Presentation Feedback and De-brief

Feedback

Work Plan...

I have collated a work plan for the Self Directed Project. This is not something I would usually do but considering this is a live project I am working on it is extremely important to stick to deadlines outlined because alot of people depend on you and it is working towards an event. Doing this workplan has helped me realise how long I actually have and to keep on top of things so that it isn't a massive rush towards the end like some of my previous projects. I have included my 'Perceptions of performance' lectures and deadlines as well as shows I will visit for this project and another project I am working on with a Commercial Photography student. I think its really imporatant to work out all of these dates and it highlights how important it is to be organised (not one of my strongest points if im honest but something I really really want to improve on!) A lot of things in each project need prior arranging and I think this workplan is going to be very beneficial for sorting it all out... 


WORK PLAN

Sea Monster ideas....

I have visited the Natural History Museum and looking into ideas on the theme of sea monsters and decided that my costume is definitely going to be a squid idea. It was interesting to gain primary research from here as I spent alot of time observing the different types of squids and generated some drawings. These have helped me in the design process and collaging the drawings onto the human figure... I have had some other ideas and inspiration for the design such as the 'Oods' from doctor who and Pirates of the Caribbean cracken. I think by looking into ideas such as these when there are so many boys in the class will benefit me in the fact that they will hopefully be more interested and excited about the project if they look through my sketchbook etc. I want to let the children play around with different ideas of how to create these tentacles around the nose so they have a form of creative freedom as well.


We have a presentation soon to present to the steering group to show our initial ideas, this will be really useful to get their opinions and constructive criticism on my ideas so far as they are the ones who curate the Moving Tides procession so their thoughts are really important....


The powerpoint I have created is simple and basic and will hopefully give them a visual idea of my thoughts so far...

Researching Carnival...

Researching Carnival has been really interesting to start this project as I have learnt alot from the varied types I have looked at... Having looked at Notting Hill carnival it seems really relevant to Moving tides carnival because people of all ages make the costumes and perform, it started off a community project and brings everyone together at a street festival like I imagine Moving Tides will. The simplicity in some of the costumes seem to be a key point to making it successful creation and bold and bright enough for everyone to see...

This costume in particular shows success consisting of simple shapes and bright colours to make it really eyecatching. It frames the face with a massive background which is something i wish to bring forward in my design...  

Maybe not so relevant but still so interesting to look at because of the fascinating creations are the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras Carnivals. A really inspiring artist in particular that I have come across is Peter Tully who became artistic director for the Sydney Mardi Gras and then ended up created many costumes. I really love his way of transformation using found objects such as trinkets and toys and then making amazing spectacles out of these for the parade, this shows that any material can be of use and I will be constantly on the look out for things that will benefit my design or prototype... I also love his passion for his career as he changed this Mardi gras from a political march into a cultural event. 

"Art should be for everyone ... people get intimidated by art. It should be part of our daily lives instead of something we go and see once a week" 

- Peter Tully

Willow workshop

I have never really worked with willow before this project and having a workshop with it really opened my eyes to the possibilities that could be done. It was inspiring seeing previous student work with willow for a production as the pieces she created were large scale and really sturdy. I found working with willow a lot harder than I initially thought it would be as they can easily snap so getting them at the right moistness is key as they dry out really quickly. It was an experience to see how difficult it is to get them to stay in certain shapes, but using string, masking tape or cable ties this can be overcome and with practice I'm sure it will get easier to handle... I found this session really useful because it seems alot of carnival costumes can be made from willow and its a great material to create height and still stay really strong... I am thinking that it wont be the easiest of materials to use to work with children however as the shapes could become really distorted and different depending on which child and may not look how i want them all to look together. However, I do think this is a material that I definitely use for the hat/headpiece I will be creating for the dance leader because I will be doing this myself... 

Plasterzote Workshop - Headpieces and masks

Having only just handed my last project a few days ago, I thought it would be a struggle to get into a new mode of work, however the workshop we had yesterday concentrating on the material of Plasterzote got me really excited for the project coming up. The workshop was all about 'playing' with the material rather than making final pieces to get us used to it. PLasterzote is a really lightwieght material (so great for carnival costumes!) and by cleverly using a heatgun it can mould into certain shapes. To base my creations on for this workshop I chose  to base it on photos I had taken of really interesting coral at the Natural history Museum....

Having this workshop has really loosened me up into the nature of the project I will be undertaking. Creating it using only the tools that children would was a useful task to work out what can and cannot be done in schools. We also had great advice about delivering the workshops in schools by the co-ordinater Sarah and I feel a lot more comfortable now with continuing with this making project as for the last year I have mainly been doing designing and alot less of the 3D experimentation. 

Starting off the structure using thick plasterzote sewn onto elastic around the head. Structure made from tape and  wood sticks and wire to make them curve...

Using scissors to cut out different sized circular shapes and then used the heatgun to mould them into shapes  to make it similar to the initial coral photos... 

Unfinished headpiece. However, I am really pleased with what  techniques I achieved in this workshop  and with the limited time we had. I will certainly be taking this information into account when starting to design... 

Start of Moving TIdes

For my Self Directed Project I was given a choice to which project wanted to apply and take part in and I have chosen the Moving Tides Carnival.  This is a really exciting procession taking place in Weymouth on 12^thJuly as part of the Martime mix and an introduction to the Olympic torch relay. It gives all children in this area an opportunity to take part of this procession wearing a costume created by themselves with my direction. I have been assigned to Beechcroft primary school and have a class of year 5 children which I will work with over the course of 5 weeks to teach them step by step how to make the costume I have designed for them to wear in the procession...

When initially hearing about the opportunity, I knew straight away that it would be the best option for me, considering from my action plan curated during the professional environment unit which outlined my vocational context for work being 3D based. I get a lot of fulfillment from this type of work and concluded that an opportunity to get messy and the chance to improve my costume translation skills from 2D to 3D will definitely benefit me.I have always enjoyed working in a ‘hands-on’ environment and get most satisfaction from actually producing something from scratch with my own ideas sparked off by a brief. Backed up with this and previous experience working with latex, wire, withies, clay, and paper mache I thought this project would be perfect for what I want to explore more with. It is not only designing and creating that excites me but the fact of working out how to instill this knowledge in an easy manner to children I expect will be really rewarding.

We have had a few workshops as great introductions to the project already to get us enthused about the project at hand...

Moving Tides Facebook group

Trip to Weymouth to visit past costumes used in the carnival

This was a really useful trip and gave me great inspiration into what was expected of me for the project. It especially helped in relation to the idea of materials and showed me that there is no limit to what can be used.

In past years such materials have included willow, feather bowa's, umbrellas, tie dye, popcorn, plasterzote and much more...This project seems to be all about the resourcefulness of what is possible with these materials, and with such a small budget, creativity and imagination is key...

Kinetika carnival weekend workshops

Day 1 -Kinetika is an international design company who bring together costumes, puppets, flags and much more for festivals, carnivals and events around the world. Working with Moving tides we are lucky enough to be working in collaboration with them and had a full weekend with carnival workshops. It was also a weekend for us students to meet our assigned school primary teachers and get to know them and the learn about the classes we will be working with. We worked together to come up with a design for 2 large sails that will be held at the beginning of the procession as well as practicing with batik painting...

Small examples of the sails that will eventually be created  - Using the  Main color of Green and Accent colors of Yellow and Turquoise...

Small examples of the sails that will eventually be created  - Using the  Main color of Green and Accent colors of Yellow and Turquoise...  

Conversations with the teacher about ideas have seemed to result in ideas around Sea Monsters and maybe Giant squids... This seems quite appropriate as it was interesting to find out that 31/40 children I am working with will be boys!! Its important that all the children want to take part in the activities, so doing a design that both sexes will be happy with creating...   

Day 2 - The second day we focused on the components to the costume; make up & headdresses. We had a great talk from an employee at Angel exit about the easy possibilities of headdresses and how children would create them yet still look really effective. 

This is an example of how such a simple idea: laminating paper shapes and stapling together to make a chicken headdress...

This is an example of how such a simple idea: laminating paper shapes and stapling together to make a chicken headdress...  

Wire and cardboard structures covered in beading and sequins...

Wire and cardboard structures covered in beading and sequins...

Kinetika website