OUIL401 End of Module Self Evaluation

1.  What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I think that I have most effectively developed an ability to interrogate a subject and figure out how I can best illustrate it through investigation of its themes. I think this is most evident quite early on in the topic where I was able to evolve my subject matter logically through research and creatively through visual play. I was made aware of this when delivering my Pecha kucha and my feedback suggested that I was going in a good direction by starting broad at the subject of May 1968, and then narrowing it down continuously into something more specific such as de Gaulle, but still giving myself room to play with the idea and inspire myself to go further. I think that the evolution of incorporating today’s struggles into my work and the approach I took to developing and creating the final resolutions in my own way and manner is a testament to that.

2. What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process?

I think one of the most important moments in my development of this brief was when I decided to use collage. Since at the beginning we were told to simply “make images” using whatever means we could, I took that as an opportunity to be open with any and all methods of image making this year had introduced us to. Though the collage was very self-contained and appeared only once, the crazy and messy aesthetic that came with it was very powerful in my opinion and really inspired the direction I wanted to take – focusing on the tumultuous nature of the era. I didn’t think that one media experiment would be so influential to my work, especially in terms of concept rather than process.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I think my investigation of media early on in the project was very good and worth doing again for future projects as it can really help inform the direction of my work. I also think that my screen prints turned out well, both fulfilling my own personal quality standard, and also attracting praise from my peers which had been encouraging. I would basically like to be able to be as thorough with all projects as I was with this one. I will keep in mind my developmental process for this project in future when working.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

I think that I had a hard time getting my illustrations to be truly applied. I designed them early on with a poster in mind, but never really put them up on walls. By the end of the project I forgot about making a piece of work that really worked as a poster and ended up not being able to apply it anywhere, which is what all the work of the 60s that I’ve looked at this module was made for. I think in future I really need to keep in my mind how my illustration will work in a wider context and how I can get it out there in the world.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

·       I will not slack off during the Easter break as much as I did – this seriously stunted the amount of work I was able to produce, and seeing how enjoyable I found this project, I’m disappointed in myself. ·      I will try and make my final resolutions be more communicative/true to original intent. This will give my work much more impact and versatility ·      I will try and prep my artwork to be screen printed more in advance – I exposed my screen and made all my prints very last minute, which was quite stressful. If I had given myself more time at the end, I might be able to make some last minute evaluative decisions to improve the artwork.