#terraritopia

This semester has been one filled with many new things. New electives taken by different courses, new lecturers, a new form of writing in an exegesis... the list goes on. This seems to be perhaps the most difficult semester for not just myself but for a lot of students in the class. Maybe it was due to being one year old and perhaps maybe not one year wiser, I’m not sure. 

There were many obstacles standing in the way of final exhibition this semester in the form of an exegesis, differences in personalities and the horror of setting up the installation without Ann Marie. Although there were no major issues, lets hope, I still found it overly stressful to be I guess, in control of someones grade other than my own. I also had to put myself in Ann Marie’s shoes and try to think how she would display and create things as I knew this installation had to be a representation of both of our works.

The exegesis was also a brand new concept that was not able to be easily executed. I have always struggled with writing and trying to explain my ideas in a way that makes sense. I find it difficult to step back and make sure I explain every aspect possible as I forgot that all people don’t have the knowledge I do about the project. I also then tend to head in the opposite direction and over explain. This is one of the first times I have left something so large till the last minute even though I know it will be a struggle to complete. I am however proud of myself for getting through it and completing one I am happy to present. There are a few areas I would have liked to explore in more depth however I just got to a point where I just had to stop looking at it. 

We have decided to use the Year One space again as this is going to be the light room. Last year Ann Marie was stuck in the dark space and was forced to bring in a source of light. This is an issue we wanted to avoid. We chose the space that Beau used last semester as it is a nice space hidden in the corner. Kenzie and Dion are next to us so I don’t think there will be much of an issue over space. 

We have decided to keep the layout fairly simple, only including necessary items. This was one, to stop any major issues from occurring as I am the only one setting up for assessment and too, to ensure there is enough room for people to freely move about without it being too cluttered. We will display the contextual website on an iMac on the left side of the table. On the other half will be the real terrarium, the iPad Mini on a stand, our exegeses and journals and a set of instructions. We will also put a cube under the desk for anyone that wants to sit when using the iMac.

I had originally opted to create a fixed website as I know responsive design takes time. If rushed, a responsive website can look horrible and function incorrectly. I knew there would be a chance that the coding could be rushed which is why I decided initially, to do a fixed width website. In the end I had to change my design so they website worked cohesively with the app. Surprisingly, there was not of work needed to make the design responsive. I believe this was due to the simplicity of the design and the minimal amount of information. I am pretty happy with the outcome as although it was rushed to be finished, it doesn't show in the final outcome.

I knew this would be a challenge however I don’t think I was ready for how big the challenge actually was. I know I may sound slightly pathetic however I do know it would not be so stressful if I was only setting up and finishing a solo project. It would only be my grade on the line if I was to mess up. However being a group project, I also am carrying the weight of Ann Marie’s mark on my shoulders.

I believe this semester ended so badly due to us having to quickly create as much as we can before Ann Marie had to leave. Although Ann Marie could easily keep up this speed, I knew I was trailing behind. This meant my time management skills flew out the window leaving me with no time and a heap of assessment due in a matter of days. I normally stumble a bit in the time management department however it is a rare occasion when it gets this bad. This however has been one heck of a learning lesson as I now have a better understanding of my limits. It also has taught me how to calm down in stressful situations and just do the work. Crazy stressing will not help nor slow down the clock counting down to the deadline. I was surprisingly calm during the most stressful parts of semester so perhaps this was ultimately a learning lesson on how to deal with challenging situations. 

I have started to design and develop our showreel showing the processes taken to achieve the final outcome of this project. The showreel will be divided into three sections, Development, Testing and Final Outcome. Ann Marie and I will collate all the images and video relating to these sections. We used the #BestOfColab images as the background for each title. We reduced the amount of images for each section as we wanted to refine the content as the project refines. I made sure I chose an audio track that suited the content as I know this is one of my weaknesses.

Stuck to unstuck