The night before I had pondered over if presenting "nothing" (by this I mean no physical object) would be acceptable as a final piece but after careful consideration and advice from friends I decided the implication of this act would be more devastating than successful. Clearly, because it would depict a sense of laziness and lack of determination or drive to my tutor.

My final piece was an embroidery hoop layered over a pink cloth in it's original formatted square shape and the outline of a cut out square of a frame my friend Elaine had made for her own project. In my opinion, my final piece was too simplified but I felt like it justified the topic of nothing because the work I produced literally had no substance due to the lack of a title written beside my work and a clear description.

We gave each other critique's and ,mine was by Elaine who said " would like a concept statement /intention. Perhaps also the scale and how I envisioned the presentation to be in a space."

  During class we were told to envision where our work would be presented (gallery, client etc) would be presented at and to whom (art curator)  would our idea be communicated to. I decided my work would be displayed at an art gallery and to an art curator. From the feedback received I decided that I would hang each section of my work using thread to create an installation and have a title named "nothing" and a brief description explaining my thought process and purpose of my reasoning if I were to develop my presentation further.  

Later in the day the teacher suggested we should vocally explain what our projects were about  and present our concept to the class. I presented my work through my voice and actions, making sure to alternate my voice accordingly. I was told by my tutor to make a video of how I performed my concept about nothing and so my work ended up being performance art (video). 

Monday 17th September 

Upon my investigation outside I realised that I had little or no interest in the pictures I had taken because they were SAFE AND BORING. These pictures consisted of broken toys, a porcupine shape, This was because I felt they were too polite and I wanted more thought provoking pictures and no not like burnt stubs of used cigarettes. I wanted objects that had suspicion, had a never ending story that consisted on me investigating further and further through my research. I wanted contrast between scale. I wanted objects that may have intricate details within the object itself or  a moving creature who's skin could be manipulated backwards and forwards, changing colour each time. The items were just too straightforward and quite frankly lacked energy, making the images contradict my exuberant and fun personality. They just were not of a high standard or good enough to be called a 'collection.' Purely just regular items anyone could take on the road that probably has no real impact or effect on the way people envisioned the way they looked or the  potential to be explored further. The pictures also lacked emotion, making them appear dull and uninteresting. My collection of items lacked so little vision or drive that I decided to take pictures of people's tongues.

However, after the group activity I had encountered in the morning and the previous week, it was clear that my peers were intrigued by the objects I had in my bag. I was constantly asked why I had so many items in my bags in which I did not necessarily need. Therefore, I started to ponder on my  hoarding habits, I noticed that I would buy more than enough of any item I assumed I needed. For instance, let’s say I had one mouthwash. I would buy 5 more just so I’m prepared for the mouth wash to run out because I love the security of having more than enough.

I experimented with different drawing techniques such as by drawing with a thick black marker on top of the etching making sure to use my opposite hand and foot in order to create a variation of marks on my etching plate etching.  By using the thick black marker I was able to create a contrast between the dark and light and just basically test the effects of light on my work to see how it would impact my work visually. What I discovered Initially, I was going to etch the whole page which consisted of just varied etching marks (short and quick marks combined with long and faint marks to soften the overall image of the print and so I could create contrast and control.

 Fashion Communication - DO/UNDO/REDO

I had brought loads of items of clothing and fabric that related to the list of words given to us in the brief but yet I felt it was not enough because the some items (tissue paper) added no value to my final piece. Out of the list of words presented on the brief I felt that the best 3 chosen words for my look-book, these were white, undersized and covered/hidden. My model had modelled before and was open to following directions such as: covering his face within a sheet of linen or wearing my corset and stretching my corset and skating with it, resulting in a loss of mobility. We worked compatibly together but I felt like my partner was reluctant to push ideas further and was not really bothered about the outcome of our recreated looks because we whizzed through our looks quickly but only did about 4 even though there was enough time to explore more looks...In addition, our final outcomes I felt were too subtle and almost appeared as if a lack of effort creatively or direction had been executed. This is because they were all captured using the same background. This is because the model felt more comfortable in this environment, even though I had voiced i would have liked to use a more vibrant background, I did not want to impose my view on my model.

I found fashion communication rapid yet exciting. The thrill of doing something every 5 minutes made me more conscious of how to manage my time and how demanding and fast paced the industry is. Consequently, meaning being alert and proactive at all times must be important. Notwithstanding the fact that this pathway is fast pace,  I enjoyed having a partner however I felt because we had two different personalities and visions I felt that I was unable to convey my ideas thoroughly through my partner. Therefore, making me feel restricted. This is due to the fact I felt like he wanted more of a subtle ( Maison Margiela- same pose and background type of initiative) approach and I wanted something wild and experimental. Although, as an art director or a stylist I would still need to convey my vision despite the feelings of the model. I felt styling was interesting but I did not really enjoy the photography aspect because I feel as if I am not confident in editing and reviewing and capturing good quality photographs.

 Overall, enough or inspired enough to partake in this pathway even though I feel as if this was the focus of the pathway. Hence, I feel like fashion communication would not best suited for me.

Final Outcomes:

 Lost Letters 

I felt that I did not enjoy the process of this project because I felt as if it was repetitive and too simplistic. Even though I know there are many more processes, I just found the process too simplistic and I think I lack interest in the way text is communicated but this pathway made me think deeper about language and text and how it could change people's perspectives.

Wear It

I loved how experimental and straightforward but beautiful jewellery making was. I felt that jewellery making allowed me to think broadly about fashion because I learnt that most times it is not necessarily the design of clothing the model wears down the runway that enraptures the audience but the jewellery connected to the silhouette of the body is what draws the attention of an audience. I felt like jewellery formed a balance between fine art and fashion because using the words “surround,” “support” and “suspend” enabled me to thing conceptually about the project itself, for instance how the jewellery can control stature or evoke pain or simply be made for a duration of time. Thus, I think this pathway could be suited for me.

Explore It

I was late to class due to the VISA appointment I had scheduled the morning of this pathway. Consequently, when I arrived to class I had missed the presentation and brief and so I felt lost at first...I explained this to my tutor and she proceeded to tell me to join a group and go draw "tomatoes" and " lemons" and in fact as a group collectively we needed to buy a melon from one of the grocery stores outside. I was already disorientated due to my confusion on what was going on. However, I was up for the challenge. At first I drew with thick, black, charcoal. I used this because I enjoyed the variation in shade I could get using charcoal( dark and light) so I could represent the shadow on the tomatoes and lemons. I proceeded to using pastels to represent my love of colour and then I started to play with the scale. I decided to overlap the yellow pastel to create a small outline of the lemons  over the large charcoal tomato drawing. I wanted my audience to identify each shape as being an individual shape of their own so it was obvious and clear what I was drawing because I feel that  sometimes the message could get lost when I overcomplicate my drawings . Thus, just by differentiating through colour, size and medium could prove to be more effective effect than a combination of mediums.

Thereafter, we were told to hold, touch/ squeeze the fruit to see how tactically our ideas could be influenced by our interaction with the fruit. Then, we began to sketch, each drawing consisting of only 2 minutes. We had to thin and execute our drawings very fast and because of the time constraint I felt some of my drawings were too repetitive or similar or could have been executed better. However, I felt that by doing this I generated loads of ideas and I sense that having more substance (sketches) to work with could be easier to develop and just because some ideas were similar it was easier to clarify a final idea in my opinion. My idea at first was to create a functional yet aesthetic fruit holder. On paper  this worked but as well as in my head but to structurally create these ideas proved difficult because the materials offered to us were paper, tape and wire. I had some wooden sticks from the previous project with me as well as threads . I tried to adapt the design I made for the jewellery project I made before by breaking the sticks in half then bending the wooden sticks because they were constructed with thin layers UHU glue, making the structure easy to influence. Then by  enclosing the wood round the shape I created a shield to hold the tomato in place. It was a bit tricky at first  but it worked. I proceeded to then join the wooden sticks in a slot formation, by making one lump of wooden sticks rely on another and sticking them hexagonally to the other. After, I added string so I could attach the fruit to the holder andI was told they were too "complicated" and I should think of using "less material." Generally, using materials and textures to create a physical object and I did necessarily like reducing the amount of materials I used because I like the tactility of materials and I am interested in experimenting with the softness or roughness of unlike or like materials and/ the combination of materials and the output that could be resolved could produce a new idea process to me.This idea failed anyways because the tomato could not be balanced. Thereafter, I tried pinching the edges of a wire stick round the tomato to create a frame but the tomato could not maintain its wait due to the fact the wire was not strong enough because I only used one but if I used two wires it would obstruct the aesthetic of the holder and could bruise or damage the tomato.

At the end of the day I created my final fruit holders out of wire and I was pleased with my outcomes.

This was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have encountered on the course. At first I was quite close minded about the idea of me studying architecture for 7 years and having a 3 hour lecture was not persuading me to think otherwise. I found the lecture quite demanding  because it made me really think and question what I considered to be architecture. I've concluded that I consider architecture to be a piece of work that innovates the architect to create function within creativity. However, I enjoy creating sculptures or pieces most times that do not need to have a functional use but in ARCHITECTURE I FEEL that there has to be a FUNCTION for the architecture if not there is no point of creating and developing it in the first place.

When we actually started producing enjoyed working in a group however I struggled with the technical drawings despite repeating them several times. Hence why I feel this pathway would not be suited for me.

 Lost Letters

I enjoyed the approach to this project but I felt it was not suited for me because I enjoy using and creating textures and more experimentation. I find that I am more suited to making physical 3D objects than creating text as I feel I will lose interest in what I am doing easily and if I should carry this further to my degree I would have to be committed and passionate about this area which I feel that I am not unlike Fine Art or Textiles.