Review - Studio Day and Tutorial Reflection

Even though today was a definite mixture of both productive and very slow and wasteful, it was definitely beneficial for me to spend the day in the studio. I got in early to maximise my time during the day, and had a tutorial with Sam. I spent the first half of the morning experimenting with my own imagery, adding mixed sized circle stickers in the styles of John Baldessari to mask and distort the photos, which was effective as I really like the overall aesthetic and effect produced using these circles. However I do worry that working so similarly to an artists style may not be the most successful way to produce my own work, as I get very similar responses to their work reflected in my own style. Not only this, but it seems a very easy route to be taking and I think this final major project is now more than ever the time to break out from easy routes and try somethings more extravagant.

I think the most important piece of advice and critique I received from Sam today to help me move forwards is to just try and produce some larger scale work and keep going, whacking out pieces to not only maximise work production, but to enable me to realise that I won't be able to move forwards and understand my style and what I want to make going forwards unless I start making something to reflect on. Going forwards from this, I think it is vital to now make a list of all the things I have swimming around in my head so that i at least have a starting point of what to spend my studio time doing, as half my problems currently is that I am unable to maximise my work production in the studio as I spend half my time deciding what to do. It would be hugely beneficial to me to make a daily plan, in more depth than my current weekly plan, with a list of things that have to be completed in that day.

Something that is definitely holding me back at the moment is the idea that every piece of work has to be created for a reason and have some kind of important contextual reasoning behind it. I think what is the most important in my work creation now is to try and create a 'chunk' of work, obviously with a degree of wider scale contextual/conceptual consideration, but maybe with less worry about this on an immediate level.

Going forward, these are the things I want to complete during studio time to fuel the start of the creation of my large scale work:

• experiments with lenses on the minolta camera to mask the photo

• covering the prints from today with button like masks with eye holes/brown paper bag style mask

• photographs using the keyboard cover, or using the keyboard cover as a material to create a piece of work

• Sketch out ideas for jigsaw idea (fundamentals) and be sure i understand the reasoning behind it, also speak to technician about materials I would be able to use, and plausibility of a print trannsfer onto it/sticking photo onto it

• Write up London visit (can be done on mobile)