Final Images

Summative Project Report

Week Beginning 10th December: Summative Project Report

The presentation of the development and resolved work:

• lots of sketchbook testing and development
• thoughtful consideration of work you're making and the ladies you're drawing
• exploration of different ideas and outcomes is good!
• lots of momentum within your sketchbook showing natural progression of ideas
• you should be v proud :)
• excellent journey from portraits to fully realised layouts
• you knew you wanted a book/ fabric prints but have clearly pushed your ideas through visual development instead of settling at portraits

The practical outcomes:

• Lovely! printing designs onto fabric links practical back to notion of protest
• very ambitious project with well finalised outcomes
• I'm excited
• dynamic layout, clever use of symbols, at once clear in meaning but leaving room to still notice things (like the coathangers!!!!!)
• nice synthesis of layout, type and symbols

The synthesis between practical and theoretical aspects of the project:

• YES! you obviously have a really good understanding of your subject and this comes through in both your written and practical work
• Feminist themes are clear
• does it purposefully play off protest poster aesthetic?
• do you purposefully use a square frame like and instagram image?

Any aspects that could be continued or further explored in 603?

• Definitley! I'd love to see you continue this project further
• your portraits are lovely, so enjoyable to look at!
• the grid format you've been working with is so nice and allows for a good balance of images/ text. GOOD STUFF!
• Have you made a publication? If not, make it!!! 
• As (possibly sexist) as this is, these would look really good as tea towels (reclaiming women's domestic roles)
• might be nice embriodered
• or as puppets for young girls!

3 words that sum up your feelings towards this work:

1. empowering
2. excited
3. it's very you!/ visually invested

What I can take from this:

I'm really happy with this feedback from my work, especially since I couldn't print my finals on to fabric as there was issues with the printers! I worried people wouldn't understand the effect I was aiming to achieve by printing them large scale and onto a cotton fabric. Although I'm still annoyed they can't be printed, its clear it doesn't take away too much from the meaning of the work. I'm happy that both peer feed backs mentioned they noticed different imagery the more they looked at the square compositions, such as the coat hangers and other small details. This was the kind of visual play I wanted to achieve by making such densely detailed pieces. They also picked up on the fact that the images are composed in a square format which reflects the format used for Instagram as I worried I'd not made this obvious enough. By far the most positive part of the feedback was that both said the work made them feel empowered. This was absolutely the intention of my practical work, I'd wanted to make a children's book that made the reader feel inspired and empowered by the content, and I feel I've achieved this in a different way with these fabric designs. For once in my work I can see a natural development throughout the course of this module, starting with the portraiture and moving into the text driven work. Then finally moving into combining the two into the Lisa Condon, grid inspired formats that you see in the final four designs. Where in previous modules I would have just stopped at my first idea of a book filled with portraiture, this time I've been able to push myself and my ideas a step further. And its meant me making something that I'm actually really happy with. This peer feedback session has also given me a lot of good ideas to take this project forward into 603, as I'm pleased with my outcomes but still feel there is more I could do. I'm going to definitely look into printing properly onto fabric and maybe trying to organise some kind of exhibition based on these works in the local community. In addition to this I will endeavour to make some kind of publication in 603. I'm still really determined to make some form of the children's book I'd intended to make in this module, however I've realised I'll need more time for this and to focus my ideas down and try and get a clear outline of my intentions. Now I've established this visual quality and the grid method of working which I really enjoy, I'm going to look at taking this further, perhaps considering making this the format for my children's book and adding colour or experimenting with other processes. 

Revised Proposal

What will I produce:

- A series of 4 printed protest style flags 
- each one focusing on a particular protest pertaining to feminism
- featuring the woman/women behind it, quotes, protest signage and relevant imagery
- black and white colour scheme, maybe colour variations if I get time
- first done in black pen then reproduced digitally for neatness and accuracy

What context I see them in:

- 2 uses:
- to buy as wall hangings or scarves, fabric artefact's for those interested in feminist protest history to have and enjoy
- these could be sold in museum or gallery gift shops, especially at places where the subject matter is relevant to the gallery itself (e.g. in Manchester Art Gallery when they had their collection of Suffragette artefact's on display or for the centenary of the women's vote)
- also intended for the full set of 4 to be displayed in a gallery setting with accompanying information available 
- maybe even send round to be displayed at schools for short periods of time to facilitate lessons for children on certain protests in history

Week Beginning 19th November: Practical Peer Review 2

What are your initial reactions to the work?

- portraits = good! 
- Type is stronger than just the portraits on their own
- some digital pieces not as good as analogue 
- seems at the moment to be two different projects- the portraits and the type work- could mix the two?
- maybe make a design themed book instead of a book just of portraits, too similar to Goodnight Stories For Rebel Girls

On closer inspection, what qualities would you like to celebrate?

- visual quality is good!
- very accessible for children especially- suits age range!
- images are immediate and don't require too much concentration to understand and follow
- square format is working really well for you- could this be because it fits with grid like compositions? Instagram 

What requires further resolution?

- maybe take a look at cameos, or other interesting ways of formatting and composing pages- at the moment the images are just floating a bit lost in the centre
- portraits/ quotes- could you make this fit more into the grid system you've been working in? this could make the images look a bit more dynamic
- i think just make pages and square compositions that you like and enjoy making that are relevant to your topic, then maybe pull out certain ones that you think work well and consider printing them in different ways? maybe onto fabrics?

How effectively does the work...

Demonstrate a critical understanding of the synthesis between the theoretical and practical contexts of their own creative concerns?

- not hugely successful in mixing your essay and your practical currently apart from the fact that both are about womens issues
- seems like you're getting too carried away in all the interactive elements you could have in the book
- could you maybe make some squares about specific protests from history that you've spoken about in your essay? adding some details and information about more modern feminism and activism?
- use squares and the format to tell the story- you could maybe make 6 and display them chronologically (e.g. starting with suffragettes and ending in present day)
- could these instead be intended for display in a gallery?
- don't think too much about the setting and purpose of them for now, just try and focus on making something that you like and think is good

Evidence the capacity for undertaking a wide range of independent practical and theoretical research that demonstrates an informed application of critical, effective and testable processes?

- so far you've not done much experimentation apart from using digital, and ink methods
- start by physically going through your essay and picking out quotes and themes, then make work about that to give you a starting point that synthesises more effectively with your essay
- fabric print in various ways- vinyl, digital, screen
- make t shirts! t shirts work as a type of quiet protest, very topical due to the rise in popularity in feminist fashion on the high street

Based on what you've seen, list 3 pieces of advice you have for the remainder of this project...

1. start combining your type and portrait work in a more innovative way! play with squares and think about other applications for your work
2. your project is about activism and protest art- utilise that and make some of your own! work in larger scale, make banners, scarves, commemorative quilts
3. look at your existing image content and turn that into a design focused timeline- in chronological order of the history of protest and women integral to that


What I can take from this:
I've come out of this crit with so many more ideas for practical work and finally feel like i have a focus! When I'm left to my own devices I get too bogged down in all the ideas that I have and how I'm going to incorporate them into my book. What I need to be doing is being more realistic and focusing down on some of the ideas as we don't have enough time left in this project to make a full children's book. I also think too limitedly about where I can see my work fitting, I'd not even considered the idea of wall hangings or scarves but now I can see that its a good way of combining my work with something that's traditionally feminine. I think I need to finish more of my essay before I begin to do much more practical work as I need one to feed into the other, so I will aim to finish my essay by the end of next week, leaving me a good amount of time to get on and make some things. I also need to think more about how the case studies I am looking at feed into the work I am doing and the point I am trying to make in my essay. The synthesis is something I've always found the most challenging about COP and I think a lot of that is because I have a tendency to focus solely on one thing at a time. I need to not be so rigid with my work and let my writing influence my practical work.

Image Analysis- Lisa Congdon

- contemporary artist and illustrator
- Portland Oregon 
- A Glorious Freedom- Older Women Leading Extraordinary Lives
- Uses thin black micron pens to get a graphic line
- gouache, watercolour, acrylic and coloured pens to get the highly coloured aesthetic
-  photoshop and a wacom tablet for editing and finalising digitally
- Hand lettering very integral to her practise
- instagram: very prolific in discussing upcoming political events etc that she's interested in, uses her art as a visual aid to talk about politics 
- Maybe this is what makes her work visually engaging?


Key Pieces:








- http://lisacongdon.com/blog/2015/07/tools-i-use-love/

Image Analysis: Sister Corita Kent

- Roman Catholic sister and educator
- Work was popular in the 60's/70's during the large social upheavals such as- the civil rights movement, human sexuality and women's rights
- messages of love and peace
- affordable art for the masses- used printing techniques
- promoted love and tolerance
- "her art was her activism"
- inspired by Andy Warhol
- would rip up existing imagery and re appropriate it alongside writings by people like Gertrude Stein and E.E.Cummings
- heavily text based, scripture passages

- Particular Pieces:
- Stop the bombing:




Beatitudes Wall- 1964





Its nice That article: https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/corita-kent-ray-smith-art-international-womens-day-080318