Tutor Report - MM Assignment 2

Tutor report

 

Student name	Sylvia Philpot	Student number	503311
Course/Module	Painting 2: Mixed Media	Assignment number	2

 

 Dear Sylvia

Thank you for your second Assignment

Overall Comments                                 

This is a competent assignment and you have worked through the exercises quite well although I feel that your journey needs to be more coherent because at this level you must drive the enquiry. I think for assessment I would advise that your analysis and self-reflection needs to be more explicit in relation to the intentions behind your practical work and within your blog.

Presentation

Assessment Potential:

I understand your aim is to go for the Painting/Textiles/Creative Arts* Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to succeed at assessment.  In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.   

 

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

I looked back on my emails related to this assignment and you do not appear to have sent me a brief email proposal outlining the two final pieces of work (page 40 Course book) and the artists you have been looking at.  This proposal is intended to ensure that you are focused on the processes, intentions and concepts behind the work you have produced for image and text. This is partly the reasoning behind my introductory comments for this report.

The two large pieces representing Image and Text are good realizations for this Assignment.

The Ambivalence piece shows evidence of text as image and calligraphic marks. This work demonstrates a competent realization of ideas presented well, showing judgement. There is a reasonably effective communication of visual ideas but the dark colours and use of black tends to obscure the message. There is however an effective use of layering and the references to stained glassed windows and tracery give it a religious feeling. I also like the palimpsest qualities of revealing and concealing as well as the reference to the shadow and negative image.

The exercises for the calligraphy, collage letter painting and word painting are mostly quite successful with the collage letter painting being the weakest work in terms of creativity and risk-taking.

The “Red Fort” image is probably the most effective exercise and integrates aspects of text into image demonstrating competent technical and visual skills, competent realization of ideas and communication of these ideas and evidence of creativity and risk-taking. This image has more relevance in terms of the message and I think it is because you have an association with this subject through memory and fascination.

The final realization of the Autobiography and Identity project gives a much clearer message about the beginning of the life cycle –birth and the protection of the womb. The inclusion of text and a quote from Paul Klee is also relevant. This painting demonstrates a competent realization of ideas, presented well, showing consistency in judgement.

I don’t agree with your comments about spontaneity though and I feel that you should be prepared to work more in series. Look at the work of Richard Hamilton in this respect. His work does not lose its spontaneity through re-visiting the same subject and building up many versions of the same visual message. I would recommend visiting the retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern to understand this.

Sketchbooks

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

       Y     Your sketchbook work demonstrates competent technical and visual skills, presented well, showing judgement. There is a reasonably effective grasp of ideas and experiments show evidence of creativity taking some risks with some successful outcomes.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context

       Y    Your logbook is comprehensive and demonstrates evidence of self-reflection and research and a satisfactory ability to analyze and synthesize information.

       S      Suggested reading/viewing

Context

Look at the work of Richard Hamilton, particularly in relation to the next assignment and look at his work with Duchamp, his comments about conceptual art (catalogue) and his appropriation of images and tendency to produce many versions of the same subject.

I would like you to read an article in the Turps Banana issue nine entitled Uncharted Planet: Paintings cartographic tendencies by Jonathan Parsons. This will give you some insights into the flatbed approach to painting. There are also a number of very young and contemporary artists sighted in the article who may be worth researching. Also look at the work of Alex Javier and an article called Alex Javier’s entangled cartographies which was published in the Art History magazine which is usually only available to Association of Art Historians but you may be able to access it at www.wiley.com

Please also look at the drawings of the sculptor Tony Cragg, Cragg’s use of line and the solidity of his drawings that then become realized in sculptural form are fascinating – I highly recommend a book called Tony Cragg In and Out of Materials published by Walther Konig.

As far as Chinese art and calligraphic techniques is concerned explore the techniques of Shan Shui and artists such as Fu Baoshi and Song Dong.

 

Pointers for the next assignment

·        Ensure that you send an email proposal for the assignment
·        Try not to overwork images
·        Think about the message in your work- is it meant to be ambiguous to your viewer or could it be explicit?

Yours sincerely,

 

Richard Liley

 

Tutor name:	Richard Liley
Date	8/4/2014
Next assignment due	18/7/2014