Project Evaluation
The aim of this project was
to create an online exhibition that directly investigates the in-between spaces
where the digital, physical and fictional overlap and interest. Throughout the
website, visual imagery has been designed to address contemporary life through
the exploration of ‘virtual’ spaces and question ‘what is our current
experience of reality?’.
Through out the production
of my final major project I have developed my ability as a creative
practitioner, driving myself to produce unique and exceptionally innovative professional
work. By undertaking an extensive amount of research, focusing on new media art
and future innovations of technology, prior to the production of the project
has supported concept development and the contextual underpinning that has
formed Astrogate. Drawing upon this
comprehensive research throughout has ensured an output that is more ambiguous
than I had expected.
The final output of this
project, an online – interactive exhibition titled Astrogate; presents an exception variety of both technical and
creative skill. This not only reflects a possible vision of the future but also
reflects how diverse my abilities as a creative have become. Over the past few
months I have endeavored to explore my abilities as a creative practitioner by
experimenting with abstract artistic practice. In doing so I have fought with
an extortionate amount of self-doubt, which has threatened the overall success
of the online exhibition. Through communicating with both lecturers and
industry professionals I have learnt how crucial it is to actually feel this
way. The creative industry of today is saturated with copycat work that has
been seen time and time again; many artists now work in a very confirmative way.
The way I explored and experimented with such a range of different mediums has
facilitated the creation of extraordinarily rare visual outputs. I have
embraced an array of different techniques in order to achieve this level of
individuality within my work. Testing products and materials you would not
normally expect has enabled me to develop my own style of work that can be
clearly distinguished. I see art as a process of layering, combining a variety
of ingredients to create something spectacular that is completely unique in
contrast to each individual element that has been used. Learning the importance
of how each of these elements work together has allowed the project to be
driven forward in pace and merit. At the end of each shoot I established what
techniques used were most effective, for example both vortograph’s and glass
screens were used in multiple shoots. Recognizing their success allowed me to tailor
future concepts to fit with specific techniques. This allowed me to push each
initial method further within the second use. For example, when I developed the
look I wanted to display within the series ‘Divergence’
I combined the use of paint on glass as well as double exposure and flash to
create a series of images are visually remarkable. After imagery was complete I
received an overwhelmingly positive response to my work, with many individuals
left perplexed with how I was able to created so many layers within an image
without the assistance of post production or special effects. This has supported the development of my
ability to conceive, develop and produce a fully functional, highly innovative
online exhibition.
Creating a strong social media network has been an
important aid to receiving industry recognition for my online exhibition. In my
original production schedule I had allocated the first week to be used to
create these networks, I decided to reschedule this part of the project towards
the end of production. This enabled me to share finished pieces of work as a
whole series, giving the viewing a strong insight into what the final
exhibition would display. My exhibition has been recognised and approved from a
wide variety of different professionals. These include Daniel Lismore (Creative
Director for Sorapol London), multiple international photographers, web
designers, musicians, Rebel artist management, and Illamasqua. Social media is
undoubtedly the most power form of marketing and market research the world has
ever had. Learning how to utilise these
platforms has been, without doubt, has been paramount to ensuring my project is
relevant to the creative industry. Social media provides a platform that
enables you to connect to an unlimited audience across the world, which you can
interact with instantly. Through the connections I have made via these
platforms Astrogate is set to be
featured on the cover of a magazine, on an upcoming mobile application;
Creative Connections and used as album art that will be available on iTunes.
This will also extensively expand the reach of my online exhibition.
Collaboration was key to the success of this project.
Working with a variety of different photographers allowed me to produce
professional and visually stimulating imagery. Making these connections early
on allowed me to build a strong report with highly skilled photography students
that would help to ensure that the final imagery was produced to the most
professional standard possible. Having a team that I could rely upon allowed me
to focus directly on the concept and creative direction of each shoot. This is
a role I have come to thrive in, looking at the creative process from a
different angle rather than just through the eyes of a make-up artist.
Intensive planning and preparation before each shoot allowed me to communicate
my conceptual and technical requirements for every series of images to the team
clearly. Compiling call sheets facilitated this to be done in a professional
manor and also preparing everybody to work coherently on the day of shooting
without confusion.
The most challenging stage of the project was in the
production and development of the website that would feature the online
exhibition. I had originally set out to collaborate with a professional web
designer as I felt this was something I would be unable to construct myself
with no previous experience in this area. After numerous call outs for
collaborators with no prevail I had to rethink how I would make this part of
the project a success on my own. Reducing the amount of technicalities and
focusing more on the imagery that would be displayed throughout was a
fundamental adaption to make in order to ensure the success of the website. Initially
I found it a challenge to design an eye-catching logo. After playing around
with a variety of complex designs I made the radical decision to strip back all
of my graphics and centre the site around simple, yet effect graphic shapes. For
me it is often easy for things to become over complicated, my mind works in
such a creative manor I often struggle to identify when I am pushing to
presentation of work to far. The exhibition needed to be clear and easy to
navigate in order to hold the viewers interest long enough for them to explore
every page presented. After consulting one of my tutors I was reassured when
they showed me an example of a website which was technically ground breaking,
but exceptionally difficult for the user to work. A site might have fantastic
aesthetics but if it is not useable to the everyday individual it is completely
ineffective. Completing the construction of the website three weeks before the
end of the project allowed time to undertake market research and access how
user friendly the site was. This was absolutely critical, as through this
research I was made aware of a number of alteration that needed to be put into
effect in order for the user to navigate through each page without difficulty.
Much of the production and development was a success,
but a few issues threatened the completion of ‘Astrogate’. One of the most threatening elements of the project was
working with a photographer who failed to shoot my imagery in a raw format.
Without this an entire series of images were produced at a very low resolution
and did not display the professional finish that I had obtained within the rest
of my work. Initially I had considered the complete withdrawal of the Fibre Optic series, as I did not want to
feature inconsistencies in my exhibition. With this said, I still felt the
concept and visuals produced where in themself successful. A way to still
display this work was to feature social network exclusives. This allows the
viewer to grasp an inside view into the development of the project.
Small changes were made during the development of the
project that I had set out to include. I had planned to develop moving imagery
for each conceptual series. This was something extra that I soon established
did not add anything to the exhibition. The images displayed create a high
impact on the viewer as stills. Instead I have displayed a few moving GIFS on
my social media pages.
Further improvement could have been made to the
project ‘Astrogate’ by having a physical exhibition as well as a virtual one.
Although this was imperative to my concept, displaying my artwork on a large
scale would have been an incredible climax to the project. The immersive
atmosphere of an exhibition like ‘Mirror City’, which I reviewed during the
project proposal, cannot be matched online. This is something I would like to
explore in the future. The development of this project has endless
possibilities, what I have explored so far is just the beginning. Technology is
evolving at an unimaginable speed, as this happens so does our current
experience of reality. If I were to take this project further in the form of a
Master’s Degree I would focus on the incorporation of technology and the body
and how we might use technology to enhance and improve physical human ability.
