Week 4 - 17th-21st October - OBJECT

In my second week of 'Fundementals' we started OBJECT, a workshop encouraging us to fully explore all the possibilities of what an object can be, what it means, and the different ways it can be made to relate to the world around it. Our workshop lecture fully explored the concept of bricks to their full thematic potential. I found it surprising how many more hidden meanings, connotations and themes a brick can represent, particularly the reference to the Berlin Wall and the different names for ways of laying the brick, such as solider and sailor. I often pay close attention to the deeper symbolismic meaning of my work during the planning stage and I found this of interest. It also definitely opened my mind to the greater potential of objects and helped me progress better in the coming workshop.

Week 3 - 10th-14th October - EDIT - Guest Speaker - Vivian Ezugha

This week saw the start of our BA1a 'Fundementals' unit, with my first session being 'Edit'. I had no idea what to expect when entering into this session and was slightly apprehensive as, having read each of the briefs, this one seemed the most abstract of the concepts we were going to be exploring. I had never previously covered Erwin Wurm's '1 Minute Sculptures' however I had researched many other aspects of Relational Aesthetics, including Duchamp, in other projects. I found it interesting how Wurm encourages a dissociative outlook on the subjects in his sculptures, moving away from our associations of them as human beings and instead interpreting them as stationary objects to form part of the composition just as any other workable material would.

Week 2 - 3rd-7th October - Drawing Machine

In this week I focussed on the 'Drawing Machine' mini brief. I created a frame and first suspended a pen as a pendulum from the middle. I tried initially spinning the pen to attempt to create a drawing but the physical act of the pen nib swinging against the page was enough to slow the pen to a complete stop after a couple of passes. This was frustrating, as from this failed attempt I could begin to visualise the forms created in the swinging motion, even if they were ultimately uneffective, and could see there was something interestng being created if I could work out the correct way to do it.

Week 1 - 26th-30th September - Inductions - Drawing

In this first week of normal schedule we had a lot of introductory sessions and workshops to various areas of the university. One particular department which stuck out to me were the 3D workshops on the 28th, specifically the casting and model making suites. The basic casting process was briefly explained however I was told I would need further specific inductions if I was to use some of the heavier pieces of machinery. This is something that is very important to my practice which occasionally features elements of woodworking or other resistant materials. Ensuring I have this induction as early as possible will make me fully prepared to follow any ideas I have regardless of the medium.