Reflective essay for the Both projects.
I had a lot of challenges and failures during the semester. Wu (2018) mentions that making mistakes is not only an inevitable process of learning, but also a useful process in itself. I would believe that the mistakes I made have developed me.
For the Digital Hand Project, I was not familiar with Rhino at the first time. But, now I know how to use it. Not only learning casting glass with digital tools, I also made a turn and still mould using CNC for my glassblowing. During this project, I struggled a lot, especially I made many mistakes when drilling holes for glass steam. This mistake made me feel depressed indeed, hence I am afraid to use drill any longer. The biggest challenge was making a silicone mould. Despite Geoff's helping me a lot, I was under extreme stress from the constant failure. I would prefer to avoid using silicone moulds.
By contrast, I feel I have developed and got more confidence in Thinking through Glass. Through a seminar with Jess I was able to raise my knowledge of glass. Moreover, I learned to blow glass using moulds. I realised many conditions were required to get a perfect shape, such as the amount and bubble size of glass.
To sum up, although now I am exhausted due to many failures, I know those definitely will be very helpful in my future. I do not think learning is easy. However, I am very happy and joyful to experiment and make something with glass. I am still clumsy, but I want to be more advanced through more practice and experience.
Wu, P. (2018) '"It's not wrong, it's justâŠ": Talking about Mistakes in Apprenticeship'. Art, Materiality and Representation. British Museum & SOAS, the UK, 1-3 June, p71, Available at: https://architexturez.net/system/files/rai2018.pdf. Accessed 2 December 2018