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Reflection of unit

This unit has been a profound journey, intertwining personal struggles and academic challenges in a way that has deeply impacted me. Quitting smoking while simultaneously working on a project focused on smoking cessation was a unique and demanding experience. I found myself navigating through parties and social gatherings where I would usually smoke, only to face skepticism from friends who thought my decision to quit was a joke. This lack of support was disheartening, but it strengthened my resolve.

A particularly jarring moment occurred at a bus stop when an older man saw me vaping and sternly warned, "Early morning, you will die before you know." His words scared me deeply, making me question whether this was the universe giving me a sign to take my decision more seriously. This incident reinforced the importance of meticulously following my autoethnography and staying committed to my goal.

Balancing the emotional turmoil of quitting smoking with the academic pressure of tight deadlines was incredibly tough. Getting help from Sally and accepting an extension request, and not doubting my ability to deliver the work on time felt supportive. Now looking back, I am proud of my perseverance and what I have achieved.

The creation of the reflective board, the evolution calendar, the resin experiments, and the poems were not just assignments but parts of a larger personal transformation. Each element of the project, from the initial ideation to the final execution, was a step towards healing and self-discovery. The weird experiments and the constant observation of my surroundings became integral to my process, helping me to understand and articulate my journey better.

This unit has taught me the power of creativity in addressing personal and societal issues. It has shown me that even in the face of skepticism and fear, it is possible to create meaningful work that not only reflects my struggles but also offers a path towards healing and positive change. I am grateful for this experience and proud of the work I have produced.

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Able to finish just on time my process book add some last images and put everything in for hand in.

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Even though ofcourse I didnt have the time to make resin mould of the human I did have it 3d printed and did the stones in resin with cig remains and flowers, I was able to collect it just on time and put it in the box for submission and I will quickly add a little portfolio page as I do believe this memoir is truly a star of the journey and completes my mixed media criteria of the art pieces I have done.

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I actually like how the board is deep and meaningful each element each detail has something to say from adding support resources scanners, to illustrations, paintings and healing affirmations the totality and feeling behind my journey to quit is quite captured, it was indeed very tough and I did feel like breaking the pact every once a while but determination to at least complete the project at least do it for the process was real and thus I struggled with my health throughout the unit to do what I was actually trying to do here alongside this art visual project. This is very intimate and personal to me to have it in my room.

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To show an evolution of the board created along time I made a calender map of 7 days of how I add specific details and elements and how I have a love and hate relation with it.

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The board upgraded with more detail as I found that positivity is what I was aiming for to move towards healing than just focus on my problems.

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I am also making a silicon mould out of these rocks to be filled with resin and preserve the cig buds, with my first few experiments I found out that the remains of cigs preserving and recycling of this waste is super tough!

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Oh did I forget my electronic zine version ?

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Stories from former smokers-

Quitting was one of the toughest things I've done.

I was able to then find a list of former smokers how they have quit and how they feel quitting has benefited them. Being proud of their will power to actually quit is one of the toughest decision for so many for example these people-

Going from up to 40 cigarettes a day to quitting was one of the toughest things I've done. I'd smoked for over 45 years! I have a fast-paced job and whenever I'd feel my stress level go up, I'd normally reach for a cigarette. Now, the medications I took every morning were a daily reminder that I had to quit for my health and find new ways to manage my stress. Every time I felt tempted to light up, I'd take deep breathes and look at a photo of my family that I kept on my desk. That helped me stay grounded.

I rewarded myself with the money I saved.

As a businessman, I started calculating the savings. At 2 packs a day, I was saving about $84 a week. That meant I could buy an e-reader after about a week without cigarettes. After a little over a month, I could have the latest smartphone. By giving myself a reward for reaching each early milestone, I was able to get through the darkest hours. Today, I'm proud to say that my wife and I have paid off our mortgage and I haven't touched a cigarette in 6 years!

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Later I decided to take some zoomed in images to see what all text from the survey is still visible and maybe those could be the refined pull quotes I was planning to put up. Things like no smoking=productivity- cig a fidget tool, if no smoking exists it will be a new day, social acceptance, judgemental smoking, media might might not affect the smoking stigma, quit today for yourself, capital DEATH, celebrate no smoking, no smoking is not boring but a compliment, swear to not smoke, is life=more smoking?, quit cigs, vapes on the rise, these things are some that came across after the board was filled and these things made much more sense in the context.

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Later when I came back from the event and it was almost 5am in the morning and the lighting had changed the board started to grow on me- I like it but it might need some refinement- it does disturb me for lighting up a cigarette in the room and people who come to my room find it really cool and interesting. so maybe its about the lighting and editing of the piece.

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Ignore the mess in my room but that does actually come from the agitation of quitting and also travelling around- Notice how the cig boxes are still the same as I actually decide to quit and gift smokers these boxes instead- I tried to fill up the board more- I wrote the quote big and clear- END THE CRAVE BE BRAVE as it is rhyming and relatable to me however I wasn't liking it much on the board- so I decided to make the end the crave colour it as a cigarette and I started hating it even more- I felt like removing it all- and I also had to attend an event the same night so I decided to come back to this later and decide more- I even posted it on Instagram and waited for people to respond with some suggestion as to how I can improve it-

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Talking about movement- Seeing the visual installations in londin with all these drawings in Tottenham was great- talking about this specific photo I could click my first year first project was about bird murmurations and seeing birds on the artwork and capturing their movement is my favourite concept because us as humans move continuously in this fast paced world and looking at this constant movement and capturing it in one place making it an art piece makes me think really deep and feel a lot of stuff.

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I then went to london to meet my sister as she just arrived from India to UK and moved to bristol later in the week to give her moral support- What I thought in the journey was to mockup these hoarding for my projects- because seeing something on these large moving hoarding give the sense of disturb feeling at least for a second in the heart. The movement and carelessness about smoking and awareness would be good on boards like these.

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I then printed the survey responses on the smoking hot survey of google forms and analysed my own things and responses crux and highlighted them from a red sketch pen - it was 140 pages and it was really interesting to see some of the mixed responses as to what people thing- how the smokers and non smokers varied how some people consider govt policies to be helping and some feel its still on decline- how vapes are considered alternative but smoking vapes is even more dangerous and we still don't know how it can harm or affect us. Bold and highlighted all of it on the background looked like a very informative board and then I stuck the painted heart on it- I know as I will be putting more stuff onto the board half information if the surveys would get hidden- but- I do feel it is on placement and also how some pointers would stand out still in the white spaces- the ones that are supposed to- mostly because it is a personal board and personal journey- my autoethnography- the process of some of them automatically being remain and shown still will be interesting as the art progresses on the board.

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Few days later I started painting my idea of the heart- A lovely idea I got was to fill this one ashtray I have- it is a glass made of steel- I filled the ashtray with water and used that water to paint instead for the feels- I also realised I have stopped painting because I have made this glass my ashtray as I used to always use that as the container to paint earlier- It was a shit realisation and move and I feel I should have just bought an ashtray to do that- but hey at least I know it now and using it as a water container again (only that the cig buds are still there and now that's the point of painting for now as I do this project on anti smoking- adds depth to the concept of using dirty disgusting water.

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I also loved this one art piece of an alumni from our university now in bath girls and guts and I love the performance art she will be doing with it- reminds me a lot about me and the concepts I aim for in this project.