Tag: Hangout

Hangout: 13th May (Peer feedback)

~ Sarah-Jane Field ~ Leave a comment

Today’s hangout was really useful and I’m glad I made it. I was asked to give some background especially as there were two new people visiting today. This was a helpful exercise – mainly because I have been thinking about including some kind of insert which would be a rambling stream of consciousness as text (to be presented similar to the text I included on the walls as images when I showed Self & Other’s i will have call you. This could be a poster perhaps – or something that gets trucked in a flap at the back and taken out.

The mini- ‘talk’ I ended up giving helped people to see where I was coming from. I had thought I’d trained things down too far but evidently not and you could see the sense of relief from people who perhaps felt a bit lost.

A list of words that seemed help:

culture

semiotics

extreme paradigm shift

quantum – non Cartesian

context – relationship

assemblage

cut  – seeing

surrealism – Un Chien Andalou (visual references)

 

I also received a few helpful comments that are worth bearing in mind:

  • Are the literary references still needed – or where they a useful improvisational tool? (In the same way, ‘Helenus’ was but I’ve now dropped it…)
  • The word ‘anthology’ jarred – yes, it’s a hangover and could certainly go now
  • Is there enough space around the text in the box where I describe the Ai’s drunken conversation about being ‘behind a waterfall’? Some felt it was deliberately squeezed in, others that it needed more space around the edge  – in truth, the box is the same size as the image on the next page and the text is 11 p.  – in one of my versions, there were on the same spread. When I looked at it initially, I noticed the lack of space but felt I’d leave it as the oppression seemed relevant. Sometimes these accidental things are honest albeit serendipitous expressions (Jungian)
  • A similar question was asked about ‘the fat capitalist text’ – it’s barely legible and a cream colour at the moment, illegible not only due to my dreadful handwriting but I’ve processed it so it is even harder to read. I explained it was an experiment and I left it as I quite liked the lack of visibility  – how it could be ‘read’ on several levels re. me and my life (this work is vaguely autobiographical, after all, and handwriting in the world general.Some other versions

In general, the feedback was positive and encouraging.

 

We also discussed COVID assessment for those entering in July which may apply to November people (me in all likelihood)

As well, Hazel showed us her online exhibition which is definitely something worth investigating. I will keep it in mind for any further developments for A2 as well as A4 (onwards.)

 

Hangout: 29th April​

~ Sarah-Jane Field ~ 3 Comments

We heard from Sarah about her book which I mentioned recently. She had gone for the dual booklet I mentioned her showing me and it looks great although Sarah felt there were limitations that are likely to prompt her to choose another option as he keeps developing through SYP.

We were both interested in hearing about other options and some happily showed us some examples by other artists and galleries that broke with the traditional book format

Hazel then showed a fantastic online gallery space  – worth thinking about as a space to show things, you can link to your own website but $12 a month, albeit very reasonable, add further costs so something to think about. You can add video though so it’s certainly something I would think about when presenting the work at the end of the course for assessment. We were all very impressed with Hazel’s example.

A useful two-hour session (sorry I kept ducking out though as children yelled, beat each other up and basically did what children do in the background. Thank goodness for ‘audio off’

Adding some links (provided by Catherine)

https://www.esopus.org/issues/view/20

I have also been looking at the Situationist Magazines I have for inspiration – and in fact, many of the ones above seem to be influenced by that kind of thing too. These magazines have been at the back of my mind throughout the project and when I handed in A3, I felt it too clean, too sterile. (From Situationist Mags)

 

 

Hangout: 1 April 2020

~ Sarah-Jane Field ~ Leave a comment

I met up with the OCA group this morning online.

Hazel and Rob talked about the difficulties of progressing with SYP now that we are all in lockdown and everything has been shut. Both are in a kind of limbo and I look forward to seeing how they find ways to do what they need to do through these extremely challenging times.

I discussed where I was with the zine and how BOW A4 had taken a slight back seat for a while. Some useful questions were asked and they will be helpful to document as my answers summarise where I’m at and what the work is attempting to explore.

  1. I mentioned I was planning to order 50 copies of the zine and try to sell them as I need to find ways to bring in some kind of income. As we were discussing SYP, it became clear I was inadvertently tackling elements of that module (see item 2). I had looked at some callouts – Inside Out are doing one but you get paid £80 only – and that’s if they choose your work. They might not even choose mine. This way, all the profits come back to me. Since people are keen to help artists and self-employed people at this time, I hope I am not being unrealistic about people buying them. I had asked for a quote for 25 as that seemed a manageable amount to sell but when the figures came back it just seemed more sensible and economical to order 50. Of course, if we had access to a normal uni print room we might all do this much more economically but I am very impressed with ExWhyZed so far.
  2. I talked about how pleased I was with tutor Jayne’s comments – ‘Your zine content and layout does a great job of presenting complex ideas in a creative way that’s both sophisticated and accessible’ (TV Padlet, 2020) because that was my intention exactly. To make something accessible that would stand the biggest chance of being sold while also managing to maintain something of my (complex) underlying themes (an SYP discussion point apparently). It’s why I went with this black and white aesthetic which people without PhDs in photography enjoy.
  3. I suggested a cost of £7 – we all agreed £7.50 would be a good figure to cover postage and the cost of the proof.
  4. Doug asked me a very good question which I need to be able to answer clearly and succinctly. How does the zine fit with the overall BOW work?
    My answer –
    i. The zine includes creative writing and image. It was only after Ruth was so encouraging about the writing when initially submitting A2 that I had the confidence to pursue a creative writing/image path. So this is the first step in that direction. (see an earlier post about how I came to use these particular images with this writing.) Also – this article about ‘art writing’ will be useful to reference in my submission, especially with the later project.
    ii. The underlying themes feed both works, the zine (A2) and the book (A4/5) – i.e. systems change as seen through linguistic and image signification/structural reality. I hope the statement at the back of the zine hints at this – also on my website
    iii. I was glad when Michael pointed out how relevant this was to the current situation – I explained, that is why I am not rushing to make work about COVID-19. There is a lot of noise and it just seems for me the best thing to do is try to stay focused on my work and keep going, let the world filter through as I always do. I am already making work about systems change, morphology, the chaos – autopoiesis. There is a really good and relevant passage in Capra’s Systems View of Life which describes how systems do this – I will make some time to find it and post here later.
  5. Rob has offered to help me figure how to get the sales facility up and running on my site which I am grateful for. I think I might need to upgrade my Squarespace subscription though.

The zine arrived while I was on the hangout. I’m so glad I ordered a proof for more reasons than just checking out the tone. I will discuss these in a separate post. Tomorrow’s ‘me’ time will be about making tonal adjustments to a few images and moving some text about.

I was really grateful for everyone’s support and hope to have this all and running very soon.

Doug suggested writing a blog about this with link to sales for the OCA – good idea!

Hangout: 13th November 2019

~ Sarah-Jane Field ~ Leave a comment

Some recommendations to Nicola & Allan, relevant to both their projects really – and useful to consider in terms of what I’m looking at –  an evolving understanding of humanity’s situation with/in the rest of the universe – although for now, my own work does not focus so specifically on any single aspect. Both examples worth thinking about further

Mandy Barker

https://www.bjp-online.com/2018/11/bastard-countryside-by-robin-friend/

 

Hangout: 18th September

~ Sarah-Jane Field ~ Leave a comment

After an absence over the summer from the regular hangout I attend, I was pleased to catch up with everyone again yesterday. And to hear and see how others’ work had developed in the months since I was last able to join.

Everyone enjoyed seeing Rob’s latest iteration of his contemplation on memory loss and aging. I had quoted the final lines of Phillip Larkin’s Dockery and Son to him  – a poem I studied at A’level which has really stayed with me – lines which state the inevitable is coming whatever we feel about it. I had this feeling from Rob’s work that although death and aging are what we all face, it makes things like beauty, joy and love/relationships possible. And so, there is a melancholic acceptance, a making-of peace with the fact that time cannot be turned back or stopped, and bodily entropy unavoidable, which we all appreciated.

We also discussed Mel’s project dilemmas and made suggestions, plus asked Selena about her exhibition which has gone very well. It has given Selena the confidence to repeat the process again one day. These items were useful, especially in relation to SYP.

Updated site www.sarahjanefield.com

I recently updated of my sites and various OCA students and friends have been brilliant about giving me feedback and checking typos and making suggestions. I have switched platforms to one that is better and less expensive than my last. Previously the templates available were limiting and inflexible, plus you couldn’t add video. Since audio-visual has become so important to me lately I felt it was necessary to address, even though I was a bit daunted by the task. However, it was not as painful as I imagined and I’m very pleased to have ticked it off my To-do list.

Screen Shot 2019-09-19 at 12.59.03

I was also grateful for the useful feedback from the hangout members about structuring the menu system. The menu system was originally broken down into genres but everyone felt this was too complex for visitors. Something simpler was needed. So for now, I have two main menu options, 1) Experimental in which moving image and collage/found/archive material live and 2)Documentary which includes obvious examples plus personal narratives  – also documentation –  but I am not sure about this heading. I want to group things as it makes it easier to navigate and is more palatable for visitors but I don’t think I have found the right nomenclature just yet.

We also briefly touched on what a website’s purpose might be. I feel I am giving a lot a way on my site at the moment but that’s because I need to at this time in my career. But it seems necessary for me right now, and so the site might be seen as a depository/archive where someone is able to visit and witness my development. I am after all still a student. I might not, however, include the pub work in a little while, as suggested by Allen – it’s easy to hide and I can show it to individuals if necessary – but perhaps only once I’ve added more projects. These are topics that it would be useful to chat over with someone more experienced, however, the group was really helpful and I’m going to leave things as they are for the moment.

Saying that there are three pieces of work I may add in the weeks and months to come, Sirens, a short series of still images from the Summer, and the Pic London film which is what I’ve contributed to the group show. I may readdress things once I’ve put those up and spoken with a few more people.   I also now need to bring my commercial site up to scratch and I’m having a think about how/where etc.

I am looking forward to the next feedback talk and will send the Pic London work to everyone shortly. I need to discuss with my tutor but rather than redoing Sirens (for reasons I’ll explain elsewhere, I think it would be better to show how I have taken Ruth’s suggestions and applied them in the next project. Again – all to be discussed in the relevant blog.