A Day Trip to Bytom

Tram Journey

Yesterday, we decided to take our first day trip out of Katowice since we have arrived in Poland. We went to Bytom, a local city, that is located around 20 minutes away. On Thursday, when I was speaking to the Interdisciplinary tutor, Asher, she suggested we go there to visit the museums for our 'Simulacra' project but also to explore a beautiful city. She gave us 2 bus route numbers, we looked and decided to get the tram instead as we had not yet used it and we also thought we may see more if we were travelling on the tram. It took about 15 minutes longer to get to Bytom by tram but it was an enjoyable journey. The weather on this day was heavy snowfall and very cold, during the day around -7 degrees dropping to -13 degrees at night.

To begin with, we found the right tram stop at Katowice Rynek (the Market Square). The route we could take was either tram number 6 or number 19. We chose number 6 as I think it was a more direct tram from Katowice to Bytom. We waited around 10 minutes for the tram to arrive, after buying our tickets and checking the times on the timetable. We bought a reduced price, '3 city, travelling for around 90 minutes' ticket. I wasn't entirely sure what this meant but as it stated online that the tram journey could take from 30-45 minutes we felt we needed to choose the larger duration of time as the ticket before was only up to 40 minutes.
I had a strange encounter with an old lady whilst we were waiting for the tram. She got off at the stop and picked an empty squashed can out of a bin. She stared at me intently and was almost waving the can at me whilst shouting something presumably Polish which I didn't understand. As she started walking towards me, I stepped back and moved along the platform as she made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I laughed about it afterwards but this was the first time since I have arrived in Poland, that I haven't felt completely safe.

Tram ticket

We got on the tram once it arrived and after about 5 stops I saw a girl stamp her ticket using a yellow machine onboard the tram so realised we should have done this when we got on. This didn't really seem to make any difference anyway because there was only the driver on board so no one to check the tickets. Thankfully, there was an interactive map onboard the tram that showed us what each stop was called as we arrived at it as well as an informative video on a screen. The tram was fairly busy, it was Saturday but it is also a cheap form of public transportation. We got off near the centre of Bytom, next to a large shopping centre called Agora Bytom.

Getting my Canon digital camera out of my bag, I began to take photographs of the characteristic streets and striking buildings. We walked around for about 5 minutes and then went into the shopping centre, deciding we needed a hot drink to get warm.

A water bowl for dogs

A street in Bytom

Coffee and Cake
We were immediately drawn to the most delightful looking cafe filled with displays of delicate handmade cakes and a large menu of hot drinks. I chose to have a Mocha and 'Bab Kajmakow'. This cake translates in English to 'Butterscotch'. The cake was a shortcrust pastry filled with caramel, topped with chocolate drops and walnuts. It reminded me of English millionaire's shortbread but with the addition of walnuts on top. It was delicious, as was the mocha. I also felt so relaxed in the cafe environment, it was stunningly decorated in earthy colours and the crockery was beautiful - owl designs reflecting the cafe logo in an illustrative style. It really inspired me to try making ceramics as soon as I can, I would love to do a ceramics workshop in the future.

A Tale of Two Museums
The main reason we had decided to visit Bytom, was to go to some museums that our Interdisciplinary tutor had suggested to us. Firstly, we went to Muzeum Gornoslozskie. We navigated our way there from the shopping centre using Google Maps and it was around a 7 minute walk. I fell in love with the architectural style of the museum building. It was so unusual and really stood out against the muted tones of the surrounding buildings in the street. The red brick was rich and had an earthy, handcrafted feel to it as if alot of passion had gone into the construction of the building. Just as we were walking in, it started to snow heavily and the front garden looked so magical and wintry, almost like a film set.

Muzeum Gornslozkie

As we entered the large decorative doors, we were greeted by a Polish tour guide of the museum. She spoke no English but we managed to translate and ask her about whether there was an admission fee. We could also understand some things she was saying such as the fact that the admission we paid to enter this museum can also be used for the other museum that is situated on the street in front. It cost 10 polish zloty for the both of us, I did show my student ID which allowed us to pay the concessions fee. This converts to only £1.05 each. A lovely touch was when she lead us to the cloakroom, we could leave our coats and bags free of charge, allowing us to be more free when walking around the exhibitions. This is often an extra cost for museums in the UK although many UK museums don't have an entrance fee for the permanent exhibitions.

The tour guide led us to the first room. It was a series of rooms, one leading into another, filled with artwork placed artistically on the walls. There were small information sheets in a corner of each room that gave information about each artist exhibited, these were written in Polish but I intend to translate them into English so I can use this information in my Artist research. The artwork exhibited was of a wide variety and medium, I took some photographs of work I particularly liked, making sure my phone camera flash wasn't on. They seemed to allow us to take photos but I wanted to immerse myself in the power of first hand observation as much as I could. I was interested by the designs on the blinds, these were closed to protect the artwork and stop any light coming in that may reflect badly on the frames. I think the exhibition was well displayed. My experience would have been improved if there was the occasional seat or bench within the rooms so that I could sit and draw but it was clearly laid out in such a way to encourage visitors to walk around without stopping to sit down. There was a pew outside of the rooms but this was not surrounded by any artwork and I didn't use it because it looked quite religious as if it wasn't meant to be sat on.

I like the way these artworks have been displayed in a kind of cut out frame in the wall

Hallway leading to Art exhibition

The pew - I love the decorative pattern above it engraved into a curved ceiling 

The symbolic blind

Once we had finished looking around the art exhibition, we were led by a second tour guide upstairs to the 'Artefacts' part of the museum. There were some beautiful stain glassed windows to look at along the way, full of narratives and bright, enticing colours. The traditional and rich style of the building both exterior and interior gave me a fuller cultural experience that I hope to portray in my drawings for the interdisciplinary project.

The artefacts featured were quite historical - terracotta pottery, tools, black and white photographs, handwritten letters, a wooden chest, a lovely pocket watch. The pottery tended to be displayed in glass cabinets with a layer of sand at the bottom, I thought this was quite nice to give an earthy feel. I was particularly drawn to the pocket watch as a possible artefact I could choose to research and draw. I haven't seen many in person before and I like the thought of creating a project that could represent my feelings towards the subject of 'time', how people used to tell the time and how they tell the time in the present day, unusual or classical time objects, an investigation into time and its meaning both physically and mentally.

Historical photographs and letters 

Pottery and tools

Pocket watch

We walked back down to collect our coats and bags after we had finished in this exhibition. Then we each looked at and bought a few postcards. I will use these to inform my research as well as keep them as memoirs. I was pleased to be able to say 'Dziekuje' (thank you, pronounced jenkoo-yeh) as we left, it feels good to be able to speak some basic words and phrases to show we are trying to learn the language so that we can communicate with a wider range of people.

Information leaflets collected 

Postcards bought

After leaving the museum, we decided to head to the other museum that we could enter with the same ticket. We showed our tickets and were told that it allowed us access to two exhibitions - a Wildlife Photography exhibition and a Chemistry exhibition. We could then decide whether to pay extra to see the other exhibitions on display as well. There was also a nice cloakroom in this museum and a gift shop that sold many of the same products as the other museum. I really liked the skill of the photography of wildlife and some of the abstracted, colourful backgrounds surrounding the animals provided me with some inspiration for the Digital Graphics Basics project, 'loss of balance'.

Museum admission ticket

Wildlife Photography Exhibition

The chemistry exhibition was more aimed at children but it was still informative and there were some interesting models helping to explain about atoms and molecules. I'm not particularly interested in Chemistry so I probably won't use the photographs and sense I gathered from the exhibition but it was still useful to see how they had displayed the room and what sort of mediums and structures they had used.

My favourite model in the Chemistry Exhibition

On exiting the museum, we decided to go for a wander to take some more photographs of architecture and interesting sites we saw outside. We think we found the market square that Asher had told us about and we had a walk along a high street but before long we had both gotten very cold and decided to find the tram stop so that we could go back to Katowice before it got dark. It didn't take us too long to find a stop with the correct route number (6) but this stop didn't have a ticket machine so we decided we would get on and then get off again to get a ticket. Although we later thought that perhaps we had bought a return as it said you could go to about 3 cities so we just stayed on the tram until we got back to Katowice Rynek. By this time it was around 5.30pm and the temperature had dropped to -8 degrees. The lowest temperature predicted for night was -13 degrees.

Bytom city square

We half ran to the high street, deciding to go to a burger restaurant, Bobby Burger for an early dinner. The restaurant was quite small but it wasn't busy and we ordered at the bar, thankful to be given an English menu although the Polish menu wasn't too difficult to read and understand. I ordered a Cheeseburger with fries and a lemonade, coming to £5.48 once converted. The burger was lovely, fresh and full of flavour. We both ate quicker than we usually do just to warm up! Once finished, we braved the cold one last time and walked back to the dorm.

Bobby Burger

It was a great day, I felt I had learned a lot from the museums and looking around Bytom and it felt good to get out of Katowice and also work out how to use the tram. I look forward to doing further research from what I have found out and developing a series of drawings from our day trip.

Interdisciplinary Actions Class

Yesterday began with a session at the Interdisciplinary Actions studio. We got there for 10am and began by discussing our portfolios and ideas for the project set (simulacra) with one of the assistant tutors. I showed the portfolio of work I had put together on my Illustration blog -  elliedanielillustrationdesign.blogspot.co.uk

My illustration blog - elliedanielillustrationdesign.blogspot.co.uk

The assistant tutor, Asher, gave me some good feedback about my portfolio. I started by showing her the work I had presented together on a page titled, 'Portfolio - Year 1 Illustration'. I explained each project as we went through the photographs I had included of my work. She said my moral theatre final pieces are beautiful and she liked the use of a mixture of medium. She was quite surprised at the difference in appearance between my black and white screen-print and the three colour layer screen-print. The black and white screen print doesn't have a frame around it so it appears that it should be larger than it looks in the photo, I should go back and take a better quality photograph. Asher thought the drawing I created on top of train tickets depicting London was interesting and something I could consider experimenting with if I decide to draw architecture within this interdisciplinary project.

A drawing I created of London on top of collaged train tickets

She liked the outcomes I created for the archaeological illustration project, 'Site:UCA'. She said the two final drawings in the photograph I took in our home illustration studio really stood out to her because they are balanced between realism and abstraction. The project she seemed most interesting in was 'Artefact'. She liked the fact that the research I had conducted at the museum informed the drawings I was producing and the final publication I created. She told us both about a nearby city we should definitely visit, Bytom, that has a lovely museum full of artefacts. She told us how long it takes to get there and even gave us the bus route numbers. We may decide to use the tram instead as I checked and there is a route to Bytom, it may allow us to see a little more. One of her favourite pages of the publication was the rubbing from the other side of the landscape collaged drawing. She said 'it has a strong composition'.

The left page that Asher thinks has a strong composition - Artefact publication, titled 'Yoruba Journey from Life to Death'

Site: UCA final illustration

I went on to show her a second page, 'Portfolio - Year 2 Illustration'. She found the pebble I had painted on for my summer documentary project enticing and asked to see a larger photo of my 'Traditional Corfu Town' sketch. She liked the way I had drawn the buildings in an organic way as artists tend to approach drawing architecture in a very precise way. She also liked how 'full' the drawing is, there is alot going on, alot to look at. I showed her my Documentary work for 'Watts Gallery Artists' Village' and she really admired the delicate drawings I completed at the Watts Chapel. She also liked the 'organic-ness' of many of my other sketches and my use of mixed media.

Traditional Corfu Town sketch

To finish, I talked through my ideas for the 'Simulacra' project. I explained that I had done some research into the meanings of the world which she seemed quite impressed with. I had found quite a few different definitions written by different art theorists.
I found out that 'simulacra' is the plural of 'simulacrum - a representation or imitation of a person or thing. It is a term that originates from Greek Platonic philosophy that meant a copy of a copy of an ideal form. Art theorists I learnt about include Jean Baudrillard, Plato, Gilles Deleuze and Nietsche. I will write a more in depth analysis of my research in another blog post.

Initial research into the meanings of Simulacra 

I had also done a very quick sketch of a Katowice sculpture - 'Silesian Insurgents' Monument', we saw the sculpture when we were walking to Spodek arena to the 4 Design Days event last Sunday. I had written down some initial ideas such as focusing on either architecture or sculptures as subject matters. Asher suggested I could combine the two together as well as look at some museum artefacts that are strange and interesting to me. She said we could both work in the ways we are used to, using our strengths of drawing in particular mediums and creating books/publications as final pieces.

Ideas and a quick sketch for the theme of Simulacra

We have arranged to meet with Asher every Thursday at 10am so that we can have 1 to 1 consultations to talk about the work we are producing for the Simulacra project. The main point that Asher made is that ''Simulacra is whatever the creator wants it to be''.

A Night Stroll

Last night, I decided to go out for a short walk in the area surrounding our dorm. I went out to buy more teabags as the main purpose but also felt like getting outside for some fresh air. I have never lived in such a large concrete block building before. Our room is located on the 3rd floor, there is 7 floors in total, -1 to 5. I find the long corridors and the lack of windows a little confined sometimes so I feel like I need to go outside. I decided to take some photographs along the way and write down some creative thoughts in the form of haiku poems as a new way of sharing how a particular place makes me feel.

They lock and padlock the main gate around 8.30/9pm, this seems a little early but I think it may be for security reasons. Therefore, I had to walk along an enclosed passageway to be able to exit the dorm grounds. I walked along and down the street where the corner shop is situated, it was closed so I followed the street around. I spotted a '6-23 Delikatesy' sign so I knew this shop would still  be open. I found tea soon enough and also bought some iced tea, I had intended to get orange juice but it was a bit expensive compared to Aldi where we have recently been doing our food shopping.

After exiting the shop, I walked up the street a little but could only spot a petrol station and bus stop, it seemed to lead to a larger more direct road. I turned around and walked left down a street, observing a supermarket I hadn't seen before and a children's play park. I also saw another University and some restaurants. I may go back during the day another time to have a clearer look.

The night air was fairly cold but not freezing, it wasn't icy but I could almost sense that it may snow soon. It ended up snowing this morning before and as we were walking to University. I tried to stick to lit up areas and didn't walk too far because I didn't want to appear lost. It was an enjoyable walk, aiding my inspiration and helped me to be more able to get on with some work when I got back to the dorm. I intend to walk more at night as I found I spotted things I hadn't seen before and I was clearly seeing things in a different light... an illuminated light from the street lamps and car headlights.

Illuminated

Bright lights add depth to darkness

presenting pathways

A smokey haze drifts

into the moonlit sky above

creating a cloud

The last specks of snow 

look less pure in the darkness

More will fall for sure 

Poster Design Class

After speaking with the Graphic Art - Literature Interpretation professor, we went to the Poster Design studio. This is open from 10am-5pm on Wednesdays and is very much a 'drop-in, drop-out' class so it did not matter that it was after 10am when we arrived. The studio was fairly full up and most of the students were female. They were practicing their handwritten calligraphy using ink and brush/dip pens. They had guide sheets in front of them to help them to get the thick and thinness of each stroke right. I would definitely like to try some whilst studying at ASP as I don't feel that my handwritten type is particularly good, I need more practice.

Other students practicing calligraphy 

The calligraphy guide sheet 

We sat down and got out the work we had produced so far for the class. We had been asked the week before to come up with a range of design ideas for British film posters and then create 3 final posters. I had created a series of 9 thumbnail drawings, 3 thumbnails for each film I had chosen. I decided to illustrate Paddington, Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I chose these particular films because I have watched them all quite a few times so felt I had a visual picture in my head of the sort of poster designs I could create. I'm unsure as to whether the Alice in Wonderland film I have chosen is classed as British because it was directed by Tim Burton, an American film director, but the book it is based on was written by an English author, Lewis Carroll.

My British film poster thumbnail designs 

I had also created one larger poster of one of my Paddington thumbnail ideas. I wasn't very pleased with how this had turned out because I hadn't got the proportions quite right, the bear's legs were too small in comparison to his suitcase. My text was also uneven and not of a particularly high quality so I definitely need to work on that. I might paint the final poster rather than use pens because I think the colour quality may be better and it would suit the fact that I would like to work on a larger scale. I am going to re-do my first larger poster design so will post it once it is finished.

A4 sized poster - will recreate because the composition and proportions aren't quite right

Whilst we were in the studio, the three tutors came over to us to have a look at our work. The first words that the main Professor said is 'beautiful work'. This made me smile because I was a little anxious that I may not have understood what they had asked for completely. I drew the thumbnails in the style I use for all my projects and they really liked the way I had laid it out. Other advice and feedback I was given include - check the spacing between hand-lettering and add more text such as the director and cast names. Also, practice doing hand text many times.
They particularly liked my Paddington bear thumbnails because of the way I had played with the composition, considering both positive and negative space. The female professor actually lifted up my work at one point and showed it to the whole class, exclaiming in Polish! I was a little surprised but felt quite honoured that she appreciated what I had created.

I showed them the larger poster design I had created for the first Paddington thumbnail as well. They said that the smaller design was better and I agreed - on the larger paper I had drawn the legs too tiny and the stroke and thickness of line quality wasn't as successful.
They suggested I could scan my thumbnail sketches into the computer and then enlarge them. I did try this in the Poster design studio with the help of one of the tutors as the computer was set up in Polish language. Unfortunately, the scan did not work very well so I was advised to go up to the photography studios because the scanning equipment up there is of a better quality. I will do this once I have collected together all the work I would like to scan.

My feedback for the other film thumbnails is that they aren't as strong as the Paddington drawings. The Alice in Wonderland 'dress' sketch has no head and legs which they didn't like, they weren't sure if the composition worked very well. They felt that the playing card sketch has a lack of form and the teacup sketch is not such an interesting composition. I will go back and improve these so that the final posters I create are more successful.

After they had chatted with me, I practiced some of my handwritten text. I intend to buy some drawing ink so that I can do some in a calligraphy style. I think a brush or dip pen dipped into ink produces a better quality of line than using a calligraphy or marker pen.

I enjoyed the class and the learning environment so look forward to the coming weeks as I develop my poster designs further.

My calligraphy - I need to use spacing and gridlines to ensure each letter is consistent - I will practice this with ink and brush

Polish film posters exhibited on the studio walls