unit essay

IN PROGRESS - Contextual Essay - Starting Points & Outline

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Deadlines:

  • Mon 26 Feb: Writing Workshop
  • Mon 12 Mar: Tutorial AR
  • Mon 19 Mar: Tutorial DK
  • Mon 16 Apr: Peer Review
  • Mon 30 Apr: Tutorial AR
  • Mon 14 May: DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

The Contextual essay is a critical and contextual review of your work, positioning it within contemporary practice and detailing the relationship between theory and your own practice. You need to demonstrate an understanding of the development of your work, and analyse the impact of the research activity that you have been engaged in.What are your starting points? – be specificWhat has my work been about? The fundamentals of the Everyday - to date practices has addressed a concern for the decay of social decorum and the prevalence of neglect for the Everyday. - systematic disintegration leading to encasing the chaos in a confined space. How is communication and daily practices affected in environments where these vary due to cultural expectations? Is this discord accepted and how?Looking at: Henri Lefebvre in the Critique of Everyday Life, the bourgeoisie and their elevation from the everyday. Does this elevation exists today: does status or wealth create a simplified routine?; what are the commonalities and differences according to sociocultural factors?; or are the basic components of living so intrinsic that routines are fundamentally equivalent? Lefebvre, Rhythmanalysis creates a science of analysing daily rhythms,  inherent in my work. How do the rhythms of daily experience filter in to art? how has this shown up historically? how this affects artists and the current market?What are you curious about?What am I reading, what is drawing me in? What artist am I curious about? Currently reading on Colonialism, deconstructing Colonialism, post-Colonialism, Orientialism, 'whitewashing', the narrative of history, identity politics; these subjects specific to the gulf or UK 'commonwealth' - that term in itsself. Coexistence and intergroup cooperation. Transience, permanent impermanence, 'migrant, expat, national'. Time and consumption of time in routine. Routine, culture and place. Negotiation of routine, time. The chaos of routine, how routines are shaped, deconstructed and reconstructed. Textiles and routine, domesticity, the sense of touch and everyday life, pattern, repetition and fracturing/fragmenting.Artist in the region, looking at pattern, similar concepts, or materials? Whats more imaportant to my practice? Can I find artists that come under all of those headings? Do I use contemporary artists, peers? or art historical references? Do they need to be highly successful or can they be emerging?What strategies will you adopt?How Am I going to do this? Be structured and methodical, keeps clear notes - probably best to use this platform so it's in one place. Feel self conscious about that but can use passwords. Keep to the timeline, reference it regularly, make a time planner to map out slots during the weeks to accommodate each task for the course and other commitments. Thank goodness reading groups end this week! What challenges do you anticipate?Time, organisation, overwhelm, distraction, feelings of imposterism, insecurity, comparison, fear. An outline:

  • Week 1 Feb 18th Complete Mapping the territory, print large scale mindmap to work in to, use to outline concepts, generate ideas and moving forward. Produce outline plan first draft, initial thoughts from current practice. 
  • Week 2 Feb 25th Begin research reading and gathering, use Textile reader (Hemmings, 2012) and Everyday Reader (Highmore, 2002); texts related to touch, histories, colonialism, colour, routine, textile usage. Explore artists already working around my exploration. Mon 26 Feb: Writing Workshop
  • Week 3 Mar 4th  Reflect on current production, note relationship to readings, narrow down to key artists/works/methods.
  • Week 4 Mar 11th Continue with reading, reflect immediately to stay on top and compare with each other and practice - make links, why is it relevant? - Mon 12 Mar: Tutorial AR  
  • Week 5 Mar 18th Be aware of burn out or possible stopping points, seek support if feeling overwhelmed. Mon 19 Mar: Tutorial DK  ART WEEK DUBAI 
  • Week 6 Mar 25th begin to construct layout and possible structure of text
  • Week 7 Apr 1st HALF WAY POINT good time to review the current body of research and writing, what is successful and what isn't. Can anything be 'rescued' or needs to be cast off? is it fulfilling the initial concept and ideas? Does it need to? Has it produced new ways of thinking? Changed direction? What unexpected things have emerged? Does this still feel true? Am I doing something that needs to be discussed? Am I relevant?
  • Week 8 Apr 8th Working on draft for peer review, have a large majority of document ready. Possible proof read from outside source. Peer support.
  • Week 9 Apr 15th Work on document utilising feedback from peers.  Mon 16 Apr: Peer Review
  • Week 10 Apr 22nd Keeping writing, revising, checking. Prepare for tutorial with AR next week
  • Week 11 Apr 29th  Work towards completion using critique from tutorial. Mon 30 Apr: Tutorial AR  
  • Week 12 May 6th check document and referencing meet criteria. spell check and final proof reads.
  • Week 13 May 13th  Deadlines for contextual study and PPP.
  • Mon 4 Jun: End of unit review AR/CW