Summative Project Report

Presentation Boards - West Yorkshire Fire Service

Presentation Boards - Book Covers

Presentation Boards - Editorial

Presentation Board - No Doves Fly Here Zine

Presentation Boards - Mass Art Collab

Presentation Boards - Leeds for Europe Protest

Presentation Boards - Walker Morris

Reflective 4

Aside from the fire station project, there have been a few other projects that I have been working on. These have provided welcome breaks from the reportage work which requires locations, stories and structure, instead offering quicker deadlines, different contexts and other subjects to look into. Also in between reportage projects, like now, it is good to have other work to be getting on with.

My brother and I are both interested in CND and the anti-war movement so we put together an anti-nuclear zine over the last few months. It has some old work in there (the faslane work is from level 5), but most of it is new, pulling together some of the separate antinuclear work I have been making over the last few years. It was a nice thing to work on in the background and quiet times, without much pressure with there not being a client. Working collaboratively with Sam was enjoyable, sharing the writing load and allowing me to respond to articles we both had written, giving me good editorial practice (‘How we won the war’ collage credits of Sam Barnard). Although the illustrations I created were not my best, working in a looser way was a relief, without the requirement of high quality polished finished images, allowing me to work fast and not overthink it. The layout is perhaps a weakness of the overall product, with it not being my own personal strong point, but it served as practice and a lesson that working with a designer in the future could be a good opportunity. I would love to make some more zines, especially collaboratively with people from other creative disciplines. We are hoping to sell these zines. 

I have done some book covers to add some variation in my portfolio. There is a side of my practice that is more conceptual than the reportage projects, as well as a strong interest for layout. This side can be expressed with editorial and book cover work, both of which are things I would love to get commissioned for postgrad. I have picked books that align with the other work that I have been doing, on socio-political themes, so that they can sit together well in a portfolio and also portray my interests. I want to try and merge the two sides of my practice together, approaching each as if it was the other. I managed to complete a series of three (front) covers within a week, proving to myself that I can work to quick deadlines, and also to work in a simple way. The ideas themselves are not particularly complex, but I feel like they all say enough about the books and capture enough of the feelings to attract someone to pick it up. Visually, Man's Search for Meaning is my favourite. The textures and darker nature of it works well, and is something I think I might try and incorporate in On Anarchism. I will probably do a second version of these for my final folio for after hand in. 

Fire Station Book Draft

This book layout is very close to being finalised. I have included key sentences and soundbites from an interview with a fire fighter from my last visit to the station to give the story its context. I am going to hardback bind this for the degree show.

Reflective Post 3

Right now I am very much in between projects. I have reached a point with the Fire service project where it is close to being resolved. I have been in contact with a few other services over the last few weeks in order to try and start another project, however I am still waiting to here back from these and to start the work. I had a positive response from a refugee charity based in Leeds (PAFRAS) who seemed keen for me to work with them on a project. They mentioned the possibility of working 1-2-1 with some of the young people that use their service who are interested in art and drawing, which would add a really lovely and valuable side to the work. I am waiting to hear back from them to arrange a meeting to get this started. I am beginning to learn a potential and likely obstacle with reportage work - the compliance of the subject matter. To make work closely about a group or a place can often require access and connections from within, and so projects can end up being at the mercy of those individuals. Having plenty of projects on the go, including additional projects that do not require a specific subject matter/connection is essential to always have work to be chipping away at. 

In the meantime, most of my focus has been on getting stock sorted for Print Stuff print fair which is on 4th May. Because none of my projects have been resulting in prints or lend themselves to print, I had to make some separate work. This was a good opportunity to find a balance between my illustration practice and the more fine art side of my work. It was difficult to know what to make prints of. I didn't know whether to just make work simply to sell, that was just aesthetic and no substance. It was nice to get back to print making and also to have a break from the more subject matter-driven projects that I have been working on recently. I think finding this balance is important, and to just make work that is enjoyable to make and more surface level, as well as the more serious, content-driven work. I can see myself continuing to participate in print fairs after university, giving the opportunity to connect with an audience, keep up contacts with other creatives and also make some money on the side of commissioned jobs. 

Drawing just for practice is another thing I have recently picked back up. Whilst working on projects I find it difficult to draw for myself, and to keep a personal practice up on the side. Although the drawings are not particularly interesting or ground-breaking, I have been practising drawing people from some old photos I have on my computer. Something I really need to develop is my ability to draw people, as it is likely to be important in most future reportage projects I undertake. Keeping up this side of my practice is very important and something I am going to try and focus more conservatively on. 

7X7 no.4

7X7 no.3

Problems

Some notes I made whilst feeling stuck at the station the other day.

• They're doing their job, they are busy
• Their time off is important/they have other stuff to do
• Don't want to pester them
• Its their space
• Cant follow them around station
• Not all keen to talk
• Welcome wearing thin possibly 
• Poorly approached by me
• Lack of authority/legitimacy

It felt good to get out my feelings on paper. Although it was perhaps self-fulfilling to consolidate these excuses and make them more real by writing them out, it was therapeutic to express them and assess them more objectively than just in my head. I think they are all valid points to be made about the situation and the project as it stands. Instead of making me feel worse with a list of problems, I felt a bit lighter having stepped back a bit and reflected on the situation. 

Reflective Post 2

 I have visited the fire station 3 or 4 times over the last month or so. The guys there have been very welcoming, friendly and open to me hanging around drawing, taking photos and being at the station. 

At first the images had little focus, and with being told to stay away from anything political by the media department, I was unsure what direction the project could take. Documenting the space itself has been an important part of the work, attempting to tell a vague story about what goes on at the station, building up a sort of portrait of a space rarely seen or displayed. Apart from the initial sketches of an RTC training, I have made images free of any people. I am still unsure of whether this is because of me being uncomfortable with drawing people and the firefighters, or whether I have instead chosen to tell a story of the life there using the space itself as visual subjects. Either way, I have tried to focus on the latter, which is something I believe works in this body of work, and also something I enjoy doing in general.

As much as I like a lot of the drawings made on location, drawing from photos taken during my visits has been essential. This is something I have had contention with in the past, but for this project I have enjoyed trying to gather as many photos as possible to then work from in the studio with brush and black acrylic later. Not only has this given me the opportunity to reflect on the work retrospectively in the studio without the pressures of being on location, it has also allowed me to use a medium which I have found very effective and enjoyable, one which would not be readily available on location. I am really beginning to see the value of both processes, and how both can be used side by side. I still think the immediacy and energy captured in the drawings from life cannot be replaced, but having the time offered to reflect on the images while making them when using reference can ensure that they have a narrative or substance to them. Reference offers more reflection and analysis. 

While the image side of the project is somewhat resolved, I am still struggling with the narrative and backstory to the project - the context. My last visit turned out very mixed. It started with my approaching the guys to do an interview, and them brushing it off and not seeming keen. I then sat for hours whilst they were out, feeling uncomfortable and hopeless about getting any useful material to tie the images together. I then grabbed a 10 - 15 min interview with one of the guys on my way out, which will be very useful in the story. I don't think this is enough to go off, yet I feel like I have over stayed my welcome at the Leeds Central Station.

To go forward: 

• I am visiting a different station tomorrow to attend a celebration event for the Prince’s Trust Emergency Services training week, as I draw some of the young people during their visit to the station this week

• I am going to approach another station, a fresh set of faces, a new environment and hopefully approach the situation better, being clear what I want from them and how the project will go

• Continue to work from images and build up body of visuals, and continue to reflect and tell the back story of community engagement and prevention, using the interviews I have and any more I gather.

7X7 no. 2