Hey, all.
Has been a minute, hasn’t it? Quite literally in every sense of it, too. Haven’t blogged, haven’t made art, haven’t streamed, haven’t done anything significant since first year ended.. Though, I’m not here to pity myself or make it into a thing. It happened, that’s alright, it happens!.. At least that’s the conclusion I was able to come to over the course of the summer. Me from a year ago would’ve seen this as an excuse, whereas now, I would say my mentality has evolved past the point of reminiscing about what could’ve been and feeling bad about it, what’s the point of that? Especially when I could be thinking about what I can do in the near and later future. This break was incredibly beneficial and needed, I am glad I took it and I regret nothing anymore. It took me a while to get to this point, but I’m here, and that’s what counts. As a whole, I want to make a vow that from this point onwards, I will not reminisce about what I could’ve done and instead celebrate what I had been able to achieve and focus on what I can do in a future project that would eliminate my struggles from the previous one. One piece of advice that we received very early and which had not sat down in my brain until this point in the “game” is that uni is the one place where we can make mistakes without fearing the consequences, mistakes can and need to happen for us to evolve and grow, they’re perhaps the best tutors you could ever get. I’ve already made quite a few mistakes in the one year that I’ve been here, the biggest one of them all, however, was tearing myself apart for making mistakes in the first place. Doing so, I created a struggle that wasn’t even in the mix to begin with, it’s essentially like consciously adding chilli extract to a cake and then wondering why on earth is the cake spicier than that salsa you had a week ago. Makes absolutely no sense. In the long run, it only hindered me from doing stuff that I might have been extremely satisfied with and proud of. Therefore, from now on, I promise myself to stop overthinking, reminiscing about the what ifs and sabotaging myself.
That being said and out of the way, it’s time to officially open up the second chapter of my art journey here in UWE. Words cannot express exactly how excited and scared I am of what’s to come. After last year, I think I want to try and be even more daring and expressive with my art. While the things I made in first year were something very outside of my comfort zone, I still think it was restricted by my anxieties and rather irrational thought processes and fears, and also, lack of access to facilities and financial struggles, but that’s besides the point. This year is going to be different in every sense – last year’s struggles constructed who I am today and I think I am so much more confident and stronger than what I was yesteryear.
Much like last time, we’re commencing this year with 2 modules ongoing side-by-side. Quite obviously, that’s quite the stressful beginning, but, when you think about it, we’ve already done this in first year and it worked out great. What makes it even better this time round is the fact that we’ve got even more time, that’s just brilliant. The most important thing in my opinion is to launch yourself into it and do as much as you can in the first half, then settle down for the concept you think has most potential for each brief and spend the remainder of the module working on the final piece. The first module I will cover is titled Word and Image. (I’ve chosen to cover this first as I feel it is more straight-forward and easier to cover.) The brief is as follows:
A bit of a conveluted description but in my understanding, all we need to do is pick one of the texts which are provided, create a response to it and document the process of it all. Simple enough. The brief itself is broken down into 2 parts:
It’s quite difficult to comment on either of the semi-briefs as it is pretty much just what is provided in the text. I’ve already looked at the texts and have decided to go for “Orlando”, a poem by Andrea Gibson, in which they talk about the shooting that occured at the Pulse night club, located in Orlando, Florida, as well as providing the reader with a commentary on what it’s like living while being queer. It was very easy coming to a decision regarding choosing which text I wanted to cover. I have a very solid idea of what direction I want to head in with this project but I first must do research and general roughing before talking about it in a blog post. I think, whatever concept I decide to go for, a 3D object is a must for the idea I have, as well as the compulsory publication that we must include alongside the abstract narrative.
The other module, Process and Practice, I’m definitely more excited about just because of how open it is to creative possibilities. In the module launch/introduction, we were told that it is essentially a “go crazy in the fabrications department” module. We were encouraged to try anything and everything we can get our hands on. While it is a tad bit overwhelming having so many options, I think, in the end, that is exactly what each and every one of us needs to get a headstart when coming back in, especially after almost a year of not having access to fabrications. The brief is as follows:
This, again, is quite difficult to comment on, just that this time it’s only difficult because of how abstract the description is. Interesting how the the abstract module had the more direct description meanwhile the more figurative module got the most abstract description I’ve seen so far. Again, no cemeted concept or idea but a general sense in which direction I would like to head with the final piece, and of course, no commentary on it just yet before I could get some roughing and researching in.
The talks that we received for both of the modules were very insightful and inspiring, although a tad overwhelming with how many possibilities are available for either, but I would say more benefit came out of that than detriment – it managed to inspire but not set a clear direction in which we “should” or “are expected to” be headed. I am truly excited for the upcoming few months as I believe this will be a challenge and experience like no other we’ve had before. So long as I manage to apply the mentality I was able to form over the course of the summer, I should be perfectly fine. Of course, knowing me, that is easier said than done, but, even in the case that I do mess up or make a mistake or two – it’s perfectly fine, it happens. It’s ok to fall flat, so long as you get up with more force than you fall.
It feels nice being back, feels right being back in this particular moment as well, fingers crossed it won’t be short-lived. I am beyond excited for what this year holds for me and my peers, excited to see the stuff we will create and the lengths each of us will go. For now, that’s all I have to say, but I will be back shortly to talk about my concepts/ideas/directions/processes and such. Until next time.
Robertas Tijusas 