FMP - Group Crit

Today I had a Group Crit which kind of helped but has also added more worry on where i'm taking my project.

Here are some suggestions I was given:

• Draw to music, to note different kind of moods, mental states
• Look into the scientific side of mental illness
• Go to museums and and sketch artwork by artist who suffer from MI, see if I see anything notable
• Think about whether mental illness today is something that is developed by the way we live, what we eat, who we associate ourselves with 
• Is medicine a quick for mental illness today

I'm going to try all these suggestions and see where it takes me. I'm going to go to the Science museum and the National gallery and see if I can find any other relatable exhibitions that are on. I am also going to create a questionnaire and give art students and non art students to fill out based on art and mental illness to collect data and opinions.

During my Easter break I am also going to take photos and create a archive of thing that I could include in my final product. 

FMP - Research on Artists

Today I have primary researching artist Yayoi Kusama and Edmund de Waal. I have decided to research into these artist as they have have been imprinted into my brain for months or years by something capturing they have said.

I've been interested in  Yayoi Kusama for a couple of years now but have never come around around into researching her. But when I decided on the theme of my project she instantly came to my mind. I think I may base my work largely around her as she is such a interesting character and her life and work really unifies with my theme.

I decided to watch a few documentaries on her and to take note to get a clearer idea on her. These are some of the video I watched:

Here are my notes from the clips:

I really enjoyed what she had to say as some of the things she comes out with is quite random. From hearing these things she had to say has helped me think that I could base my work on quotes she and/or other artist have said, which sound like absolute nonsense but at the same time mean a lot to and show there character and mental illness.

Sketchbook: Kusama's work and my favourite things she said during the videos I watched

Edmund de Waal is another artist that has intrigued me by what he has to say. From what I know of de Waal does not suffer from a mental illness but after watching BBC Four's program What Do Artist Do All Day  that featuring de Waal last year he has always been at the back of my mind and have been wanting an excuse on using within in work. Here's the program I episode I watched featuring him:

After watching this program this one line de Waal said has stuck in my head ever since, "By repeating them [his work] it's not industrious at all... it has got the sense of spending time. One person spending time."

I really like that quote as to me not all artwork needs a meaning it can simply be an urge that needs to be done. I also wonder whether this urge artists have is linked to some kind of mental illness ,is it revealing the artist of some kind of emotion. But as I right this i'm wondering if i'm contradicting what de Waal is saying but thinking to much into it!

Sketchbook: Notes from the TV program and sketches of potential ideas


From here I think I'm going to decide whether I should look at more artist to base my work on. I will also do some sketches on interesting artist say.

FMP - Research (Books)

As my mum is a Psychotherapist she has a lot of books a mental illness and I discovered a book she has on Family Art Therapy which focuses on the theory and practice of Art Therapy. The books a bit confusing and doesn't cover a lot on the are I want to focus on but I found a few interesting pages on how we view art. According to this book their a 3 ways of viewing art which is either:

Structuralism: attempts to look at artwork as it essentially relates to kinship patterns and social blueprints

Formalism: analyses the visual language e.g. line, shape, space, colour and lighting

Connoisseurial: aesthetic value  of the art taken into account i.e. the time and place, giving artwork a poetic quality

Family Art Therapy book taken from mum's bookshelf

From that book I took some notes:

I also went down to the library where I found a book called Outsider Art by Roger Cardinal. The book covers artists who suffered from mental illnesses and some of who were in asylums. In the beginning of the book it covers madness and art, which I found very interesting. Cardinal references Cesare Lomborso, saying that 'he found artist were ten times more prone to mental disorders than the average man'. The chapter also covers that psychiatrist were mostly concerned with the medical aspect of these artist which I am going to take into account and try to look at it from a different side like the artist's side.

Photocopies and notes of these books in my sketchbook

FMP - Pitch

This is my pitch presentation, I made a few slides just briefing on the basis of my project. 

My research slide was some recent people I have researched taat had a mental illness and when they discovered they had a MI and how they dealt with it. I included Isabella Blow, Jean Michel Basquiat, Daul Kim and Yayoi Kusama. These for individuals where all brought up differently and had different jobs from Artist, Model and Editor. I thought it was interesting and will carry on researching how they all are different but suffer(ed) from a MI.

My idea development slide covered who I wanted to focus my project on which is mostly visually creative individuals e.g. artist as I want to see if the MI affects their work and if it shows in their work. Other themes I want to cover is what triggered their MI.

My outcome slide covered potential outcomes. I want to create a informative product like a zine or a book and a product that can be handed out for free, for example badges, postcards, totes to spread a message.

The second idea development page was covering what the content of the zine/ book could look like. Which is mixed media images that included photography, collage, typography ect so I can show all the skills I have learnt over this course and to also relate to a variety of people.

 Here are my slides:

Here are the notes and suggestions I took after my pitch: 

Final Major Project - Project Propasl

This is the first draft of my project proposal which may change altered later on in my project.

UAL Awarding Body - Foundation

Candidate Number:

Pathway: Fashion and Textiles (Fashion Promotion)

Project Title: Mental Illness

Review

Up to now on my Fashion and Textiles course I progressed and achieved a number of things. I believe I have learnt how to plan and develop my projects better by making more notes and taking screen grabs of my work along the way. This skill I have developed has helped me to present my work in a clearer state for my sketch book, portfolio and blog. I have also enjoyed learning the new skill of using the laser cutter. In correlation to using the laser cutter I have learnt how to use Illustrator. I have gained useful skills such as how to image trace and how to set the correct colours in order for the laser cutter software to recognise what to rasterise and vectorise.

I have chosen this pathway of Fashion and Textiles (Fashion Promotion) as I want to further my knowledge of promotion within fashion. This pathway has helped me choose my project proposal by helping me link a creative art to mental illness which will help me advocate awareness in a visually pleasing way.

Project Concept

Many Designers, Artists and notable names in the creative arts have suffered from a mental illness. Big names such as Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow have suffered from a mental disorder which may have not affected their successful business life visually but caused a great effect to their personal life which has unfortunately ended their so-called acclaimed lives.

The concept of my project is to dive into the effects of mental illnesses within the creative arts and to present it in a Zine and/or creative product.  I will be researching a number of subjects in this project such as the history of mental illness within the creative business and if mental illness is on the rise within the creative arts. I want to try and resolve whether or not mental disorders have a physical impact on the work of these designers and artist.

I hope this project seeks to introduce me to practical methods and skills like using the software InDesign and introducing myself into different materials to use on the laser cutter. I have to keep in mind that I may not be able to be taught or learn a sufficient amount of skills when using InDesign which could affect my project. When it comes to using the laser cutter there are a number of possibilities that could go wrong some of which could be the laser cutter being fully booked or I may not be able to use a desired material.

Evaluation

Within this project I am hoping to inform the effects of mental disorder of people within the creative arts in a visually engaging way. I do not want my product to be a negative recognition of mental illness but to form a respect of the difficulties of these disorders and how/if they show an effect in the work of these people.

I am going to check my daily process by creating and keeping an action plan, which would help me with my time management. I am also going to record my daily progress by keeping and updating a sketchbook and a blog, which will help me display and organise my work. 

Final Major Project - Mental Illness Introduction

This is the beginning of my Final Major Project. I have decided to base my Final Major Project on Mental Illness, primarily on creative people. I have chosen this theme as I have always had a keen interest in mental health and the way the brain works. I have also noticed the pattern of many creative people with a mental illness after researching these famous and highly admired individuals for past projects.