Wow, this really looks complicated however I am willing to work at it so that I can get the hang of things….
I suppose word press is a much easier way to document my research rather than working in my workbook? However I find working in my book much easier, simply because it is my personal work which I can create in my own artistic way. This is why I have also work in my workbook along side my word press.
The First Artefact (Memory)
We have been asked to create an artefact which represents memory, our idea of memory. We have been told to think outside the box in order to create something different. Well thinking outside the box can be a bit difficult as it is the first time in 3years that we have been as to create an artefact individually.
I started by thinking about all the obvious meanings around memory, for example the memory of the past. I no that this is not exactly thinking outside of the box but I felt it was relevant for what I wanted to create.
I began by looking at all my old photographs that meant something to me to see what I can make out of them. Pictures of friends, family even my drama and dance group. That was when the idea came into my head, to create a series of images with audio that told a story about my past.
Preforming is something that I love to do, however I do not do it anymore so therefore it has become a thing of my memory. A beautiful memory that I have left behind hoping that one day I can do it again.
This is why I decided to produce my artefact on the series of pictures that could help take me back to those special moments. Moments that I can never forget as they will be locked in my memories forever.
I was able to gather the images and produce a moving image piece with it and also by adding audio to it. I also produce a poetry that I thought went well with my images that my audience can read whilst scanning through my images.
Evaluation of my Artefact
My finished artefact is about 3minutes long and it turned out like I had expected. I like the idea that the images have a past feel to them, as that was what I had wanted to reach out to the viewers. The main focus was the performances and the people taking part in the performances. I wanted to get the feel of childhood through as I felt as though it played a big part of our memories.
I wanted to get the connection of those memories that you wish you can return to within my photographs, a slight feeling of regret. The photographs are able to take you back and keep those memories alive forever. I did not chorograph the images as I wanted them to tell that particular story to the audience. The idea of not being able to remember which order the memory is in, you can just about remember the smallest little things. Memories are never in a particular order how you remember it is not how another person remembers the event. I wanted to show the fragmentation of our memories and how these affect us.
The Images
However I don’t think that the idea came across very well as the images that I used was not as clear as I had wanted them to be. Due to this is was quite difficult foe the viewers to get a clear idea of who and what is in the images. If I had more time I would have gone to a school performance and take another set of pictures as the ones I had was not as clear. I would also have played about with the lighting so that the they were staged to my satisfaction. This is because some of the lighting was a bit distracting when I originally photographed the event.
The Poetry
The poetry I used was interesting, I feltas though it went well with the images as it spoke for the images. I had no problems with the way in which the poetry was constructed, however I felt that it might have been a bit too distracting for the audience to read at the same time. If I could do it different I would have just had phrases rather than long sentences which might has come across too difficult for my audience to understand.
The Audio
The audio was suttle like I had wanted it to be, and it added a much better feel to the artefact. I purposely choreographed it to help move the images along nicely. I think the best thing that worked well in the artefact was the audio as it kept the audience connected to the images.
Overall I feel as this artefact was not as bad as it was my first attempt. I have learned a lot of things from this piece which I am going to take with me to my next artefact. There is always room for improvement which I am willing to understand and take it on board.
(You can watch this Artefact on Memory page)
2nd Artefact Power
For my power artefact I wanted to really try and think outside the box, by trying to create something that was not so obvious. This is because the idea of power has a lot obvious meanings to it which the audience would have heard too many times.
I went with the idea of the power of education and how individuals are effected by different discourses. We do not realise how heavy we are influenced by the government. They have the power to make us believe that we have to live our lives in the ways that they feel we should. My artefact is not educating the audience as such rather trying to show how easy it is for individuals to believe what they are told, simply because someone in power says it is correct.
The completed artefact was about 3mins long which was more documentary based artefact, as the students was talking about how to create an educational podcast. I felt as though that the artefact was best suited for a radio show as well as a podcast because it was very interesting to listen to. It was also a little distracting at times as there was various voices which can be confusing as the audience had to use their imagination to create a picture of what is going on and when the voices changed.
Listening to something and watching it visually is alot different. This is because the television feeds the imagination with what they want you to imagine it like. On the other hand the radio leaves it all up to your own imagination to decided on how you want something to look.
This might not be the case as my artefact is very descriptive that you can only imagine it one way. It leaves you wanting to hear more about how the final product went. The piece is narrated by one voice who is continuously really speaking to the audience. This is good because it helps add structure to the piece almost giving it a storyline.
Improvements
If I was given the chance to do my artefact again I have probably recorded it rather that just having an audio piece. Although I feel as though the audio work really well. As I am educating students it might have been interesting to have them see what the person who is speaking looks like. It might be much easier for them to relate to them as a role module. 
Looking at the target age group of 13-18 the audio works as it keeps them focused to what is going on. Its not slow and boring, its got a good pace where the targeted audience can follow easily.
I edited the work using Adobe Auditions which I found really easy to use because I had played around with it before.
Auditions allowed me to crop and move the sound around easier and I felt as I learned a lot more whist using it.
Overall I feel as though my artefact worked well, It also got the right information about educational power across to the audience. The power that we can be easily influenced without being aware of it.
(You can find the finished artefact on the Power page)
Final Artefact Spectacle
My completed artefact for spectacle is photographed images that I took myself of the city of London. These were a range of images that represented the idea of city lifestlye and how we live in these cities.
In my work I wanted to put across the idea that we take the beautiful things around us for granted. We also want to escape from of lives to have an adventure, however these adventures are living among and within us.
The streets we live are so beautiful and they have been designed for a reason to make us feel a particular way when we walk through them.
I wanted my images to represent that feel of city life and the significance the city has. I also wanted to demonstrate the spectacle that the city has once we step out of it and observe it looking in from the outside.
For my artefactI arranged the images in order so that they told a story. The message that I wanted to get across through the pictures was that we spend so much time walking around these streets that we miss the beautiful things about them. All the buildings are built with a purpose, and most of the streets are in London is there to be admired.
For example the Queens house is a significant building which carries many histories and have been around for years.
We can tell a lot about this building by the way in which is is built. It is built according to the Queen’s status.
I think that the idea of spectacle acme across very well as the pictures showed a good use of the space. The images I took were bold and eye catching which gave them a better look. I wanted that for my images as I wanted my audience to see the beauty of the city of London. That meant that if the images was not up to its good standards then I would not have succeeded in what I was doing.
As you can see there is major difference between my images now to the images in my memory artefact. These ones where taken with a lot of care and guideness. I had planned what I wanted to photographed before I had gone out and taken them. This was important to be because I had to get it right as the images were trying to represent something.
Making the Artefact
Once I had taken the images I had to start thinking about how I was going to present them to my audience. I wanted my audience to have a focus point about what they are looking at and be able to take something away with them in the end. I added an audio piece to it which was fast tempo to represent the fast pace of the city and the idea that the city is a busy environment where everyone is always on the move. I started with the images that had more things going on in them and then ended with the ones that just had one building in it. This was to show that we are so busy doing what we are doing that we do not realise the beautiful things about life.
I also had a voice over which was guiding the viewers through the images. I had a list of rhetorical questions were am just asking them as we flick from image to image. The voice is talking about the importance of things in life; I wanted to put across that feeling of when people are thinking out loud the questions that people can never really give an answer to.
I had a range of general questions, such as what something has to look like or do in order to be spectacular? Do we choose what is spectacular or is our minds been constantly made up for us on what is? Why do we never see the spectacle of things in our lives and we tend to search for more. I have done this because I have my audience to start learning to appreciate things in life and stop feeling as though life is boring.
Get out the Box
WE all need to get out this one way of thinking and start living as individual. We need to start exploring the things in life that we are interested in and not what people tell us.
I
want my audience to understand that getting out this box is important and we can find a spectacle among our lives despite what the media feeds us.
Overall i feel as this artefact was the best out of the three not just visually also the ways in which I have put it together was done collectively. It also show a clear representation of spectacle through my images.
If was to improve this piece I will make it into a moving images and perhaps have the people on the streets say what they feel, or even better answer the questions for me. This is because it might give it a more interesting feel to it and bring the work alive. As the photographs gives the feel of a past which is not relevant as I want to capture the feeling of reality and how that effects us as individuals.
(You can view the Artefact on my Spectacle page)
