In light of the Unit 8 Essay, I have decided to revisit an earlier essay topic, one that still very much interests my practise.
Originally, my line of questioning was whether photography was/could still be a ‘discrete’ medium in the Digital Age, however now I feel that this line of questioning is redundant in that we already have a clear answer. In this way I want to adapt the question, to make an open ended comment asking: ‘ The Medium’s Condition’.
Talking to my essay tutor who made a very good point to which I could not agree more:
With this i mind then, I am going to research the current state of the medium’s condition (adding commentary from this previous essay, about is loss of discrete-ness and it need to adapt to present day conditions. However to this I want to add commentary about post-humanism, the quality/quantity of the photographic medium, as well as the possible outlook for the future, in terms of reinventions vs revolution.
In terms of academic support, I am going to email a few tutors who I think know more on the topic, maybe bouncing come questions off of them, or maybe even some sit down time with them prior to the dissertation proposals.
Initial commentary:
How the absurd resonated with real life….
The idea of the uncanny is no longer that, in a world where anything is possible, whet technological development has surpassed even our deports initial aspirations in such a short time the condition of the medium is forever changing, forever in a state of flux both reinventing itself and other forms as well as revolution not th genre, but it relationships with a whole array of genre in a way e could never have anticipated
- As technology matured, several authors had begun to speculate that 3D printing could aid in sustainable development in the developing world.
- Critical making…. invented to bridge the gap between creative physical and conceptual exploration.
- ….material forms of engagement with technologies to supplement and extend critical reflection and, in doing so, to reconnect our lived experiences with technologies to social and conceptual critique.
- …technology was often treated with a critical eye
- Neo-Futurism in which technology is considered a driver to a better quality of life and sustainability values
- ….reject the past and fervently embrace speed, technology and, often violent, change
- ….systematic forecasting did no more than unveil the subset of statistically highly probable processes of change and charted their advance, it would still be of crucial social value
- Futurology: Complexity. Futurists believe that a simple one-dimensional or single-discipline orientation is not satisfactory. Trans-disciplinary approaches that take complexity seriously are necessary. Systems thinking, particularly in its evolutionary dimension, is also crucial.
- ….purpose of critical making lies in the learning extracted from the making rather than the experience derived from the finished output.
- ….is an elision of two typically disconnected modes of engagement in the world — “critical thinking,” often considered as abstract, explicit, linguistically based, internal and cognitively individualistic; and “making,” typically understood as tacit, embodied, external, and community-oriented.”
- Critical making has been coined as a reaction to digitisation and is moreover a reaction to things that have essentially been done before. It involves engaging with physical components and materials in their raw forms and building something from scratch, encouraging maker culture.
- Critical making is less about the aesthetics of the end product and more about the process and conceptual exploration
- It is the inquiry that matters and not the final solution.
- Critical Making gives birth to curiosity
Rayvenn Shaleigha DClark| Dissertation Propoal -The Mediums Condition
CCW Fine Art: Academic Support Workshop – BA Second Years: Thesis – Victoria Ahrens
Writing your Thesis Proposal
Think carefully about what it is you want to write about- you need to find something that really interests you otherwise you won’t enjoy writing your thesis!
When selecting your theme or idea:
- Look back at your studio practice and try to identify key ideas that are emerging in your work
- The thesis is your opportunity to challenge these ideas creatively and intellectually
- By researching them in depth
- Finding other photographers and writers who have previously discussed these ideas (contextualizing them)
- Analysing the significance and value of these ideas in relation to your studio practice.
It should be about a subject that is relevant to your art practice: theory and practice are always intertwined and need to be considered together. However, you are NOT talking explicitly about your art practice, but about the themes and ideas or methods and processes you are using
Think about:
- Which artists interest you and why?
- What is it about their work that has informed your own practice?
- What ideas/ themes have you been investigating (in terms of form/ scale/ process/ materials/ areas of interest/ theories/ contemporary contexts)?
- How can these ideas can lead you to think further about the subject?
- Which books/ articles have informed your work?
- What have you written about in your last essays– is there a theme that has emerged that you could take forward into a longer, more in depth discussion?
- Have you been to an exhibition recently that has really stuck in your mind?
- Are there any art historical movements you are particularly interested in? What is the relationship between these and the artists you are looking at/ your own practice?
YOUR PROPOSAL should include:
- YOUR MAIN IDEA
- WHAT YOUR THESIS IS ABOUT: the main subject/ question you want to investigate- try to set this out CLEARLY
- If you can do this in a single sentence or in a series of short questions this would mean you were clear about the subject of your thesis
- Having a working title for your thesis is a good idea as it helps give the writing a structure on which to hang your ideas and direct your research
- Your title might be a question or a statement – you can use the main words of this title to structure each part/ chapter/ idea of your thesis and critically analyse each one
- This title/ research question may change as you further your research- this is normal! It is at the proposal stage, so changes are expected!
Your thesis does not have to follow a strict academic structure in that it can be as creative as your studio practice- however, it does need to investigate an idea in depth by critically analysing the subject matter even if this is carried out in a less conventional format.
- YOUR METHODS AND AIMS
- What is your methodology?
- What do you aim to understand or evaluate/ analyse?
- How will you do this?
In other words:
- What methods will you use to investigate your subject?
- How will you go about researching your question?
- Are there particular means you will use: interviewing artists, drawing, photographing, documenting, using an existing theory such as ideas of the Sublime, or theories of minimalism to analyse your question/ going to exhibitions that are relevant/ using narrative devices?
- Try to identify some questions that you want to answer
- Which artists have used these methods before or are currently investigating a similar subject?
- How have they gone about discovering these methods of making/ evaluating their work?
- YOUR RESEARCH and CONTEXT
What research will you have to undertake to understand the subject of your thesis better?
- You will need to look at theorists/ writers/ artists/ exhibitions/ your studio work and your processes
- in order to situate your ideas in a historical and contemporary context
- and demonstrate that you are aware of what others have already written about the subject and where your ideas stand in relation to these.
- Even if your thesis is creative you will still need to find a way of incorporating these notions.
Ask yourself:
- Can you identify other artists who have used these ideas in their work?
- How different or similar are their ideas to yours?
- What are the thematic/ theoretical connections between them?
- Make sure they are relevant to your subject and that you know enough about them to be able to discuss their work properly
- You need to have primary and secondary research (so research that you carry out yourself – exhibitions/ materials experimentation in the studio/ photographs/ reflective writing, as well as finding other texts online/ articles in journals/ exhibition catalogues/ e-books and other art books/ literature that other artists/ curators/ writers/ theorists have written)
- Try to identify some KEY TEXTS and KEY ARTISTS
It is important to situate your ideas in terms of the literature/ artworks/ art theory that is already out there as it means you are working from a position of knowledge and can find your own voice within these debates.
- YOUR RESOURCES
- What resources will you use to do this research?
- Where do you need to go and what do you need to do in order to investigate and complete your thesis?
- Are there particular resources or equipment that you will need to access in order for you to successfully engage in your research?
- College libraries/ special collections/e-sources/ exhibitions and exhibition catalogues/ Internet resources/ etc.
- YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHY
You need between 10-15 sources in your bibliography to show a range of work/ theorists/ ideas you will be investigating
- These should be a mixture of books/ articles/ websites/ journals/ dvd’s/ films etc.
- Remember this must be completed using the Harvard Referencing Style
Structure
Even though you might be thinking of writing a thesis, which is less conventional (such as Oliver Rees’s thesis: The Space between N and O- in the Chelsea Library), you will still need to STRUCTURE it in some way
There are many methods you could use: chapters/ parts/ main ideas/ a phrase or a word that introduces the concept of that part of your thesis/ an image that starts the discussion etc..
You will also need some kind of introduction and conclusion which means that you will need to present the reader with an initial idea (intro/ outline/ plan/ part 1 or other more unconventional ways of introducing your ideas) in order to explain your interest in writing this thesis- and eventually you will need to find a way of summing up or concluding what that initial idea means at the end of the thesis- what you have discovered along the way.
Remember you want to include:
- What your thesis is about- your subject or theme
- What artists and key texts/ theories/ key developments/ ideas you are beginning to identify (historical and contemporary context)
- How you will research these ideas ( by doing/ looking at what?)