Reflections on a chance conversation...

I got very valid feedback about my final piece;  I had an interesting conversation with Dr Alison Rowley, on Monday in that whilst she congratulated me, (in fact, she came out of her way yesterday to come over to me whilst I was waiting in a queue about to buy some coffee, when I got a very slight and gentle pat on the back, on which I turned around for Dr Rowley) to exclaim how much she liked my work and said that it was fantastic!

Interestingly today, I bumped into her again whilst talking to another student. I mentioned to Dr Rowley that whilst I am exploring the possibility of continuing to perform a Masters degree, she asked me what area I would be wanting to study?

I explained one of my ideas around the possibility of creating new visual and symbolic methods of interpreting business architectures, especially infrastructure architectures and how I could symbolically represent them in such a way that they may be able to be re-engineered to help companies, particularly large corporate ones become more dynamic in this 21st-century. Dr Rowley almost suggested through a leading question that "it seems that your final piece on the good gnome is and was a one-off and you've finished that now(?)"  I wasn't sure if this was a comment, a statement or a question.  Reacting somewhat to it as a question, I was quick to respond that whilst I have indeed finished a large piece, there was still much work for me to do and I am still deeply engaged not only with the body of work that I have produced during this last year but I also feel that there is potential for a lot more, deeper philosophical engagement with the initial ideas I have begun to develop...

 Unfortunately as a passing conversation (which it was), I was unable to articulate that the work never really stops in my mind; it is just that I have found a convenient point during my practice to create something which 'may have the feel of a finished object', but I am extremely conscious that there is a great deal more for me to explore particularly with regards to object oriented philosophy.

Regretfully, I was unable to articulate this to Dr Rowley in the very short time that we had together and I was disappointed with myself, in that I was somewhat tongue-tied in trying to explain how I want to continue with the existing theme and potentially turn new artefacts out into the artistic domain in order to express this deep and highly engaging theme that I have been investigating on my journey of understanding.

Conclusion!

 Hopefully having written these short words, I am in a better position to articulate the continuance, or my intention to continue with this investigative exploration. Whether that produces completely new artefacts in a totally different direction from the theme of gnomes is yet to be seen, but I am confident that there is more that I can explore and I want to be in a better position to explain this next time a highly regarded academic is able to have some dialogue with me...  I need to be better prepared!