College One: 14th March 2013, Lecture and Workshops...

Lecture by Lynn Setterington

My first lecture of the day was presented by Lynn Setterington. After showing us some of her work and how she arrived at where she is today and explaining what would be expected from me during a number of the opportunities presented, I think the aim of her presentation was to get across the significance of how I will need to adapt to a certain situation and stimulate a person's mind through creativity. It also expressed how creativity is expressed through social engagements and how inclusive art can be. Through the opportunities so far it has been clear that I will have to adapt my skills to fit my audience/class and project so that everyone in it can be involved equally.

After this lecture Lynn ran a workshop that put us in a circumstance that was unfamiliar and asked us to make Suffolk puffs using recycled materials. I was fine with it because I had made these before but people without a Textiles background or have never made Suffolk Puffs before had to adapt to what they were being asked to do and use the limited materials provided.

After the Suffolk Puffs, the class was split up into 3 different groups and given 3 completely different tasks to do. My group was given a large amount of colourful carpet ends seen in the picture below to create something...anything. I found the fact of doing anything pressurising and by everyone else's silence in the group so did they.

We all sat down and being just building individual towers.

Once this was done, we all decided to build a little town by joining all of these towers together by creating roads, bridges and transport by unraveling some of the carpet ends. We had about 10 minutes to do this and once everyone become more comfortable with each other, it become fun.

Our finished town...

Both the lecture and workshop activities have made me realise more so that when I choose my opportunity, I will be working in unfamiliar situations and groups and will probably have limited resources. I will learn from which ever option I choose to adapt and make the best of the resources provided.

Humble beginnings and creative opportunities...

We all have skills, we all have transferable skills, it is about recognizing them and using what works from me. An activity or creative workshop are used as an outlet and trust is essential especially in team projects. Being in a team and having team orientation is important in any environment. I need to find the confidence to state what I am good in and where I lack, this is important when working with people who have disabilities, I would have to outline their strengths and encourage them. I will need to be able to adapt and be able to change roles when needed too. I need to acknowledge my own limitations and have confidence in my own strengths and practice. Depending on what option I choose I will have to adapt to their circumstances as well as my own. 

• Create and disseminate workshops
• Raise public awareness about medical issues through exhibitions and workshops
• Medical research
• Capturing a moment, Dementia, ghost-like 'is what we see true?'
• Reflect strengths and identify interests.  

After Kirsteen Aubrey completed her presentation, I then had a workshop with her that challenged and made me consider what I want as a career in the future and where I would see myself, Kirsteen Aubrey did this by asking specific questions. Firstly, in smaller groups we were asked to write on a piece of paper: what career we would want and what age range we would like to work in and then discuss them. I found that in my group Primary and Secondary school teachers were a popular choice. I chose to be a Primary teacher  that would like to teach 4-11 years old. She then asked 4 questions which we had to discuss and note down.

What would I do in my chosen situation/group or environment? I would engage my class and show them a variety of workshops and keep their attention maintained, I would also establish their pro's and con's within each individual and encourage them in the workshops.

How would I like to improve and engage with people and places? Use a variety of different techniques and media's in workshops to offer a variety of options that may suit each person and encourage them to get involved and experiment with something new. I would also encourage community projects and hopefully maintain enthusiasm with trips.

What would you like to see happen as an outcome? I would like to see Art become a more prominent part of the curriculum and for it to be seen as more academic and not irrelevant. For people to become more aware of the strengths and struggles that students endure on Art courses and for children to be encouraged outside of school to pursue their passion for Art.

Provide a couple of steps to do this? Gain as much work experience as possible from now on. Start developing my own files and diaries recording experiments, samples and techniques, also note down any ideas for workshops and lesson plans for the future. 

  

Making connections between 2 images. Looking deeper into images and nailing connections with one another. I need to do this more in my own work, make more connections and bring out more from the smallest of things, bring deeper meanings into my work and explore them.

Transferable Strengths: Organisational skills

Subject Specific Strength: Experimental drawings