10: Reflecting towards the future

TUTOR FEEDBACK

Feedback for Assignment 9 was written, as requested, taking the form of an annotated version of my final draft for the literature review with the addition of the dissertation proposal. I have completed the action points suggested in the feedback.

REFLECTION

There are a variety of reflective models discussed in our course resources. I probably work best with a kind of hybrid model that definitely starts the cycle with some sort of action, since I find it difficult to imagine results without doing. I was very conscious of integrating by practice and research in this module so I followed a two-pronged approach:

• PRACTICE
  • WALKING around Rye Harbour Local Nature Reserve – I find walking extremely conducive to thinking, as has been referenced many times by academics such as Nietzsche, writers such as Robert Macfarlane and photographers such as Richard Long
  • PHOTOGRAPHING the landscape
  • THINKING about what I saw and also what it looked like when I photographed it
• RESEARCH
  • READING about Rye Harbour and more generally about the natural
  • THINKING about what “natural” really meant and how it is depicted
  • RELATING this to my previous experience e.g. living in Kenya – it was interesting that one of my sources Isabella Tree quoted my old landlord in Nairobi, the ecologist Mike Norton-Griffiths

These two prongs became intertwined as I began to think about how to represent the constructed natural in my work.

My work took a shift when I began to use sculptural elements like 3D printing and modelling, after a period of more extended reflection. In doing so I feel I have taken a bit of a risk, but I believe the course encourages us to do that and I have been supported by my Tutor along the way. This step has allowed me to both see and represent the place in, I hope, innovative ways.

If I have a concern to address going forward it is that I feel I have made significant steps towards curating an experience, rather than an extensive portfolio, for a visitor which I hope will further their appreciation/understanding of natural spaces such as Rye Harbour. This is a work-in-progress but as I understand it the completion is the role of the rest of Level 3, and is also I believe in keeping with land art presentations which might consist of a single piece representing a body of work that is in fact a walk. Nevertheless I need to keep this in mind as I move forward.

UNIT STUCTURE REFLECTION

To some extent I believe this highlights that, while ten assignments on the face of it implies more tutor time (and I was lucky that my Tutor was very generous with his time), this can create a somewhat restrictive structure where the student is spending quite a lot of time preparing for or following up on feedback. I would suggest it might be better to have fewer assignments with more time between each and the potential for longer feedback sessions. Or at least making the framework flexible.

LOOKING FORWARD

I have completed a number of experiments in how to represent Rye Harbour, using my research as a feedback loop. The next obvious step is to draw these together into an outward-facing exhibition – as I believe fits well with the next stages of level 2 – which will no doubt lead to some polishing and rephotographing and perhaps the incorporation of new ideas. For example I have been working on a digital model of the actual red hut, using both a DSLR and an iphone on a long selfie stick to photograph the roof. However I have not been able to gain enough height to “complete” the picture to the satisfaction of the 3D engine, so the ridge roof currently contains virtual holes where the mesh could not be tied up. I may need to use either a step ladder or a drone (as a “high tripod”), which would I believe involve access permissions and so forms another potential project for future Level 2 work.

My current presentation plan involves:

• A virtual exhibition in the Red Hut
• A physical exhibition, hopefully at Rye Harbour, perhaps in the Red Hut or the Discovery Centre (N.B. artist exhibitions are hosted in the latter)
• The presentation of a few large images, hopefully taken with my 3D printed camera – for example of the white stones and the red 3D printed stones
• The inclusion (either virtually or physically) of sculptural elements such as the 3D printed camera and the 3D printed red stones.

My aim is to get the audience to think about the construction and representation of the natural using Rye as an example. I want to put them in the position of reconsidering the reality of the very landscape in which they stand as they view the exhibition.

I will also need to convert my dissertation proposal into a final document.