You made it then, Ollie - probably wasn't that difficult after all. You'll get used to all of this administrative stuff soon enough. Anyway, to this business of you being spliced with a scorpion... you're still playing things very safe, Ollie - you're plumping for a very orderly splice - your fused DNA somehow understanding that your torso should remain human, while your rear-end should be resolutely 'Death eater'. No doubt you've seen them already as I featured them in this week's Post With The Most, but I want you to look at both Josh and Magda's thumbnails, because they both try and take their ideas to new places each time they put pen to paper (or pen to tablet) and you're essentially circling the same organisation of body parts - you're really colouring-in a single idea; it's not, for example, the Photoshop silhouette is not striking - it is, but this is a five week project, and I'm yet to see you take flight creatively. There are a number of strategies to try out, the first is something aggressive asymmetrical, and so avoiding the 'centaur/scorpion king' prototype that jumps into our heads the moment we hear 'man + scorpion =?'. What happens if the blend of human to scorpion is more 80/20, or 80/20? What would your appearance be like if your DNA confused the stem cells that make bone with the stemcells that make the exoskeleton - would your rib-cage be exteriorised, and if so, what would happen to your major organs. And if your internal organs needed to accommodate a poison sac or whatever, would that displace them, pushing them outwards? There is also, of course, the 'beautiful' approach - that you stop thinking of scorpions as horrible, and think of them instead as exquisite, sculptural machines - and your hybrid self as some majestic knight in scorpion armour... Personally, I think you need to use the silhouette technique with much, much more freedom and courage - go a bit wild, see what clicks, see what fits, but do try and move onwards from your rather 'fixed' 50/50 conception of your hybrid self. I'm just not convinced that's innovative enough or striking enough at this level, and I'm sure you can show me something come week 5 that I can't yet imagine (you see, I can already see your 50/50 hybrid all polished and finished and.... a bit average conceptually, however well executed). It's a challenge, but I'm hoping you'll accept.
My other challenge to you is please, Ollie - commit to your written assignment now - do not bury your head or postpone it. Chances are you need to give this aspect of studies time, because chances are writing critically, using all the academic conventions etc. will not be in your existing skillset, so don't blag it, don't rush it - try instead to give it enough of your time and attention so you can actually derive satisfaction from growing in confidence by getting it done. And before you write a single word of your intro, please first look at the criteria on the brief itself, and all the resources available in the Rough Guide on myUCA/Anatomy/Unit Materials/Writing Resources - especially the 'Style Guide' section, the first person to third person conversion chart, and the Unit 1 example essay. Get on with it, Ollie - do not delay.
OGR 03/10/11
ReplyDeleteYou made it then, Ollie - probably wasn't that difficult after all. You'll get used to all of this administrative stuff soon enough. Anyway, to this business of you being spliced with a scorpion... you're still playing things very safe, Ollie - you're plumping for a very orderly splice - your fused DNA somehow understanding that your torso should remain human, while your rear-end should be resolutely 'Death eater'. No doubt you've seen them already as I featured them in this week's Post With The Most, but I want you to look at both Josh and Magda's thumbnails, because they both try and take their ideas to new places each time they put pen to paper (or pen to tablet) and you're essentially circling the same organisation of body parts - you're really colouring-in a single idea; it's not, for example, the Photoshop silhouette is not striking - it is, but this is a five week project, and I'm yet to see you take flight creatively. There are a number of strategies to try out, the first is something aggressive asymmetrical, and so avoiding the 'centaur/scorpion king' prototype that jumps into our heads the moment we hear 'man + scorpion =?'. What happens if the blend of human to scorpion is more 80/20, or 80/20? What would your appearance be like if your DNA confused the stem cells that make bone with the stemcells that make the exoskeleton - would your rib-cage be exteriorised, and if so, what would happen to your major organs. And if your internal organs needed to accommodate a poison sac or whatever, would that displace them, pushing them outwards? There is also, of course, the 'beautiful' approach - that you stop thinking of scorpions as horrible, and think of them instead as exquisite, sculptural machines - and your hybrid self as some majestic knight in scorpion armour... Personally, I think you need to use the silhouette technique with much, much more freedom and courage - go a bit wild, see what clicks, see what fits, but do try and move onwards from your rather 'fixed' 50/50 conception of your hybrid self. I'm just not convinced that's innovative enough or striking enough at this level, and I'm sure you can show me something come week 5 that I can't yet imagine (you see, I can already see your 50/50 hybrid all polished and finished and.... a bit average conceptually, however well executed). It's a challenge, but I'm hoping you'll accept.
My other challenge to you is please, Ollie - commit to your written assignment now - do not bury your head or postpone it. Chances are you need to give this aspect of studies time, because chances are writing critically, using all the academic conventions etc. will not be in your existing skillset, so don't blag it, don't rush it - try instead to give it enough of your time and attention so you can actually derive satisfaction from growing in confidence by getting it done. And before you write a single word of your intro, please first look at the criteria on the brief itself, and all the resources available in the Rough Guide on myUCA/Anatomy/Unit Materials/Writing Resources - especially the 'Style Guide' section, the first person to third person conversion chart, and the Unit 1 example essay. Get on with it, Ollie - do not delay.
Thanks for the feedback Phil, I will get on and get it done.
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