Mapping

For my Intermedia class, we have not been given any set tasks, simply to experiment and use our own ideas, which is great. 

Since I have been here, I have become aware of the amount of distance covered all over the world by some of the people I have met. This has got me thinking about creating physical maps to demonstrate the movement around the globe, simply through the stories of some of the people I have met in my (shortish) lifetime. 

To begin this I am in the process of making a drawing showing the directions people have taken all over the world, and have lived in for at least one month.  I have been incredibly impressed with the response and willingness people have had to cooperate with this project, I have collected almost 100 stories in just two days, and I am thankful for everyone for this. 

Here is a detailed preview of the work in progress. Europe is busy.

I have asked people to give me a list of the cities they have lived in, and a reason as to why they moved. Listening to some peoples stories has been really nice, and when I have told people about this project it generates a good response, and a good conversation starter, as people interact with it, and are constantly learning new things about each other.

I am unsure where I woud like to take this project, perhaps moving more into film, painting, or 3D sculptures, I will wait for this first drawing to be completed to decide anything just yet. The class is more how I imagine the 'Fine Art' course is in my home University, and I am beginning to think a lot more conceptually, which is nice, and I am excited to see how this will develop. 

I am also starting my printmaking classes, and there is a chance I will continue this theme within this field, maybe printing some maps and movements on maps. We'll have to see, for now I am just experimenting with ideas.

Drawing

In my drawing class we meet three times a week for two and half hours of life drawing. The models are all perfect and they stay in the same poses for the whole two and half hours, to give us time to develop some really detailed drawings. 

For now I have only been working in a fairly small scale, A4 or A3, and hopefully, once I feel more comfortable within the dynamics of the class I will move to a larger scale, and maybe experiment with different materials. 

I have also been spending a fair bit of my time feeling nostalgic and making drawings of friends from home (..and Rooney Mara). These are nothing to do with my course really, but maybe they can be thought of as practising. Who knows? Sometimes it's nice to feel nostalgic.

In this class we have also been set a theme of 'Destruction' to complete some pieces of work by the end of the semester, alongside the weekly life drawing.  

I have a few ideas but I am yet to develop these just yet.

Photography

I have chosen to take a photography class that specialises in film photography, where I will hopefully learn to develop films myself. We have been assigned the title, 'Identity' and I have a few ideas, but I have a meeting tomorrow with my tutor to discuss these. I think the main direction I am thinking towards is the idea of the relationship between person and place. Place in the idea of temporal place, memory of a place, or an imagined place. I will try and look at the emotional attachment people have between specific places, and maybe explore reasons why this is.

I have borrowed a lovely film camera, and below are a selection of photographs I have taken, none of these are final, and they are simply photographs I have taken out and about, exploring more of the city.

This is the staircase and view down to the back of one of the studios. It's perfect in the autumn light

The top image is of the River Wisła that flows through Krakow, and the below image is of a tram stop in a nearby town, Nowa Huta

In Nowa Huta we found the  Kosciol Zbawiciela church.  Having been a purpose built communist town, the nature of a church in this area is strange, but the architecture is beautiful inside.

Nowa Huta

My parents came to visit me last weekend. It was delightful.

These two are images of my view from my flat and also my drawing studio. The school I am studying in is how I would imagine an art school in 1970's UK would have been, everyday I am being surprised with new oddities and bizarre student and professor behaviour.

For my next roll of film I think I will try out some black and white images, and hopefully develop them myself

Step 1

So I have recently moved to Kraków to study at the 'Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie' for one year.

Here, I plan on exploring a new technique to me, Lithography, along with continuing Painting and Drawing. I also would like to try my hand at Photography, and perhaps learn how to develop my own rolls of film, as well as perhaps improving my digital art.

The first thing I would like to note, on the subject of Krakow, is just how beautiful it is. I have been taking a lot of photographs since I have been here, and I am documenting them, one photograph a day for the duration of my stay, on Tumblr, so check this out too http://krakowadventure.tumblr.com/ 

Let's see how this goes..