Process Workbook - Principles of Design: Lesson 10 - Model Making

In this lesson we used the 6 step process of design in order to create basic models based on six unique types of theatre: opera, epic, absurd and theatre in education

Process of design
1 - Analyse
2 - Research
3 - Incubate
4 - Select
5 -Implement
6 - Evaluate

Opera

We began our process of design by creating a spider diagram of the themes and ideas related to Opera. We immediately came up with a basic list consisting of "perspective/scale, opera cake, grandeur, columns, music and fluidity." Having come up with our list we entered into our research phase.
In our research phase we mainly relied on research done over the previous weeks, namely the History of Theatre timeline and Jamie's research on David Hockney.
When it came to incubating our ideas we looked into ways of physically manifesting the different components as well as the different materials available and the ways we could combine them to achieve the same effect. For example, our initial idea consisted of creating a huge opera cake and focusing each level of the cake on a different aspect of Opera, such as music and perspective. However, the construction of such a model seemed daunting and doomed to failure so we decided to create a set and simply include a slice of opera cake.

Talk more about incubation? - How to create opera cake.
We then selected the most immediately recognizable ideas and split up to create individual models to be merged as part of a greater set. To implement our ideas the materials we used were:
Mount board, two kinds of cork, ticket card and tissue paper.
Perspective and grandeur- to give the impression of perspective and grandeur I created three models out of mount board and tissue paper, which were then placed in varying places around the base. The mountain set piece in particular gives the piece a sense of greatness and scale. I also set out cork of various sizes and set them out in order of diminishing size, which hopefully gives the impression that the smallest is much further away than it actually is. The colours I selected to add to the board was inspired by David Hockney's Opera work. Additionally, Jamie created a pillar out of cork as a throwback to Greece and the early ornate details of Opera houses.
For his part, Jamie created a pillar, a slice of opera cake, a CD sculpture and a shell.
Pillar - tribute to Ancient Greece and the pillars often seen in Opera houses.
Opera Cake - Fun little reference to the naming of the Opera cake
CD sculpture - abstract, fluid and grand
A shell - Natural imagery. The shell was created by cutting up ticket card and turning it into the required shape.
Evaluation
I am generally happy with how we performed this task as I believe we were able to follow the seven steps of design and worked well as a team. However, one small criticism is that I think we worked on our own for too much of the implementation.

Epic
Current Issues - Abortion bill in America
When Jamie and I created our reactive Epic Theatre piece we asked ourselves the following questions-
What are current issues going on the world?
How is it currently being presented?
How can we present the information?

Due to the gravitas of the current President Trump situation we opted to create a piece based on his recent morally questionable decision to ban funding for international abortion charities. In combination with the rapid closure of abortion clinics within the US (162 closures since 2011 and only 22 openings) we decided that this was a relevant issue and needed more attention. When deciding on our medium we wanted something that reflected the protests but also contained theatrical elements. A projected poster was born!

It is with deep regret that I have to say that our incubation phase for this project was clearly lacking. We really liked our initial idea and could possibly have latched onto it.

To implement our ideas we looked at different ways of creating the outline of a fetus, such as drawing and using metal wires. When creating the wire fetus we liked the double shadow that it created on the projection screen so we settled on that. The other tools and materials we used were pens, stencils and paper. I created the basic outline of the fetus out of wire while Jamie created the words to go along with it.

Evaluation

Overall I am mostly pleased with how this piece turned out as I feel it is a good representation of a political issue, which is was Epic Theatre is all about. However, I think we could have tried harder to put the issue in a theatrical context because at the moment it is only the political issue that links the two together. One thing I think deserves special attention is the writing as its boldness and simplicity really adds to the impact of the message. It also happens to be an example of tripling, which further emphasize them each word. Additionally, although it was out of our control, I do like the colouring of the finished image because I think that it gives the image an almost historical weight, as well as creating a stark contrast between the dark wire and writing, and the white background. On the other hand, I am not 100% happy with how my fetus turned out as similarities have been made between it and wales, with a classmate unsure if we were protesting sea world. Although this would have been a good project in itself, it is not what we were going for. When creating the outline I looked online for some reference images and based my design off of one I liked. I can no longer find the image I used but to the left is an example of a similar one. In future I think I would spend longer making the outline clearer and getting each part more correct.

Absurd

For our piece based on Absurd Theatre, Jamie and I first sat down to look at the definition of Absurd.
"Absurdist fiction focuses on the experiences of characters in situations where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life, most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events..."
Having completely and extensively covered our analysis period we moved on to researching material related to the above definition. We very quickly had a list consisting of Kafka, pointlessness, Alice in Wonderland, War - American civil (colours), Doctor Seuss and Trees. I was particularly reminded of 'The Butter Battle Book,' by Dr. Seuss because the story acts as a commentary on the ultimately pointless and meaningless nature of war. Adding to this, Jamie spoke about the North/South divide in America during the American Civil War in which the only obvious visual difference between the opposing sides were the different colours they were represented by.

The incubation stage was also shockingly short in which we came up with our main idea and then added little bits and pieces to flesh it out. During this stage we were heavily influenced by what we had around us, rather than trying to use the use the items to produce the idea. For example, we had our central theme of the pointlessness of war, depicted by the guns, which was expanded upon by the coloured gloves and stance. The gloves themselves are supposed to be reminiscent of the clasped hands symbol (pictured above), which makes it ironic due to the hidden guns just underneath.
The final 'installation' is of me and Jamie holding guns covered by gloves of two different colours. The hands are shown to be clasping in order to suggest peace and unity, while the gun backdrop is supposed to hint at darker motivations and a greater threat. The different colours harken back to the American Civil War and the pointless differences that inspired it. I am also reminded of the divide in Ireland where it was only possible to differentiate the opposing factions by the way they pronounced certain words. The addition of the rabbit head was to make the piece more Kafka-esque and increase the general 'absurdity' of the piece. We really went down the rabbit whole with this one.
Evaluation
Overall, although I am pleased with the outcome as a concept I ultimately feel we failed the task by not accurately following the seven steps of design, which was the ultimate aim of the project. We had little to no analysis or research before we jumped onto the incubation stage. The stages were also not as distinct as they should have been with the selection, incubation and implementation stages being particularly merged. If we were to redo the project I think it would be a good idea for us to define the stages more and make sure we are completely done with each one before we move on. Despite these short comings, I am satisfied with the final installation because I do think that it is fairly representative of absurd theatre as it manages to capture characters in pointless and meaningless situations in which there is little sense. It also provided a good chance to experiment with the seven steps and gain familiarity with them... Even if it wasn't the most successful.

Theatre in Education

This is the type of theatrical genre I was least familiar with and the one I feel that we put the least amount of thought into. This lead to the unclear, messy and weak installation you see before you.
The analysis and research stages were virtually non existent with a very brief spider diagram somehow managing to cover both at once. None of us had much idea of what TiE theatre actually was, only that it was the use of theatre in the education of children. Looking back, I think we could have spent more time analysing and researching the different forms this took. For example, the model maker, Beth Tearle, was currently working on model boxes to explain the biological systems within humans. This could have been an example of TiE that we didn't even consider looking into. Instead, we locked on to the idea that TiE was used to teach values and beliefs to children, specifically acceptance, which I already feel was overdone and cliche (not that acceptance is cliche!). . The incubation stage was also horrifyingly short. The bulk of the half hour time limit was spent drawing hands in order in order to implement our ideas.
Evaluation
This is the installation I find myself least happy with. Incidentally, it is also the one with the least adherence to the seven steps of design. This evaluation is going to primarily focus on what we did wrong and how I feel it could be improved on, as opposed to the hopefully balanced view I gave the other projects.
1) Messy
Despite the majority of time being spent on the implementation stage, I don't like the individual components as well as the installation as a whole. I think that the hands themselves look rushed and there is little uniformity in how they were put up. They are also not as eye catching as we hoped and could have been immediately improved upon by using thicker lines to give them some depth. We finished the project well within the time limit and with foresight feel that we could have spent much more time creating neater and bolder hands.
2) Confused
There is a lot going on in this installation, which I find cheapens the entire thing.

Overall Evaluation
A general criticism I have throughout the projects is that I don't think we spent nearly enough time on the analysis and research stages, seemingly managing to get worse as we progressed through the stages. This means that a few of the projects suffered from a lack of ideas.

Lesson 11 - Responding to Art Mediums

For the following three tasks we were split into two groups consisting of Iona, Rhodri, Will, Autumn and myself (Group A), and Jamie, Beth, Robin and Sophie (Group B)

Impressionism

Analysis - to begin this project we first got together to discuss what we knew about impressionism without any additional research. This was, admittedly, not very much. Looking online we discovered that impressionism is largely defined by "small and deliberate lines" and was supposed to be visually similar to seeing something out of the corner of your eye. In this way I thought that impressionism could be quite abstract.

Research - when researching impressionism we primarily looked at the work of Monet and Vincent Van Gogh, paying special attention to their depictions of various skylines. Below are the two images that I think most influenced our final model.

Van Gogh - Starry Sky

Monet

Incubation
The incubation stage largely focused on how we could create physical representations of the art by Monet and Van Gogh. We knew we wanted to create an abstract skyline but that was mostly it. We also knew that the art form was characterised by smaller brush strokes so brainstormed how we would be able to depict it. Fortunately, being in a workshop meant we had a great many offcuts of various sizes.
Implementation
Evaluation
Overall, I would consider this project a success as we managed to stick to the steps of design, while a

Surrealism
This was probably my favourite project to work on because it is the art form I find most interesting and was one that I had more fun with. The concept behind surrealism is the placement of mundane, everyday events in bizarre situations. Much like the other projects we began this one using