KEY BLOG POST #2

COLLABORATIVE ASPECTS, CREATIVE RESPONSES, KEY DEVELOPMENTS, IMPACTS

Although I was already very comfortable with the students on Unit X, now that a few more weeks had passed I was becoming a lot more confident with the students. We made Facebook groups to give out messages and put up notifications and there was instant feedback on the groups which was great for development as of this point we were able to work together even after some 'hiccups' with a few students we still managed to carry on in a good manner taking everyones views into consideration.

During this unit we have had a lot of opportunities to collaborate with students from different disciplines and also in the same disciplinary. Since being at the school for the placement we have two events we need to plan for as a team. This on one side (planning for workshop at DACA) is proving a lot more difficult and on the other side (planning for showcase event) a bit more easier. 

When it came to collaborating for the workshop at DACA my group had some problems at first because one of the members kept changing aspects we had all planned together and make it to fit their ideas which started to cause stress for other members of the group. However, when we all came together to plan for the showcase event, things ran more smoothly and even after all of us giving in our suggestions we got good results without a lot of stress.

Having said this, during these weeks I have gained a lot of knowledge about working collaboratively and how to handle different situations with different people and I think this will help me plan more carefully with the group later on in the project. However, I feel as though if there are changes constantly being made by one member it will become a lot more difficult to execute a full day of workshops and so we must stick to what is being planned as a group.

One of the skills that I have developed during this course was using different materials to make art. During this project without realising I have used a lot of plasticine to make simple 2D objects to semi 3D objects and I started to really enjoy this because I was able to make quick designs and also put more time in and make something more than 2D designs, I have given thought to use clay and ceramics in my practice as working with plasticine has led me to wanting to try a different approach to art making.

(Images above) All artwork made by using plasticine.

The aspects that interest me most about collaborating was that there were always a lot more ideas. If at some point one didn't have ideas (which did happen at some points) another would whiz out another idea very quickly and I thought this way we had a lot of ideas to work with. However, although we had a lot of ideas it was difficult to decide which ones to actually go with and that's when we started to disagree with some aspects. So working in a team is always very rewarding but patience is really the key. 

In Fine Art I had heard and seen a lot of performance art but I didn't pay as much attention because I have always been into either painting or  paper cutting art however, from the research and meetings with students from other areas of art especially Interactive Arts I have started to build an interest of performance art and I would want to incorporate some aspects of performance art in my practice as I think being a Fine Ar student this could be another leap to a better understanding of art. I definitely know that this unit has made me appreciate contextual side to art because in this unit I found myself reading up a lot of things that I tend not to do such as performance art and fashion shows and I really enjoy it because it different and new to me.

After these very eventful and informative weeks I think the only way is to carry on planning meetings and arrange all of us to meet together and get ideas down together and go from there this way we will all be informed about what is going on and we can give in our input. Other than this we have a Facebook group which is proving to be good in terms of people responding so that is another option. But I think meeting as a group to finalise decisions is more needed.