What Gives…? –
In Zoom Session 29 Jonathan suggested that it might be interesting to try something consistently for 21 days to see what happens. On the face of it this might seem like quite an easy task and I’m really excited to try it! But, and there’s a big but, for someone like me, how on earth do I pick something to do? I love everything! There’s just so much to explore! The real challenge for me is not actually completing the task – the real issue is deciding what to do? I was already asking myself questions such as:
- Do I paint?
- Do I draw?
- Do I make something?
- Do I sculpt?
- Do I knit?
- Do I embroider?
- Do I play with paper sculpture?
- Do I try origami?
- Do I try my hand at printmaking
- Should I try some analogue photography?
- Should I try more Luminograms?
- Should I shoot some landscapes, portraits, interiors, fashion or macro images etc.
- Should I try some 5 minute crafts?
- should I try macrame?
- Should I try sewing?
- Should I try some metalwork?
- Should I try some woodwork?
- Should I try playing with recycled materials?
- Should I try some paint pouring?
- Should I try some wax resist techniques?
- Should I try some batik
- Should I try feltmaking?
- Should I try making a big canvas?
- Should I try bookbinding?
- Should I try making cyanotypes and work with ‘sun paper’?
- Should I try reading a book?
- Should I try researching a topic?
- Should I try building on the experimental workshops that we did with Sukie Sago Reddy?
- Should I try some photographic light experiments?
- Should I try film making?
- Should I explore digital design programs
- Should I explore augmented reality?
- Should I explore Touch Designer further?
- Should I explore mark making?
- Should I explore quilting?
- Should I explore lacemaking?
- Should I explore Ai art generation?
- Should I explore animation?
- Should I explore graphic design?
- Should I explore 3d graphics?
- Should I explore motion graphics?
- Should I explore generative 2d and 3d digital art?
- Should I explore calligraphy?
- Should I explore quilling?
- Should I further explore Zentangle design?
- Should I try my hand at watercolours?
- Should I try oil painting?
- Should I try charcoal?
- Should I try pastels?
- should I try collage? Maybe using all of the above? (only joking 😊).
My list could go on and on. However, I actually found it really helpful to write everything down – it gave me the opportunity to move a bundle of ideas in my head out onto paper, so to speak. This allowed me to analyse exactly what I might like to do.
I decided to refine my list and eliminate everything that really didn’t interest me.
Once I had worked through this process I decided on two things that interested me.
- Augmented reality and digital art
- Paper and folding
In my study statement I suggested that I wanted to explore a form of digital, human and Ai art mixed together. To me there’s nothing more physical than working with paper and card. Augmented reality also works well with my interests because I think of augmented reality as a hidden form of reality. There could be a whole new world around us yet hidden right before our eyes!! This really appeals to me as I like the idea of things that are hidden – an extra layer of meaning on top of reality itself.
I’ve already begun to explore this notion with all of the animation videos that I secretly embedded into my book ‘Beautiful Light – MACBA Barcelona’.
I’d like to further explore this. I now have a second book called ‘MACBA Metamorphosis – Changing Spaces’ and I’d like to use this as a development to my augmented reality skills going forward. I would like the progression to be clear.
So after a lot of deliberation, my challenge over the next 21 days is to work through a book called ‘The Art of the Fold’ with an aim of developing my bookbinding and paper folding skills while simultaneously exploring Meta Spark in order to add a new secret dimension to my new ‘MACBA Metamorphosis – Changing Spaces’.
While all of this is going on I also intend to work on my research paper.
In summary my 21 Day challenge is as follows:
- Explore ‘The Art of the Fold’ – Bookbinding
- Explore augmented reality
- Continue Research Paper
My end goal is to create something amazing using a human, ai and digital form of hybrid art but also something that is completely hidden in plain sight.