Over the course of this public space orientated five-week project, I have learnt a plethora of new and exciting skills that sit both in and out of the digital realm. This field project has given me many opportunities to step far out of my comfort zone as well as educate me in parts of the design and making the process that I had previous rarely even considered.
What Skills and Knowledge Have I Gained?
Throughout the project I have been gaining new and exciting knowledge into the different ways that public art can have an effect on people and the environment around it, this began even on the first day of the project as I began researching various exhibitions that take place and how they have been used to impact those who visit them. Not only have I gained knowledge on various well and lesser-known public works, one of my favourites being the project 7,000 trees by Joseph Beuys. I find this to be a true and extremely impactful example of how work can have unprecedented circumstances that even the artist themselves have not considered.
As well as learning and researching public art, I have also gained substantial knowledge into new programs and techniques that are involved in the process of creating spaces and public art. As my work was chosen to be a sculpture I found the program SketchUp extremely interesting and rewarding to use, the pure expansive potential for what can be made on there is inspiring, I found that I picked up the techniques and process very quickly and I will certainly continue to use the program either within my next Graphics based subject project or in my spare time for smaller, self-led projects. Not all of the skills I have learned were within a digital format, I have also learned how to use a spot welder and in general creating physical work within a Maquette form. This is something that I found especially challenging and placed me far outside of my comfort zone, however, I found the experience to be filled with learning curves and the clear concept that I held in my head while making the maquette allowed me to quickly grasp and learn the skills necessary to push my maquette making further in future projects.
In What Way Could My Work Extend Through Placement in a Chosen Space?
Some of the effects of my work actually being created could be; a smaller environmental impact due to many of the lights on St Mary’s Street being turned off to allow my sculpture to have more effect and it acts as a large light source on its own. The large bench around it could help to bring people together more, A busy street in the center of a capital city is not often thought of a place to slow down and talk to someone, perhaps my sculpture and the benches incorporated into it could provoke interesting conversations between strangers who would otherwise never have interacted with each other.
How Has This Project Influenced me?
This project has certainly given me more of an insight into the extreme amount of detail and restrictions that are put in place when a public artwork is being considered. This project has changed the way that I approach work in many ways; one being that I now will consider stepping out of a digital format more often as the ease of manipulation and experimentation is easier and more customizable when creating something physically when compared to making a digital copy.
Overall I have enjoyed this project and will continue to develop the base skills that have been given to me over the last five weeks, the skills will continue to influence the way I create work for a long time and have inspired me to not only work harder within a digital sense but also to begin developing my physical creating skills.
Aidan's Graphics Blog 