Evaluation

 Shit stories 

Looking back at my original proposal I believe this project to have been successful at exploring and conveying the ideas that I set out to. Since beginning the work I faced a few different set backs which meant I had to adapt and come up with new ways to keep the project seen and rolling. I faced pushback around my initial call out, the word "shit" being deemed too inappropriate to have on a poster within the college, personally I didn't agree, I think the college were just unable to see the wider context of the work, they couldn't see past the language so ultimately the reason and meaning didn't matter, perhaps just a lack of art understanding. Despite not agreeing, I accepted, there's no need for trouble over a silly poster. In response to the call out being taken down I pushed it further on social media, I spoke to as many people about it at parties and events as possible, I think the printed t shirts where a good move as they became a talking point when worn, a worn visual call out. I did receive a lot of stories, some random, some about literal shit, a lot about shit dads. I only managed to go and film 3 stories in peoples bathrooms, I found that people were willing to send me stories, have them shared online but when it came to being filmed they didn't want to take part. So 3 people were willing, I went and filmed all 3, I stuck to the set up that I had outlined and planned in the project proposal. I really enjoyed the filming process, going to peoples houses, setting up, directing the shot, If i carry this project on to the FMP I will repeat this process and find a way to make it work. I think if I took the idea to a different group of people, they could be more willing to take part in filming. Due to not having enough clips I put that video piece on hold and put my main focus on creating a publication showcasing the stories received. I have spoken about and evaluated my design choices around the publication in the previous blog post, the publication was a stress due to shipping but this stress ultimately benefited me. This stress about it not arriving meant I made a large framed print of one of the pages, the magazine arrived but i'll still be using the print as I think it ties everything together well. My final out come for this project consists of the shit stories magazine, 1 x A2 framed page print, 2 x A2 mirror writing prints and a video titled "REPEAT". The mirror writing prints and "REPEAT" video overlap with the castle project, these pieces were made and documented in the castle toilets, still a direct part of the shit stories project but also a response to their bathrooms, a response as i saw their bathrooms and knew it was another space I could utilise for making work. As a series together, I believe all of these elements of the work create a cohesive and visually pleasing resolution to my ideas. The use of the red lipstick in the mirror pieces and video create a visual link to both the physical publication and print through colour. When presenting the work I repainted the walls and tall plinth white, the work itself is very clean in appearance so its only right the place its in mirrored that. I painted the book plinth black, visually the red of the publication looked better on black, but I think it also created a good balance with the frames. The toilet itself wasn't part of the presented work, just somewhere fitting to sit for the picture. 

I was confident to present today and talk about my work to the people in the studio, I mean its my own work so I know what I'm talking about. We have done this in previous years with Tom so it wasn't unfamiliar, although previously it was only to our own year group, today quite a few from year 1 and 2 joined. I was talking through my project, then it kind of suddenly registered how many people were looking at me and I lost my train of thought and words, but I think I picked it back up quite quickly. I think having some of the 1st and 2nd years there did make it slightly more daunting but ultimately good practice for the future. Myself and Yang have been spending more time with a few of the 1st years recently so it was a good opportunity to get their feedback and thoughts on the work. When it came to showing the "REPEAT" video I was both egar and shitting myself, I really like the video but god my voice makes me cringe, there's nothing particularly wrong with my voice, I think its just because I know its me. The video is meant to have a building effect, almost send you into a spiral, trying to replicate the brain on a day where you just cant catch a break. Before I showed it to everyone else Richard watched it over for me, I didn't explain before, he said it fled like a spiral so I believe in that sense it was successful. When showing the others I didn't get much feedback other than it being good. 

Out of all my projects so far I think i faced the most set backs with this one, although in a way this was positive, it meant I found alternate methods to get around each of these issues that ultimately created better outcomes. I wasn't going to carry this project into my FMP, I was starting to feel stagnant and bored with it, but as I started framing and presenting I kept having more ideas for the project, screen printing on a bath, different ways of presenting text, the ideas excited me. This has changed my mind, I now think I may further develop the project into the FMP.