Δ3: Week 5
Third Triangulate Project
Feedback based on the Second Trangualtion Project – Writing (Week 3&4)
Notes (Matthew)
Overall, the language is clear and reads easily. the concepts within the writing need further clarification. you tend toward abstractions, and you’re often guided by intuitive decisions, but you don’t really explain the significance of these to your reader.
Your enquiry reads more like a statement: ‘this is what I do’. it’s not clear what question you’re actually asking.
You talk about the ‘meaning’ of images and the ‘meaning’ of things that you observe in your urban setting, but it’s a bit unclear what ‘meaning’ even is. for example, is the appearance or form of something the root of its ‘meaning’? is its intention or purpose the root of its ‘meaning’? how does your process of observing and diagramming shape the meaning?
You’re starting to identify some references that help us see your work in context of other practices, but it would be helpful to put them into clearer ‘dialogue’ with your work. compare them. contrast them.
You haven’t used ‘diagramming’ as an approach within your writing. is this a missed opportunity?
+ Feedback from my peers
ENQUIRY
The open-ended question, critical reflection, and contextualization are very thorough. Your test is successfully reflecting your studio practice and furthering your enquiry of what is diagrammable. There is some sort of parallel in the way you use text, that blurs the line between prose and poetry, to capture and recontextualize your observations in the form of images that blur the line between diagrams and illustrations. The subjective meaning that is generated through your images (diagrams) may be associated with the subjectivity that exists in art itself.
KNOWLEDGE
Through your references, you found yourself in a field of people with similar ways of working/seeing. It could be helpful to see how your work could be contextualized by looking at similar methods within the graphic design field. Also, maybe looking at opposing positions/ways of working (methods).
PROCESS
Through your studio work, you already did that.
COMMUNICATION
At the moment your diagrammatic illustrations are not engaging with an audience. The stories that you are trying to tell through your diagrams are being produced in isolation. Maybe it is work looking into what stories are worth being told and what stores you relate to but also relatable to a wide audience.
REALISATION
Is there a way in which you could fortune/explore/exploit/destroy/ the book (as a format) to make the images that you are making and the stories that you want to tell?
1to1 tutorial (academic support) with Max
Writing
I can use part of the writing I did in the previous term as it’s relevant and associated with what I am doing now. (Chronological order, development, progress)
Each reference is supporting each phase of my project. Starting with something, developing it into what I am doing now.
It will be very good to show the diagrammatic approach through my writing (in a thoughtful way, not just decorative). Use arrows, lines to connect thoughts, to show my thinking, how my work is developing.
Studio work
The story that occurs is my walk itself. Guided by what I see, what interests me, what catches my eye. Taking photographs is the way to record things, in order to then analyse them and come up with a story.
How the city influences my walk/experience is a purpose. Tracking how the urban environment speaks to me. Cataloging these walks in a diagrammatic way.
Audience: designers or a specific group of people? (This can also help me find a purpose.)
Walking as a method of research. What are the patterns that occur from my walks? What is the material that I notice? Is there something I follow?
Is there a certain kind of image that I want to use? If yes, I can break these down/translate them using diagrams and then find patterns, common points, etc. (e.g. Eva Stenram – Drape, Paul Graham – https://www.paulgrahamarchive.com/a1.html).
References
Stephen Willats – http://stephenwillats.com/
Roland Barthes – Mythologies
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This week, I have continued working on both studio work and writing. Working on both side by side is important for my project as the one supports the other; Structuring the whole research.
Research Paper
In the pdf file above, you can see how my research paper is developing. I have tried this week to use diagrams as a method to structure some parts of my writing, showing the development of my thoughts, the process of decision making, etc.
Additionally, during this week, I went back to the first half of Unit 2 again, in order to see which written components I will use, etc. Actually, most of my previous written work is still relevant, as my work develops based on that. Each phase of my work is supported by a reference or a series of references, and each new phase of my work is reflected and developed based on the previous one (historical journey). I have decided to use most of my previous written work, connecting it with my newer writings; Building on it.
Studio Work
Apart from the writing above, my studio work started getting form, becoming more productive.
I am working using the format of the book (A5 size), as this supports the storytelling side of my work:
“Concerning the book as the format I am using while working on my studio practice, this embraces the storytelling feature of my work. Having a layout, and one page following the other creates a sequence both in the story that occurs through the photographs and diagrams but also in the whole project in general. I treat this book as a method of research; A medium that will help me explore my enquiry.” (From my research paper).
In brief,
I’m recording and cataloging my outdoor walks using photographs I take from items that catch my eye. Then I go back to work, and I analyse these photographs through diagrammatic illustrations in order to come up with a story. So, each walk is a story
Restrictions
– Black and white
– Elements: shapes, lines, arrows, text
– Photographs taken during my walks (urban setting)
Focusing on two walks (different days), I have started by choosing and dividing the photographs I have taken into a timeline. Looking at them, one next to the other, reveals somehow what kind of story will be formed. And then, the interesting part begins. Extracting information from the images based on the content and form, creating diagrams, connecting things, etc. Each analysis comes with a sentence or two, that all together (along with the photographs and diagrammatic illustrations) will form a new story.
Each walk/story comes with information such as area, time, length of the walk, etc., and is formed in one small booklet.
You can have a look at this week’s work here (1 pdf file with two stories/booklets – spreads):
story 1
story 2
Reference
CHANGING EVERYTHING (1998)
by Stephen Willats
“Individual residents were asked to accompany the artist on a walk through the North Peckham Estate, taking Super 8 and Snappy Snap 35mm cameras, looking for signs, objects, textures, etc., that they felt had another meaning and that through their perceptual transformation they could see as having a new association with their life on the Estate.”