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''.