Theory - Contemporary Art - Dr Graham Lister & Lee Corner

As an introduction to the new semester, Dr Graham Lister and regional arts fund director, Lee Corner, provided an introduction to the next 12 weeks of theoretical study. The University of Huddersfield is particularly unique in that the Chancellor, Bob Cryan, is very interested in the establishment of self-employed individuals and is keen to help the establishment of small local based business around the Huddersfield area. Both Bob and Lee sit on a government panel for local funding of new venture businesses.

A little exercise was undertaken to warm the group up, which I thought was a nice touch!... Lee gave everyone an opportunity to make a three-dimensional "representation," to help us articulate "where we want to be, in 5 years time"... Having done similar exercises before, I was pleasantly surprised when a bag full of plasticine was handed to the students!...

Various outcomes were crafted to show what each student would like to be doing in 5 years from now, but in my case, I thought for about 3 minutes before using the final 2 mins. to create a representation of a dear little chap, and who's creator was Peter Lord at Ardman Animations, who, with his friend (or perhaps his guide...), that being the popular children's artist, Tony Hart, (1925 - 2009), was very influential on my creativity.  And here he is!

"Morph", First created by Peter Lord (1977)

I chose to create a copy of Morph simply because nobody really knows where they will be in 5 years time, but what I do know, (and this is really a life lesson to anyone), is that wherever I am, I will have "morphed" into whatever role in life there is out there....

With regards to the practical work for this module, one of the main outcomes for each of us will be to create suitable portfolio resources for our practice, and potentially for future placements or work engagements. It was suggested that we look at to portfolio websites;

1. The Association of illustrators
2. Access Web.

It is recommended to look at the artists tabs for biographies and artists statements and it may be possible to use some of them in order to create a template for an appropriate profile.

Once we have created these, we will then use them as a link for turn it in, which will include an artist statement, a CV and positioning document, and a selection of works for a "starter" portfolio.

The correct type of statement in order to get commissions are crucial. Likewise for commissioners they read these statements with a fine tooth comb. One has to demonstrate reliability through a proven track record, you can't just say that you are reliable!    Commissioners and others who are looking for people to fulfil artistic projects surf and skim over thousands of images, so it is obvious that whatever we provide has to clearly stand out head and shoulders above other works that you may find on these types of portfolio repositories

It's also important to state your location, and whether or not you are able to work anywhere in the UK, or if you prefer to just limit your work to a particularly busy county, such as West Yorkshire, greater Manchester, or the London area or wherever. Likewise, it is also important to give an indication of how you charge for your work, but keep it vague.

The deadline for this work will be the end of February.

We also discussed the idea of Stanford University's Prof. Tina Seelig's Creativity Attributes, and their internal and external facets.

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[ I took a peek on-line and a link to some interesting work can be found here]
http://cacm.acm.org/system/assets/0000/7705/041712.Tina.Seelig.Color.Innovation.Engine.jpg

And also, take a look at:
http://www.creativitypost.com/create/tina_seeligs_insights_on_creativity

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In the forthcoming weeks, we will also look at ambiguity and uncertainty; the subjects of congruence and living your own values, together with the ideas of presence and reputation will be explored too.

Conclusions;

• The underlying theme that I drew as a conclusion was; that whatever I create needs to provide some solidity in what I'm trying to get over as a message, together with actual evidence to back up my claims!
• As I already have a website established, I need to spend quite a long period in getting this up-to-date as it is almost a year to 18 months old!
• In a way, this is fallen pretty well because I want to begin to use Adobe Dreamweaver to such an extent that I can get associate certification for that package and, therefore, include that within the website itself. So I see this is a great opportunity to experiment in web design much further.
• I remembered the book by Karen Horny entitled "Feel the Fear, but do it anyway" and "Embracing Uncertainty" which is an excellent starter for further reading. I'm sure I have a copy of those books somewhere....