chloe-benbow-3-blog - Tumblr blog

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First year Theatre Design student at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

If you would like to see what I am now getting up to in my first year at RWCMD doing Theatre Design please have a look at my new blog!

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Some photo's of my final installation in the Summer Exhibition.

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A few photo's of others work at the Summer Exhibition.

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Summative evaluation

This self-directed final project has been an eye-opening experience into myself as a designer. At the start of the project I had to create a project proposal based on what I had learnt from the initial rotations about how I liked to work. Having specialised in 3D design I decided to focus on arranging and suspending manmade objects in natural locations to create installations. I also decided to challenge myself in terms of the message and meaning in my work and chose the title ‘Boundaries’ as I felt I was lacking this strong message in my work previously.

Throughout the project I have really enjoyed the practical work; getting outside with my objects and photographing them. Through experimenting myself I have developed a greater appreciation for the amount of work that goes into an installation, solving visual, practical and theoretical problems. I have been trying to create an atmosphere or response with my work and have also come to realise how important this interaction with the viewer is to me.

Helping out at Hay Festival and creating my installations in this project has reiterated for me that I have made the right decision in choosing to study Theatre Design next year. It’s all the ‘behind the scenes’ work that I have really enjoyed, creating something magical where the viewer has no idea the amount of work and thought that has gone into producing it. I have also really enjoyed working as part of a team towards live events such as Hay Festival and our final exhibition.

I feel that I have achieved what I set out to do at the start of the project and have managed to conclude the project by focusing on creating this installation for the exhibition. As well as being sure of my choice for Uni I am now more opened minded with what I may do after completing my degree as my confidence in myself as a designer has grown.

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Summative evaluation notes

20/05/14 Focusing on writing about what I have learnt/gained from this project. Other tutors are suggesting to write about how you have met all the grading criteria but Clare said that by the time anyone looks at your evaluation they will already know this... So here's the bullet points I have made to start me off!

Start

Starting point, choosing my project and title. deciding/realising what I liked. Giving myself a challenging subject matter to give my work the meaning that it needed

During

Enjoyed getting outside and making the most

An installation can be made quickly or take a long time - I appreciate this (like abstract art)

Enjoy creating an atmosphere/reaction from the viewer - audience is important

Chose a strong/difficult theme which has given my work meaning/justified it. I didn’t have this at the beginning. challeging myself and my audience.

After

Enjoy all the ‘behind the scenes’ work - making something magical

Experience at Hay festival - working as a team

Confident that i’ve chosen the right degree - Theatre design

More open minded with what ill do with the degree after - confidence in my own work

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20/05/14 Sorted out the wooden supports today for the shoes installation piece. Using some large scraps of plywood left over from Lilly’s work at Hay I manage to cut out 20 strips of wood (with help from Ian and a really big saw in 3D) to the right length that I needed. Turned the right way these supports will be strong enough to hold the number of shoes I need them to. I’m really glad I managed to sort this out as I was struggling to find supports that would be long enough and strong enough without costing loads! 

I'm planing to rest these supports on a piece of wood that will raise the banister side to the same level as the opposite windowsill that they will rest on. The supports need to be really secure on the banister side as they won't be attached onto the window sill. To do this I will put blocks of wood between the supports to stop them slipping around. 

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Submission form for part 3 work

Here's the to-do list sent to me from Xave... everything is to be ticked off by friday. I think I am on top of everything and will start on my evaluation tomorrow.

A final and updated PART 3 project proposal

Sketch books and journals

A memory stick of digital work DON'T NEED

All preparatory work including samples

A (word processed) summative evaluation 300 words minimum

A (word processed) bibliography (Harvard referencing)

Clear links to personal blog or website

Final works for exhibition DON'T NEED

I have emailed the form required to be printed for the exhibition (including my final progression route) to my tutor

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19/05/14 Spent today at the Hay Festival site with Lilly and Lizzie who have been designing installations for the children's area for their project. I helped them at the start of the project with ideas and at meetings and wanted to stick to my promise and come and help them set up.

Lizzie has designed an archway made of a mixture of real and fake books (book covers filled with polystyrene) with walls coming away at the sides. The books had already been formed into a curve using metal rods so we just had to put these under the ground and support the sides with wooden posts and wire. The rest of the construction is of the walls at the side made by stacking real books and sticking them with wood glue. 

For the majority of the day I helped Lilly with her 'opening book' installation because it was a much larger and difficult scale. We started by digging a 50cm hole into the ground to put the central column in. After some difficulties with rocks we got this done and then moved on to the 'pages' which were made of plywood and were cut-out into different woodland scenes. These had to slot into the central column without slipping out so we spent a lot of time trying to secure these using pegs, cable ties and the roof above screwed in. 

I'd say both installations are about 2/3 rd's finished but unfortunately because of horrible thundery storms we didn't quite finish everything today. Lilly and lizzie will go back tomorrow but I've got to get back to finishing off my bits. I really enjoyed today though and it kind of reiterates for me why I've chosen to go on a do theatre design because I find that backstage work so enjoyable and rewarding! I mean those installations are looking amazing and it's such a great opportunity to be involved with such a popular festival as Hay. Maybe that will be me one day!

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17/05/14 I've been encouraged by my family to include photo's of some of my other installation pieces from my project in the exhibition. This way I can show people how I would normally work in an outside location rather than write about it. I've ordered 12 photo's from snap fish to select from and will then purchase frameless frames to present them in...

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16/05/14 Finally cracked the timeline late last night! After a chat with dad I decided to go about the selection process in a different way. Instead of starting with everything and then cutting down I started by splitting the whole project into parts. I then chose a few blog entries with photo' for each section. This made it a lot more manageable as I wasn't trying to include too much, making it easy for anyone to understand. 

I chose to format the timeline into a grid, with sections 1-9 and their titles on the top and then photo's bellow. I also referenced relevant blog entries with dates and short descriptions. The Phases I numbered came from looking at summerising what I was doing each week, with some phases spanning 2 weeks. For example phase 2, 'Process workshops, artist research, experimenting with materials and forming ideas' weeks 2+3. I would like to point out though, as I mentioned before I was doing tasks like artists research continuously, this just seemed to be my focus at that particular time.

In terms of presenting the table I had made into a timeline I used my dads large printer and printed long strips of the grid on A1 paper. I then stuck these strips all together to make one long line and concertina folded this into a cardboard cover.

I am really annoyed this process took me so long but seeing as this kind of task is something I would often struggle with I am happy that I have found a new method that I would use again next time. I am also really glad that I had this problem now rather than next week when I try and write my evaluation. Hopefully now the evaluation task will be a lot easier than first anticipated.

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15/05/14 Still really really stuggeling! I just can't work out a way to present this so it includes all the information I want it to and can also be easily read and understood by anyone that looks at it... I tried to work out how to arrange it by sticking photo's up on the wall and drawing lines between them but this still seems too complex and takes up lots of space.

Clare saw me struggling and suggested that if it's not working to stop as it was just an idea to try... I don't know... I feel close to giving up because it is absolutely doing my head in. However I really think this is something I should try and complete now I have realised the benefits of doing it.

I think i'll chat to my parents when I get home, they're really good at doing things concisely and creating simple solutions so hopefully they'll be able to help!

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14/05/14 To create this summative timeline/spider diagram I have started by selecting key moments in the project and choosing the relevant entries in my blog to go alongside them. The next stage was to put them in some kind of order. I have experimented with arranging them cronlogicaly in a line but struggled to make this make sense as I really didn't work in a straight line (doing one thing, moving on and never going 'backwards'). I guess this is a good thing because it probably means I have working to the design cycle; doing research, having ideas, doing practical work, having new ideas, doing research, practical work... However the problem I am finding with this is that it then makes it very difficult to visually show all these connections without it being a mess and clear how I want it to be.

I really struggle with this kind of thing - where I must condense stuff down as I don't know which bits to choose and this process takes me a very long time. Also I have to really think about how I am going to present this so it's almost turned into a graphics design task! To tackle this I think tomorrow I'll try using the pictures without the text from the blog entries I selected as this should look a lot simpler. I really want to crack this tomorrow as I'm starting to realise that it will help me write my evaluation next week...

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Reflecting on tutorial with Darren

14/05/14 Some interesting new ideas/concepts/interpretations about my final installation piece that came out of my tutorial with Darren on Monday - 

By creating a false ceiling I am also creating a false floor ... what is the ceiling and what is the floor?

Are the shoes ascending or descending?

Having all different types/sizes/conditions of shoes all on the same level represents equality and equality of opportunity for all in relation to the glass ceiling. 

If all shoes are at the same level, does this then mean that no-one has broken through the glass ceiling? 

Boundaries for title of the installation piece? Shows how it is concluding and summarising my project as a whole...

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Tutorial with Clare

13/05/14 Had a tutorial with Clare this afternoon to talk about aiming for a high grade and if there's anything else I need to be doing before the deadline next week. I understand its very hard to predict grades and to get a distinction is incredibly difficult because of the way everythings marked (you have to get a distinction in every section). I tired to ask some advice from Clare as to wether she could see any weeker areas that may bring my mark down and she seemed to think I'd covered everything and had plenty to show. However because the majority of my documentation is on this blog and I have now done over 100 posts she suggested that I select the key/most important moments in the project (that cover all the assessment objectives) and create a kind of summary of my project from start to finish... This could be presented as a mind map/design sheet/timeline so you could see my whole project on one page, making it easier for the examiner or anyone looking at my work to see the journey I've been on and what I've been doing without trailing through my whole blog. It would also suggest where to look in my blog for the most important information. The only other things Clare suggested that I should do was to do some detailed sketches of how the wooden supports are to be attached the the banister and also order the wood that I will need...

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13/05/14 Started this Google Sketchup model on sunday afternoon to help visualise the installation a bit more clearly and how it will interact with the space and the viewer. I was able to add translucent windows and enable 'shadows' to mimic how the natural light will effect the installation and how you will be able to see the installation from the outside of the building. I also added a figure on the steps to show scale and how I have considered the height of the shoes in relation to safety and easy use of the stairs. 

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12/05/14 Here are some notes from my tutorial with Darren (the fine art tutor). We covered a lot of topics so I have tried to bullet point topics we talked about, rather than write full paragraphs!

By creating a false ceiling I am also creating a false floor at the same time.This means people will see it in different ways and it will be very disconcerting - not really understanding what is the floor and what is the ceiling. Exactly the kind of experience I wanted to create for the viewer - confusion, so they think.

'Do you see the shoes as ascending or descending?' - Personaly I see them as falling however many people have said they look as if they are ascending. Again depending on the individuals view on this the installation will have a different feeling - either that the space is getting smaller or bigger. A kind of 'if the glass half empty or half full' kind of situation.

Potential to play with similarities between the words Soul (of the viewer/previous owner of the shoes) and Sole (base of the shoe). For example if the sole of the shoe is dirty could it represent a 'dirty' soul?

Is there any other phrases which include shoes?

What do shoes symbolise in art? - Look at paintings by Van Gough and Andy Warhole.

My current idea - having all different types/sizes/conditions of shoes all on the same level represents equality and equality of opportunity for all in relation to the glass ceiling. I've realised that if I was to select certain shoes and put some at different heights the installation would then have an entirely different message to it - something I wouldn't want to be promoting.

Ok have all different types of shoes all at the same level, but does this then mean that no-one has broken through the glass ceiling? I think this is open to interpretation, but I guess there are always people that hold unknown prejudices against us...

Thinking about title for installation piece - I don't want to dictate what people see/feel about the piece by choosing something such as migration or glass ceiling... May go with Boundaries as the piece is concluding and summerising my project as a whole. This would also mean that the viewer would consider all sorts of different interpretations as I have been doing in my project.

'How will you induce an emotional response from the viewer and what kind of response would you like?' By taking every day objects and presenting them out of their normal context I am trying to make the viewer look and think about the objects in more depth. For the installation I am hoping that the large number of singular shoes hanging above peoples heads will be very unusual experience and will trigger all sorts of thoughts. 

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12/05/14 Refreshed my wall in the studio to focus on the installation piece for the exhibition. Kept some images that I collected on the first day of the project that still relate closely to what I'm doing. Also noticed a photograph of shoes hanging from an electric cable from Berlin that I had picked out at the beginning as being 'interesting'.