This is a post about Covid-19, how it has effect my studies and how I have adapted whilst in lockdown.
Unfortunately Covid-19 couldn't have happened at a worse time for me and many other students, we are so close to finishing our end of year assignments and exhibitions it was already a stressful period, without the added pressure caused by this world wide virus. Although it is unfortunate timing it is something I have had to adapt to and develop my strategies towards my art practice in a range of different ways. Below are some examples of how I have changed certain aspects of my studio practice in order to achieve the best outcomes and desired effect for my original concept.
First and most foremost I have had to transfer all of my physical work into a digital format, this task hasn't been as simple as taking photographs of my portfolio work and uploading them. Rather I have decided to take that extra step to enhance my portfolio experience digitally by photographing my physical work, transferring them to Microsoft powerpoint and re-typing all of my annotation in order to make it concise and professional. Another reason why I chose to present my work in this way was because it will allow me to send my work to future employers and educational institutes in an easily accessible and effect manner. Not only will my digital format help me to transfer my work to others, it enables me to keep a record for my personal use that can be easily edited, looked back on when making future creative work and it is valuable to maintain a digital collection of my physical work in case something like Covid-19 was to happen again.
I also believe that backing up your work onto computers, hard drives and memory sticks should be taught as part of the art course, for example: a few session could be conducted on how to do this, what format is most effective and why we should all keep digital record of our work. I say this due to the lack of experience many of the art student have in using technology in this way, therefore I think this would be useful in case circumstances ever change and future students can't hand in physical work.
The second aspect I began to consider after my digital formatting was the marking process and how we would be effected by not having access to certain facilities we may need. This was a significantly worrying prospect for myself, but I was kept up to date by members of staff within the department and once a conclusion was reached we were all informed on the new changes. The new changes consisted of get two separate marks essentially, one would be for the work completed because Covid-19 and the second would be based on the work completed up until our final hand in. There was also an opportunity to hand in later in the year but you would also graduate later and for some people that is not possible and for me personally I wanted to complete my work on time for a number of reason such as: I have worked so hard and put all of my effort into the work I have been completing throughout this year and I would rather adapt my ideas, than extend the period in time I have to complete the work. I say this as it gives us the opportunity as student to experience what it could be like being an artist or creative specialist in the working world, we won't always have the equipment, facilities and resources we need therefore, creative problem solving is a key skill we need to develop.
The final stage of my development through this period is the creative trajectory towards my end result for the digital exhibition, this hasn't been purely effect by the virus as I was contemplating different outcomes for my final compositions before this began. Although the virus did help me to solidify the route I wanted to take and this was to create digital mix media pieces that incorporate scanned in versions of my physical mono-prints, that are then drawn on top of digitally and textural effects are created in order to apply them to each compositions. I chose this medium not only because I think I can create visually striking work that links with my original concept, but I can also create work that is easily accessible, commercial and takes a unique and often over looked approach to fine art.
Below are some examples of my digital drawing.
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