For my fine art in society module, I am taking an interest in creating a piece of artwork or an exhibition that involves members of the community. I think it would be intriguing to work in a school as part of this module, on a placement in which I would let the students partake in my piece. I like the prospect of each person playing a small part in a bigger picture. I think the contrast of one individual's level of creativity, ideas and abilities, to another, would play well off each other to create a cohesive and enthralling array of imagery. My intent is to use a puzzle piece method, in which each student would draw/paint or write on their own piece, which I would then fit together with the others, creating a larger overall image. This would then be exhibited in a learning institution such as the University building. Upon first glance, the piece may look like the work of an individual, but upon further inspection it would be clear the sense of community it actually holds. In addition to this I want to create a series of pieces to hang around the school, in order to brighten up the buildings and surround the pupils with inspiration to create more in their daily lives.
I want the students to be free to create what they want with their piece, and so they will be open to whatever materials they wish to use. I may even incorporate photography into a few of the pieces. I'd also be interested in recording or photographing as stages of the journey to display as a short film in the exhibition space.
This concept was inspired by a piece of work exhibited in the Edinburgh portrait Gallery in 2016, entitle 'Bad Entertainment #TheUNTITLED'. The exhibition, created by a group of young people, featured contemporary art which they 'would want to see'. It was a dramatic sense of protest, created using multiple forms of media including film, paintings, sculpture and a main centrepiece - a skull, consisting of individually designed masks. It was this piece which I enjoyed the most and inspired me to want to use the method of creating a focal point from multiple building blocks. Similar communal, puzzle piece themes run through artist's work such as Marcus Harvey and Ranbir Kaur.
I will measure my success by how well I manage to piece together the final piece and the reaction I receive from the exhibition. Although I will be relying on the students to create the pieces, it will be up to me to fill in any gaps, piece together the large overall exhibition piece and curate the final exhibition.
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