Month: February 2016
The Child as a Philosopher
How does your practice acknowledge cognition as an individual thing?
Illustration is seen as such a vast, ever changing and intricate practice by my course. Individuality is obviously greatly encouraged in any creative practice and we are always challenging how we see the world.
Our cognition as illustrators is very similar to that of a child’s in the way that our inner child is always encourages to say hello. We are challenge to create characters, worlds, events, families, etc. and to bring them to life.
The dinosaur toy featured in the IKEA toy designing competition drew me in straight away.
Why is he green? Why is he wearing a hat? Why does the hat have a star on it? Why does his face look like that?
The child who designed him probably has the answers to all of those questions but as an adult I find it harder to understand the reasoning behind these quirky features.
I have learned not to question a child’s decisions but to merely appreciate their randomness.
A New Community
As part of the Field project we were instructed to design a new element for the art school. Something that will engage all students and have a healthy impact on life in the University.
My group and I began brainstorming different ideas to make the B block heart space feel more homely and community based.
After a lot of thinking we decided to change our idea up a bit. We have now decided on replacing the glass hallway between B block and N block with a new community space. We want to include a garden area, as natural space is important for our mental and physical health. We want to have a common room area with sofas and bean bags as the ‘chill zone’ and also an activities area where you can explore media you wouldn’t necessarily get to use in your practice.
The entrance to the area would be through a large glass dome with a reception area. There would be another dome at the back with the garden space in and the other areas would be in between.
We think this would increase the opportunity to meet people outside of your practice and to discover new creative techniques.
Her
Reviews I have read:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/13/her-review
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/55ce26a9de95cf0744c54143/review/
This film was written so accurately it’s scary. It gives a real insight to our future relationship with technology. The only clue as to when the film is set is the series of photographs on Theodore’s work computer of a couple.
The image quality and clothing in the first image suggests 1970’s, and considering that the couple wrote in to celebrate their 50th anniversary this means the film takes place in, roughly, the year 2025. It may shock some people knowing the film is set so near into the future but I think this is an accurate time scape considering how quickly technology has advanced in the last 10 years, it is perfectly plausible that we may have developed sentient artificial intelligence in the next 10.
The idea that if we don’t make a conscious effort to get people away from screens and technology then the majority of our social endeavors will be with said technology terrifies me and encourages me to make a change.
The film makes a point that OS’s aren’t like humans. They see the world differently. eventually the OS’s band together and move of to another plane of existence that we as mere humans couldn’t possibly comprehend. This leaves Theodor in a heart broken state after falling in love with his OS system. Does the human race return to normal or do they continue to mourn the loss of their beloved computers and fall into a world wide depression?
Food for thought
Making Banners
Today we were given the option of helping out to create some banners for the ‘March for Culture’ taking place on Saturday 6th February.
“Arts and culture are facing a potential funding crisis and we would like to raise our voice.
Culture makes life worth living. And Cardiff a city worth living in. Cardiff Council want to cut £700,000 from the arts budget. Which threatens the future of culture in the city.
As Europe’s youngest capital city, Cardiff enjoys national arts organisations and institutions including two symphony orchestras, the National Museum, the Welsh National Opera, Wales Millennium Centre, National Theatre Wales, National Dance Company Wales, St David’s Hall; and high profile events such as Artes Mundi, Cardiff Singer of the World, and Cardiff Contemporary. Not to mention countless grassroots and community arts projects.
This kind of activity keeps the city alive, and demonstrates how much it values creativity. It provides rich ground for new ideas and innovation, grassroots engagement and renewal. This is what attracts both people and investment. Where would a city be without this?
Our burgeoning reputation for arts and culture, built over many years, impacts on education, social services, employment, community cohesion, criminal justice, tourism, refugee agencies, youth services, the third age, library services and more.
Culture is all around us from the moment we wake to the moment we sleep. If the next generation of designers, makers, musicians, artists, writers, actors, dancers are placed in an environment that does not encourage them, what kind of Cardiff will we live in? Wales prides itself on its cultural heritage. We need to ensure that our future heritage is as strong.”
-Taken from the event Facebook page (link)
Suzanne Hodgetts Illustration 