Thursday 5 February 2009

The Craftsman















I was so excited about this book that I pre-ordered it, and it came today! Not only is the cover one of the best I've seen recently, but it looks to be very relevant to my work.

"In this provocative and enlightening book, Richard Sennet explores the idea of craftsmanship - the desire to do a job well done for its own sake - as a template for living. Pure competition, he argues, will never produce good work. Instead, the values of the craftsman, whether in a Strativari violin workshop or a modern laboratory, can enrich our lives and change the way we anchor ourselves in the world around us."

Exciting stuff.

Wednesday 4 February 2009

Snow!
















































OK so I guess there are loads of blogs with photos of snowmen and snowball fights, but how many people got to see snow on the beach? Well, probably quite a few (England - island), but Falmouth and the surrounding beaches were beautiful yesterday. All gone now though, boo.

Prisms of Process























































For the final project of semester one I made this installation to represent the process involved in the development of each project. I realised that the most important discovery I had made on my MA was the process of process. It is not just a linear path, there are junctions and experiences which throw up new ideas and avenues at multiple points in a project, meaning it is impossible to predict where a project may end (or not).


I thought that prisms would be an effective metaphor for this, with the prisms representing external influences that throw up more options, from which I have to pick a path. I used wool to make the light (referencing my own personal interest in knitting and craft based materials), and used the same material to construct a large spiderweb sprawling along the back wall. Using the same material is meant to represent the fact that I then use these paths to 'capture' ideas. In the installation there is also a wastepaper bin full of scrunched up tin foil, rather than paper. This shows that all research and ideas are valid, even if they're crap. You have to get them out your system, and may potentially help uncover a better idea. On the back wall behind this all there is a small piece of card with the beginnings of a manifesto for my working method, which reads:

Don't try and predict where an idea may take you
External influences lead to new perspectives
All research is valuable
Nice paper is essential
Make something
Who is it for?

For a piece that was conceived and produced in two days, I'm pleased with the outcome. It has led to potential new routes to follow in the rest of the year, which is pretty exciting. More to follow I hope...

Precious Pocket Money


















I'd been keeping my eye out for the 50p to complete the set of coins designed by Matthew Dent for the Royal Mint, and was lucky enough to get one in Tescos the other day, how it made my day! But then, alas, I had to use the twenty and ten to get a bus, back to the drawing board. More muttering over change outside shops to come, what joy.