On creativity, disappointments and staying true to yourself

No, that heading is not a title for a self-help book. I just wanted to write about my experience as a first year design student and all the wonderful things I learnt this year. As you may have noticed I've basically abandoned this blog because I have had no spare time during semesters. 

Studying design is surprisingly demanding and time consuming and asks so much of you emotionally (meltdowns, being on the verge of crying during a panel criticism), mentally (continuous, rigorous thinking), physically (lack of sleep) and creatively.

I just finished my final assessment for this year and my work which I've obsessed over for weeks was ceremoniously ripped apart by a panel of architects, designers and artists. They exposed everything that was wrong with the project. They were all correct. I couldn't argue against anything they said.

There was also so much exquisite work produced by other students I was just embarrassed to present even in the same room with them.

Coming home I got to thinking about why my work failed miserably and then looking at all my models and drawings it eventually hit me. The work had absolutely no reflection of who I was a designer. It didn't encapsulate my beliefs or had any of my metaphorical fingerprints on it. It was so devoid of personality I can just yawn from its banality.

My best work was the very first project and comparing the two it was obvious how I went from designing for myself to designing for someone who I thought was myself. I think I looked over my shoulders a bit too much during this semester and subconsciously absorbed too much of other people's work to the point that it diluted my own and I lost my own personality and beliefs as a designer. In short, I wanted to be something I was not and consequently, I went through a design process that did not work for my skill sets.

People always tell you to stay true to yourself and that's the way to produce incredible work but I never realised how easy it was to lose yourself along the way.

So everybody say it with me. STCIK TO YOUR GUNS.

Meat and art // South America Photo Diary // Day 2

Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA

Lunch at Las Cabras. You know why the doorway is painted red? Because this is the gateway to vegetarian hell. Thankfully for me, I'm a proud, super hungry carnivore and this place was like as close to meat heaven as you could possibly get.

We had the parilla completa which is almost a whole dead cow, intestines and all. It was the most delicious dead cow I have ever had. Argentinian beef really is something.

Blood sausage.

Malba museum is the next stop. It's a beautiful modern building housing some incredible contemporary art, mostly by Argentinian artists. 

There's a real emphasis on material and how certain types can be utilised in creative and unexpected ways. 

On the second level, there was also a temporary exhibition showcasing Leon Ferarri's confronting and highly conceptual work. His work involves the appropriation of religious images alongside images depicting sex and war. There was a really interesting piece that showed an image of the Pope raising his hand superimposed on an artwork depicting violence and war.

I really wished I had more time to visit the numerous art and design museums scattered all over the city. As a design student, I'm putting Buenos Aires on my list of 'Possible places to live and work in' which makes sense since UNESCO has recently declared Buenos Aires as a City of Design.

South America Photo Diary:

Day One - Santiago/Buenos Aires

Day Two - Buenos Aires

Day Three - Buenos Aires >> Salta
Day Four - Salta >> Quebrada de las Conchas >> Cafayate

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission 

Mapping the city

In one of my design classes we treat the city as a studio and as part of our mapping project we had to embark on a derive. A derive is a journey through the city which involves actively observing urban spaces in a new way - igniting curiosity, noticing previously unnoticed information and heightening the consciousness of one's surroundings.

Then we begin to map the city beyond the geographic and topographic lines and start to map the city based on emotion, psychology, economics, politics, history, philosophy, architecture and concept.

My theme for this project is transformation - exploring this notion of an unfinished city, a city of cycles and flows: decay/construction, architecture/human, space/time, movement/idleness.

All photos were captured and edited by me during one of my derives.

Excuses, excuses

No blogging for more than a month. Apologies. The evil university fiend has struck once again wielding assessment after assessment.

This is photographic proof that I've actually been doing work these past few weeks and haven't been lazy (not that much, anyway). Interior and spatial design is a surprisingly challenging degree. Drawings, model making and mapping are incredibly time consuming tasks. On top of this, I basically suck at any practical work. But no worries, I'll learn somehow.

In other news...I can't express into words how perfect The Hunger Games movie was. I saw it at a midnight screening and it was such an experience. Jennifer Lawrence is perfect as Katniss, I'm so in love with her. Josh Hutcherson is the best looking baker I've seen. Whats-his-face is bleh as Gale, probably because I'm Team Peeta anyway (yes, I'm going there). 

Time to re-read the books!

Hopefully I can get more 200 movies and 50 books posts up. I haven't read much except for uni readings and I've been indulging in TV shows instead of movies. 

Art-wise, I recently saw the Picasso exhibition which I went to on the very last day, on the very last hour of the exhibition. Yes, I'm one of those people who do things in the last minute just for the adrenaline rush.

The exhibition really exposed how very little I know about Picasso's work. I didn't even what on earth Cubism was until that day. Shame. 

Out of all the works, La Celestina emerged as my favourite. Purely for its eerie feel and how it's kind of Diane Arbus with a touch of evil gypsy woman from Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell. 

The Gentlemen // 3 favourite looks from Menswear Fall/Winter 2012

Armani

The gentleman with an air of mystery

and reserved quietness.

Favourite pieces: headscarves and shawls.

Burberry

The gentleman who is polite

and with character.

Favourite pieces: cropped jackets over the suit and spiked gloves.

Costume National

The young gentleman with

grown-up taste.

Favourite pieces: textured sweaters and jackets

Dolce and Gabbana

The gentleman artist who

works at home and isn't

afraid of extravagance.

Favourite pieces: drop crotch pants and embroidered shirts and jackets

Etro

The free-spirited gentleman who is

also sartorially inclined.

Favourite pieces: patterned ties and feathered cardigans

Jil Sander

The gentleman with a sharp

attitude who is hiding

a softer, quirkier side.

Favourite pieces: animal sweaters and leather jackets

Marni

The thinking gentleman with

impeccable taste.

Favourite pieces: leather gloves and tote.

Prada

The gentleman.

Favourite pieces: striped trench coats and tailored jackets.

(Yes, that's Gary Oldman)

All images are from style.com

COFA Annual Exhibition Part 2 (in black and white)

  More photos from The 2011 COFA Annual Exhibition,  
  this time in black and white.  


  Drawings I don't understand.  
  Ceramics I want to touch.  
  Sculptures that are hauntingly bizarre.  
  Jewellery you want to steal.  

  Information about the artists and designers here.  

  Images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source. Artworks are not my own.  

COFA Annual Exhibition

The College of Fine Arts (COFA) Annual Exhibition was so wonderful and showcased works from students majoring in areas such as textiles, painting, ceramics, etc. I'm transferring to do a Bachelor of Design there next year (fingers crossed my transfer application is successful) since I didn't really find that the Media course was right for me. I'm thinking of majoring in either graphics, textiles or environments/spatial design. I'm contemplating on becoming a set designer for film, TV and theatre.


Looking at all the fantastic work made by the Fine Arts graduates I'm contemplating on doing that program too. One problem though. I don't want to be a starving artist. I like to eat.


Link to information about the artists and designers here.

All photographs are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source. Artworks photographed are not my own.