Responding to my pre-assessment feedback
In my pre-assessment feedback, David said that I had maintained my practice throughout the lengthy winter lockdown from home, I did this through my performative pieces and film project that I started and experimented with. Continuing to experiment with various materials and techniques, attending the workshop and making an animal hide out of Latex shows the level of ambition and commitment I have to my practice. David mentioned this in my feedback, saying that I had considered other methods of presentation throughout the semester – especially with my large-knitted piece. He said that by doing this, it fed into my work and created an interested dynamic between the materiality of the work and the methods of display and presentation. This is due to taking my work out into different environments and photographing these as separate works. The fibre-textile work is immersive, David said that the materiality of it has given my work a significant presence. He said that the time and effort of construction is engaging and should be emphasises, therefore I went back over the annotation on my posts and went into more detail about the process and why I chose the materials/techniques. David said I should consider the methods of presentation for my proposal; I did this through experimenting with the Latex against natural and artificial lighting and researching more into the framing of the Latex piece. David also mentioned emphasising the performance elements and the documentation of this, I did this by doing more research on performance artworks and how this feeds into my practice. Researching artists that also use juxtaposition in their work, referenced the photographs I took of my knitted-piece and tights in urban and rural settings. David mentioned this being the way I present my work at the exhibition, I did consider exhibiting photographs or video work, but wanted to make something physical for the exhibition. However, I can exhibit the digital work when showing the physical work is not possible (digital exhibitions, etc.). I agree with David on this work bringing more flexibility and potential.
When I had my pre-assessment tutorial, I had not put my contextual research on my blog yet – I had queued them and written some research out but not uploaded them. David said this must be significantly developed, I undertook a rigorous approach to this by using all resources to find artists and artworks that share similar interests of subject or theme and that also have good historical context. As David suggested, I researched Ernesto Neto, Caraoline Achaintre, Evgeny Antufiev, Phyllida Barlow, Barbara Chase-Ribour, Channing Hansen, Maria Nepomuceno, Shelia Pepe, and Shinique Smith, which I evidence on my blog. David also mentioned my portfolio review with Ann Bukantas and how she suggested looking at sculpture in 1960, 1970, and the 1980s. David also said how Ann had recommended the Arts Council Collection because I could use this to expose lots of work at one time. I used this as a resource to find sculptures from around that period and relating it back to my practice. David said I should look at artists who deal with similar issues in their art regarding animal rights, although I have researched these artists quite a bit when first experimenting with this theme, I did some more research. I found artists and artworks that were interesting, some not necessarily sharing the same view but have a unique approach to sculpture. David spoke about reflection and describing my processes in detail as a key to determining my grade and criteria for assessment. I understood this completely, so looked back through my annotated posts and went into further detail.
David then concluded my feedback by discussing my proposal for the Degree Show. He said it seems feasible, but I should consider whether using the frame for the Latex is necessary. I considered hanging the Latex straight from the wall and spoke to Sue Debny about it, I concluded that the frame has historical context about animal hide stretching, where they use basic frames. I evidence this research on my blog. David also said I should consider using artificial lighting and displaying the Latex in a darkened space with a more theatrical lighting. I experimented with both suggestions by making maquettes and holding the Latex up to natural light and artificial light. The final decision was that natural lighting would work better; it will show all the fine details that I have made on each layer of the Latex. This pre-assessment feedback was useful, and I feel it strengthened my contextual research and studio diary, understanding what the tutors are expecting in the submission.