This assignment has surprised me in many ways, most notably the development of both my writing, ideas and practice influences. I assumed that I would follow a course of writing about design theories that would run alongside my Semester A module, Practice One, but over the course of the blog posts I have been far more influenced by current trends and debates within the art world. These topics support my Practice One brief as expected but in ways that have kept me engaged and almost passionate. This has not come without its difficulties as research processes have changed throughout the work. I found that when I started, research material and studies were abundant but with the switch into even more current topics I entered an area of limbo where research papers hadn’t necessarily been published yet. My research turned observation based with guidance from online sources and peer reviewed papers holding research leading up to the events of my chosen topic.
My chosen topics are mainly influenced by technology and what I found interesting was that most ended up somewhere based in technology even when I hadn’t intended it. I also found my topics heading towards colour issues which has greatly helped develop a style which I have been working on for some time with little movement. My experiments within the posts have influenced both my practice and my way of thinking so that I might develop as an artist and importantly, I have developed my critical thinking so that I might be able to digest issues and factually research before taking a stance. Furthermore, by critical analysis, I have developed a passion for industry debate based upon experiment and research which has established a curiosity in academic writing and an aspiration to create content for publishing.
I used objective research within some of my posts as they are based in science or law. This objectivity enabled me to understand the research by teaching me the facts about a technique. For instance, when looking into Artificial Intelligence in blog post one, I was able to gain a better understanding of the software’s which are facts that are not often given in debate. Using this research, I then placed it into a subjective stance where my own opinion based my argument. Without the emotion of subjectivity, it is impossible to passionately debate, and I found this far easier to do once I had objectively researched to ensure that my facts were correct. I also used experimentation to reflect upon the research experience which essentially gave me the opportunity to have a change of heart about a topic or solidify my thoughts in a practical way. Theory alone is not something that I am fond of as I believe that the only way to truly solidify research is with both theory and practical. Objectivity does have a place in creative research, but I was surprised at the way in which I used it. Although a creative person I enjoy facts to a degree that I initially believed that my research would be based solely upon it and backed up with experiment. The subjectivity was a surprise and is what has ignited a new passion for research and analysis.
Personal bias is something that I have struggled with throughout the project, and I was not able to alleviate this issue in my writing. I have found throughout my academia that I tend to argue towards my opinion without a strong counterargument and I have suffered for this in academic writing. I feel like these blog posts started with an awareness of this issue but slipped back into old habits later. Thankfully, this is some personal feedback that I can take away and work towards with future projects as these limitations will affect the quality of my work. I find that this limits the research that I study also as I find myself tracking down sources which agree with my bias which may be a biproduct of a lack of knowledge on how to find opposing sources. Scientific research is where I am able to add depth and unbiased viewpoints therefore increasing the quality of my research pool. It appears as though there are many topics within illustration that can be linked to science in some way, and this could be a breakthrough for me to attain better research and clear my bias in the future. The majority of quality indicators come from credibility and the ability to express my thoughts and emotions. This is achieved through the projects attached to each topic to truly demonstrate my beliefs with reflective outcomes and recognition of development and originality.
I have always believed in an almost scientific way of working where theory is backed by experiment, and this has now been enhanced. The most important research comes from the experimental experience and the ability to reflect on both successes and failures. Looking back over this project I can say that my experiments started as a simple way to prove a point but ended on passion projects where I used the experiments to develop and improve my argument at the same time. Blog post one (Artificial Intelligence in Illustration), used AI generated art to help me decide whether I stood by my opinion whereas blog post seven (colour subscriptions), enabled me to adopt a new colour palette to define a style where I had been struggling before. The experiment in post seven was linked to the topic but was not used as a defining conclusion and I feel like the value of these experiments changed to become vital to my practice growth.
Bibliography
Rose, G. (2012). Visual methodologies. (3rd Edition). London: Sage publications
Chloe Cooper | MA Illustration 