Final Presentation

Creative Report

Life's A Pitch

OUIL502 End of Module Evaluation

Presentation | Slide Explanation

Here is the explanation of each slide and the relevance of it's content, this will form the basis of my script for when it comes to presenting however it will be edited down.

Presentation | Alt vs. Accessibility

I'm slowly gathering a lot of bits and pieces to talk about in my presentation. However when I was drawing the mind map I realised another potential area to talk about.

Throughout the year two subjects have continuously cropped up alongside each other, and it has been an ongoing dialogue with myself. I don't think I can fully pick apart this idea yet, but maybe I can just touch upon it within the slides I put together:

The 'Alt' and the 'Accessible'

I enjoy things that are non-exclusive, made for everyone regardless of who they are, however a lot of the references I've made on my blog and my areas of interest encompass 'alternative' aspects of visual culture or ideas of illustration.

It's hard for me to articulate, but this is how I tried to do it:

ACCESSIBLE - for everyone, all ages, genders, classes, ethnicities, etc.

ALT - 'relating to activities that depart from or challenge traditional norms' (unorthodox, unconventional, unusual, irregular, offbeat...)

- a smaller following, but often much more diverse content. tends to be bolder, takes more risks, non-homogenised (e.g. with alt-comics; auto-biographical, surreal, fiction, factual, different narratives, subjects, view points - life, mental health, dreams, etc etc)

....in some ways, I would like to marry these two concepts together in my work. Like "this is for anyone" but it's not pandering to a mass audiences, or trends.

My work isn't on-trend or trendy, but that doesn't mean it can't be commercial.

Presentation | Mind map

I started to make a mind map, hoping that it would help me to generate some content for my presentation. Also, the diagram is a good way of showing links between subjects and thoughts, so it could also help with the structure of the presentation.

Ideally I would like my presentation to be a mixture of personal and academic subjects, because I think these two things are very closely linked. The most important thing is that it flows and makes sense to others.

Here are some notes on the main bits of the diagram:

RESEARCH

• 504: William Burroughs - a heavily researched module

• Polish poster art - has informed my practice in some ways

PROCESS

• Monotype - immediate, lo-fi

• Cut-ups and collage (links to Burroughs)

• Sketchbook - thinking, writing, rough sketches, notes

PROFESSIONALISM

• Do I fit into this? I don't feel comfortable with it

• Don't see myself being a successful commercial illustrator. Can I redefine professionalism for myself?

• Instead of shoe-horning my work into industry niches, can I find places that fit my work naturally?

• TIME - I don't think the aim is to leave uni as a pre-packaged, fully-fledged practicing illustrator. That's not the point. -> Take time to develop, it's an ever-changing thing

EXHIBITIONS

• The idea of curating work or a theme. Could I do this?

• Stedelijk Museum visit - really inspirational from 2016. Found it to be an accessible place with a lot on offer.

        -> Willem Sandberg: Director & Designer - posters as framed pieces of art, museum             branding, simplicity, process-led

        -> Jean Tinguely: Machine Spectacle - explored drawing as a process, drawing                  machines, involved the audiences, fun, open to everyone, multi-disciplinary (books,              drawings, machines, audio-visual, recordings...)

• Experimental Jetset - innovative, organising events and exhibitions, involved in the ideas as well as the art direction.

• Mark Beyer: With/Without Text - all of these different artefacts and pieces of art under one roof, looking at one person's career.

• How do exhibitions begin? Who what where how why? Is it achievable?

PUBLICATIONS

• Zines, 504 publication, Batsford Prize, I enjoy collating works into a finished publication. Something I'd like to expand on in future and possibly work towards.

• Alt-comics - Mark Beyer, AX Manga, Seth, Chester Brown, Breakdown Press. All very inspiring to me this year. Some great narratives as well as how they can be visually portrayed.