesthetic Theory, 2nd ed, Continuum, London
• Welchman, J.C. (2006) Institutional Critique And After, 1st ed, JRP Ringier, Zurich

what images will you analyse?:

• some illustration could be used to support my points but for this essay I will be mostly be analysing the conceptual art itself
• I will probably include at least one example of 'famous' conceptual art as they often face the most backlash from public and media, for example, an Emin or a Hirst. I will analyse them alongside responsive academic criticisms, public criticisms and media coverage.

Tracey Emin

Damien Hirst

David Shrigley

Paul Davis

essay map: four main points to your essay: (potential points)

• how perception of art is informed by the artist themselves: essentially the opposite to Barthe's propositions. for example, how artists like Hirst or Banksy create personas and become cliches of themselves. Maybe even how Shia Laboeuf now presents himself as an artist- is his attraction in his work or his celebrity or his persona
• how galleries are physically designed to intimidate. could even go on to discuss how Tate Britain is housed in a panopticon prison but this would probably be a stretch
• how the public's relationship with art has changed over the years, post-victorian era. art used to be aspirational but now many do not even enjoy it. how people don't understand how art can help them and the economy
• on the other side, how art is now so inward looking it rejects the public. how this links to post-modernism

peer feedback:

COP2: seminar 4

I found this task difficult as I was trying to hard to connect it to my essay idea when 1) in reality the practical work should be so much broader  and 2) this was an exercise of how to produce ideas rather than to produce ideas solely for my actual work. It created some bizarre results but this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and all the same these ideas are a starting point for more ideas and to be more refined. I learnt it's ok to have some strange things happening.

I think I might have misunderstood the hats exercise when compared to other peoples' results but I like the idea that this can be silly and humorous and doesn't have to be boring. The essay isn't necessarily a boring thing but I think there is more scope for fun and play, even if it's just in the visuals, when it comes to the practical side of the brief. I will continue this mindset into my sketchbook.

COP2: seminar 3 / research questions

Suggested research question:

Elitism in art / the inaccessibility of art galleries / how the public see art- how taste is developed in different cultures/ classes

Which of the module resources does this question relate to?

• Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1967) 'The Culture Industry Reconsidered', New German Critique, No. 6 (Autumn 1975) pp. 12-19. (CULTURE / SOCIETY / POLITICS)
• Barthes, R. (1968) 'The Death of the Author', London, Fontana. (SOCIETY / CULTURE / POLITICS / HISTORY).
• Mulvey, L. (1975) 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', in Braudy, L and Cohen, M. eds (1999) 'Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, NY: Oxford UP pp. 833-44. (CULTURE / TECHNOLOGY / SOCIETY).
• Rancière, J. (1991) 'The Ignorant Schoolmaster: Five Lessons in Intellectual Emancipation', Stanford: Stanford UP. pp. 1-19 (POLITICS / HISTORY / SOCIETY)
• Berger, J. (1972) 'Ways of Seeing', Harmondsworth: Penguin. (CULTURE / SOCIETY / POLITICS / TECHNOLOGY / HISTORY)
• Storey, J. (2008) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture', 5th ed, London: Pearson. pp. 62-82. (CULTURE / SOCIETY / POLITICS)

Which academic sources are available on this topic?

• O'Doherty, B (1976) Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space, 1st edition, University of California Press, Los Angeles
• O'Neill, P (2012) The Culture of Curating and The Curating of Culture(s), 1st edition, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, Massachusetts
• Adorno, T (1991) The Culture Industry, 16th ed, Routledge, New York
• Adorno, T (1997) Aesthetic Theory, 2nd ed, Continuum, London
• Welchman, J.C. (2006) Institutional Critique And After, 1st ed, JRP Ringier, Zurich

How could the research question be investigated through practice?

I could investigate this topic first hand myself through observing and drawing and recording in art galleries, and in spaces where art is (i.e. statues in public areas). This may be first hand drawing but also recording the things that people say. I could also interview people first hand on their opinions of fine art, design and galleries

Peer feedback- how could this topic be refined/ developed?

• Watch some 'out-there' art documentaries
• Don't get too tied up in my own opinions
• Documentary presented by  Grayson Perry on the development of taste and he also has written about the accessibility of art galleries. It's not an academic source but could provide a start for ideas.

COP2: seminar 2 + preliminary images task

At this point I knew that I wanted to do a project based on gallery and fine art culture, and the public's reception to art and maybe design. This was fuelled when I came to the realisation that even as an art student I know very little about classic or modern or fine art in general, and began to wonder how that had been, and whether this was necessarily a bad thing.

 

For the half hour drawing task we were given I went to the small gallery inside Leeds University to draw and observe the environment. There were very few people there, but maybe that is to be expected due to its location away from the general public who may not necessarily be in the know of what is on offer.

For the preliminary images task I continued drawing and sketching, but this time went to the bigger Leeds Art Gallery. The location, notoriety and the fact it was half term meant there were far more people there. The gallery is also currently housing an exhibition called British Art Show 8 which is also to attract more visitors. 

I found myself being particularly interested in how children would react to the art, and how their parents would encourage them.

The children seemed to be more interested in figurative work that they could identify with, if only physically.

And sometimes they'd ignore it completely and took advantage of the large amount of space to run around in, which isn't unexpected! One mother showed some exasperation as she "tried to get [her very young son] to appreciate art", I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

A group of teenage girls spent a lot of time just sat in the gallery, mostly appearing to chat amongst themselves or use their phones. They showed most interest in the more modern/ controversial piece of art in that room. I wasn't there to judge, but I wondered why they spent so long in that room if they weren't going to look at the art - and it didn't seem that there was some sort of authority keeping them there. Maybe the gallery is a cool / nice space to hang out, who knows!

A middle aged man walked past the same piece of art that the girls had taken photos of and seemed to laugh nervously. I like the idea that art can be received humorously even if not intended so. I think the thing with 'art' is that once in the public domain you can't control how people react to it, and I think how people react to it makes it what it is, more so than any intentions of the artist.

There was one particular room filled with TVs with just a film of words on the screen that I noticed many people avoided or walked through at pace. It was definitely one of the more 'out-there' pieces and upfront offered very little explanation and one would have to read the description to understand- and even then it was complicated! It didn't prove itself accessible to many people and so many wouldn't stop to see it. Should an artwork be measured in how people can interact with it?  Honestly, I didn't understand it, but I don't want to project my own feelings on to this.

A quick thought about the difference between art and illustration, and how size seems to be so important. The bigger the better. I remember seeing very very few small pieces of work in the gallery.

I like how people stand when they look at art, with their hands together at their fronts or their backs. It looks uncomfortable and stiff, almost protective. I do it too.

And a girl who was wearing heelies in the gallery just because it made me laugh.

---

I think it was interesting and helpful to get information first hand, but I also need to start reading critical and academic texts so I can put more thought and direction into what I'm doing. 

COP2 Studytask 1: Illustration and Authorship (Paul Davis)

Paul Davis

Paul Davis appears to be a keen observer of modern life and culture. He has described himself  as a "misanthropist" and says that his work is a "reflection" of what he sees, and is keen not to describe what he does as satire. Illustrations drawn haphazardly on sheets of ruled paper appear to be first hand observations, and distance the artist from his subjects. The humour within suggests his presence, and arises questions as to whether these are truly reportage or a little joke from inside his mind, but all the same feel real, or at least a little believable.

Knowing that Davis describes his work as "reflections" distances the artist from the formula of drawing and humour and the following illustrative result. Theorist Roland Barthes suggests that when any author has written, or created a piece that "the voice loses its origin, the author enters his own death", but with Davis this removal feels intentional. The pieces are simple but seem designed to provoke thought in the viewer, whether it be a chuckle or something more profound, rather than just play on and puport the artist's feelings. He may knowingly place the viewer on a higher pedestal but, as Barthes also writes, "we shall never know, for the good reason that writing is the destruction of every voice". 

However, I'm also interested in how, as a working practitioner, Davis distances himself from a lot of design culture. In an interview with The Drum he says “Clients are thinking too lazy. They’re being too safe – it’s damaging the industry and everything is becoming the same”. His aesthetic style and bold jokes are the initial suggestion of a fight against the typical, a physical fight against this.

But whilst the work may be a little wacky in comparison to a large portion of the illustration community, but I don't think it's completely void of trend, and really it is impossible to do so in a working, client lead practice, or even otherwise. His work is not wholly dissimilar to other creative practitioners, aesthetically and thematically, such as Mr Bingo and David Shrigley. Steven Miles writes that "The pivotal role of designers as a focus for social change is undermined by the fact that they are equally vulnerable to commercial reward as the rest of us". Davis may be trying to break against the wall of 'boring clients', but at the end of the day the assumption that he needs to make money from his creative practice is not an unlikely one. 

Clients are customers. And at the end of the day, true originality is nigh on impossible. Barthes contends, "the writer [and in this case the artist] can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original. His only power is to mix writings, to counter the ones with others, in such a way as to never rest on any of them". But maybe true originality is not what Davis is scoping for. If making brazen, brave and entertaining yet thoughtful work is good enough for Davis' fight against the boring then he may well be where he wants to be- and where he wants others to be. He is not part of the mainstream that he fears to be.

COP2 lecture 2: the flipped classroom

The flipped classroom is the idea of student centred education. The hierarchy is flipped, or rather, completely destroyed. Students peer-assess each other's work, work as a collective and create their own answers in the hope that the learning will be more deeply embedded. In its most radical form there is no need for a teacher at all, as written about by philosopher Jacques Ranciere.

In May 1968 in France there was a student-lead revolution in revolt of the current education system. They fought against elitist education that discriminated against people according to their class, race or gender bias. They rebelled against specialist courses that they thought left them feeling limited and disempowered, and felt that because of this education was just a cog in the machine to just give you a job, with no 'enlightened' learning. They did this all be seizing control of the universities, and it lasted a while.

The art schools were taken over to produce the posters and pamphlets for their cause. It seems that these anti-capitalist posters are now for sale at a profit.

Louis Althusser taught Ranciere, and had two theories about how capitalist society keeps its citizens at bay. 

Repressive State Apparatus: the police, prisons, the army, structures that can physically stop you

Ideological State Apparatus: institutions that reproduce the modes of thinking. Church, media and particularly in this case, schools and education systems.

Ranciere wondered if we needed professors at universities at all, in his theories one has the assumption that all are equally intelligent.

He also wrote a book called Proletarian Nights, about French industry workers from the nineteenth century who were artists and poets and writers when not working their jobs. He brought up important questions such as why are they dismissed and forgotten from the art world? Why can't a worker be a poet? And studied why and how they refused their social order, like the students did in the revolution.

The Distribution of the Sensible

The idea that there are layers to the world, and why certain people are only allowed access to experience certain things. It's similar to how the art/design world is divided into different disciplines. The idea that we should work as a community, and the "police" are anybody who enforces these structures. Still, a lot of people "self-police" and it's almost impossible to get away from in education.

• Anyone can be an artist
• Anyone can be anything
• Start with the assumption everyone is intelligent
• Academics alienate the working classes by using obscure language

The School of the Damned is one of the closest models to Ranciere's. It's non-discriminatory, is free and the students organise how they want to be 'taught' and by 'who', although in these situations everyone is seen as an equal. The education model changes every year and is not dictated by history.

COP2 lecture 1: research and epistemology

Research is important in that it means you can take charge of your own practice, and create something unique. It's a cyclical process, and learning through doing research as a process is more important and integral to your learning than the end result.

! FAIL BETTER / FAIL QUICKER !

Making mistakes is part of the learning process, and thus researching. You might learn something from a mistake afterall. All research gained eventually becomes intuitive research, the process of making from your own thoughts. But intuitive research is limited and only goes as far as you do and needs to be supplemented with stimulative and systematic research.

Make sure your research is appropriate and analyse and evaluate the research itself to. Give knowledge and meaning to numbers, make your research sufficient and relevant.

How research is done:

1. Assimilation: get the information
2. General Study: investigate the information
3. Development
4. Communication: resolution

COP2: seminar 1, The Death of the Author

• In the text I think Barthes is trying to urge people to criticise work in a 'new' way, or at least new for the 1960s. Instead of focusing on the author, we should criticise work for its own sake unbiased. 
• I was interested in his idea that nothing could truly be original, but everything is made up of others' ideas. Still, it is not impossible to make something that feels fresh combining them in an (almost) unique way.

• For my COP2 project I am considering studying galleries and the accessibility of art (and maybe design) to the general public. I'd also like to look into how aesthetic changes peoples' perceptions of things, and why people like some things more than others. The idea that the reader / scriptor / viewer is more important than the author/artist is something that would tie into this nicely. I have observed that with art in galleries is that it's often not understandable to a 'general layman' without the context of a written accompaniment, and even then sometimes not. Would it be more accessible or better if artists abided by Barthes' logic?

• This idea of the viewer being more substantial than the artist ties really closely with Illustration, I think. Whilst fine art may be able to get away with being confusing and ultimately maybe even deriding the viewer, illustration is often a consumer lead practice and needs to be accepted by its audience, for the sake of illustrator and client. Still, the illustrator does not need to spoon feed the viewer. Urging the viewer to think more or even just allowing them to see something else makes for an all the more interesting piece of work.

COP preparatory task

Definitions:

Social

• relating to society, and its ranks and hierarchies

Cultural

• in relation to the arts, ideas, social behaviours and customs of a society

Historical

• something of the past, the concern of past events (and perhaps its effect on the present)
• study of  a subject developing over a period of time

Political

• (to be) in concern of the government or political affairs of a country

Technological

• the use or relation of technology. Technical advances, relating to science and industry. Medicine, energy sources, computer science etc.

CULTURE

Quotes:

"Art respects the masses, by confronting them as that which they could be, rather than conforming to them in their degraded state.” - Theodore Adorno

"Where is the content? Where is the comment?" Lawrence Zeegan (note: this article brings up some interesting points but is not one I wholly agree with!!)

"the first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art.”  Chuck Palahniuk

Images:

David Shrigley, art culture but also generally

Art/ online culture

Zines have been used as a tool for subcultures and sending out political messages for years but seem to have become recently trendy too

Sara Andreasson: alt femme culture

Photographs:

British culture, thinking about youth culture but also Tories, Thatcherism, Middle England, the far right etc

Art culture: I think it's interesting to study how people react to art in public places, if they acknowledge it at all (and if they do it's probably to complain about it)

Riot Grrl fashion / Feminist DIY culture: I think it's interesting that there's been a big resurgence in this kind of thing recently, and whether it's influenced by the need for more aggressive feminism or because people feel like we are lacking in subcultures nowadays so we borrow from the past (but isn't fashion always cyclical?) Online social activism / feminism

COP: end of module evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

• Research methods. I think I have developed this skill, but not effectively enough, particularly in regards to book and internet research. What I got was often not very relevant to what I was trying to say. It probably would have helped if I had picked a less confusing essay title, but that is no excuse.
• Image making as a response to research. I came across problems with this, struggling with inspiration and how to interpret it but really shouldn't have worried about this too much, as this itself hindered me making work.
• Presentation skills, particularly in regards to explaining ideas and research. The pecha kucha wasn't fantastic, but at the same time it was a huge improvement on past presentations I have done, so, personally, I feel it was quite effective. I developed confidence, but also skills in planning and preparation and rehearsal- which I think was the key to it being successful.
• I'm not sure it's a skill, but doing this project has made me more politically aware! And it hasn't been the most successful project all in all, but it makes me want to continue to make more work with a 'purpose' or 'voice'. 

What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes?

• My essay mainly dealt with research from books and the internet. It is hard to say that a lot of this influenced my practical outcomes at all, as for the practical side of the project I dealt with a subject almost entirely different to the illustrative outcome.
• For the second part of the project I listened to a few podcasts, and whilst this media wasn't so much the catalyst the opinions on them were so. Finding research which wasn't just fact based but also based on opinion, and quite touching personal ones at that, was very helpful, and the emotive response to this really informed my final work and opened my mind as to what to say. Of course, you must be tentative with opinions and not blindly agree to things, but listening to different views has helped me to inform my own opinion, and so my work.
• Image making as a response to research and in turn as a research method in itself. Through making images as a response I have been able to develop my own opinions and use it as a thought process. And as it is practical myself the ideas I got from this stemmed into my final piece, thematically and visually.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

• I took a long route but eventually I created a visual diagram that I am somewhat happy with. I think the strength in the diagram is in its way of portraying the idea- in a more abstract and metaphorical way. I think it is more attention grabbing, and may draw more interest from the viewer as they work out what is happening - and so it is a way of working I'd like to do more of.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

• It's fair enough to say I did not prepare myself with enough research for this project, or the first half at least. Now I have done this once, and understand the purpose of COP, I will be able to select research that is more relevant and helpful to what I want to achieve. I will look beyond facts and books (though must include them, as they are very helpful!)
• My essay writing skills were very poor and lead to a confusing essay with no clear argument. Next time I will remember that the key is to structure and plan!

Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of Practice module?

• An understanding of the COP module! Which I have now- but from the essay even to the beginning of the illustrative side of the module I was very confused about what kind of thing was supposed to be made / researched, which of course hindered the project.
• More preparation for the essay question- and a narrower one at that! I was confused, so thought a broad question would be better, but confused me even more! And I think this was apparent in my essay.
• Choosing an essay/ project theme that I feel more personally, or more interest towards, not so much for easiness but that I think as a result the project will be better and more passionate.
• Structuring a better essay and argument, and working on my writing skills.
• More research from opinion and not just fact, for a more personal and emotive outcome.