Graphic Art - Literature Interpretation

We arrived at University for 11am so that we could meet with the professor who is in charge of the Literature Interpretation class as part of the Graphic Art study programme. The room was quite large and airy, surrounded by painting studios which seemed a little odd but we later found out that the class is more interdisciplinary than its name suggests. On the timetable, a different room number is stated so I think the classes are shared between 2 rooms.

The Literature Interpretation studio

Literature interpretation is a wide discipline and a conceptual process is explored. The tools and medium used depends on your ideas. The first theme for second year that was taught in the winter semester, was choosing a word from a box and then interpreting it. Using a methodology to prepare a symbolic map of meaning. The professor said to use a dictionary to find out the different meanings of the chosen word and later we need to discuss our ideas with him and his assistant. A consultation with the tutors is a good way of helping a continuation and development of the work, finding an interesting problem and solving it together. Thinking about how to answer the problem using a strong visual language. I like the sound of this use of problem-solving to help to come to a successful outcome. This project will take around 1 and a half months.

This semester, there are 2 new topics. These are 'community' and 'anthropology' - the study of various aspects of humans within past and present societies. The anthropology project involves working alongside another University and using the research of an American Anthropologist who I think he said is called Ralph Linton. This project involves thinking about social roles and idea roles.

To begin, we have been asked to choose a word from the box and come up with some initial ideas. We will talk with the professor next week about our ideas. The word I chose 'swiatloczulosc'  translates to 'light sensitivity'. The basic meaning of this word is an intolerance to light. The professor suggests I could look into analog photography and to look at the methodology aspects of the meaning. He asked us to create a map of thinking that has many contexts.

The word I chose translating to 'light sensitivity'

There are examples of the studio work created by other students on the University academic website as well as a presentation in Polish. He asked if we have much experience in working within the disciplines of video and performance. We both feel that we don't have an awful lot of knowledge but are willing to learn and try out some new processes. We also have opportunities to work alongside the other tutor and 2 PhD students. Literature Interpretation classes are held every week, 2nd years on Tuesday and a mixture of years on Wednesday. Depending on the rest of the timetable, we can see which day would be best for us to attend. The professor lastly told us that they will always provide us with a brief that will provide us with the themes and roles of the particular project.

I would like to choose this unit because I think it fits in well with Illustration, kind of like creating a narrative of a word but in a more conceptual way.