Evaluation

 Evaluation   

As its coming to the end of the exhibition set up it was time to reflect on the project as a whole and create a good summative statement to explain this whole work to others who are unfamiliar with the work. I came up with the following paragraph:

"My current work delves into the nature of apologies. 

Initially my interest in flowers was sparked by the recurring gesture of apology flowers from a parent. This made me consider the deeper meanings behind such offerings. To widen my understanding of why other people, give and buy flowers, I spent a day in residence with a local flower vendor. Hearing and observing the diverse interactions around flowers revealed new insights into the societal rituals surrounding reconciliation and forgiveness. This project ultimately aims to explore the disjunction between the intent of an offering and its reception, both personally and within broader human experience. "

 I belive this statement gives a good overview of both my motivations and research process. 

I began creating for this project when making work for the NTU critical hits zine fair and lightnight, for both of these events i created work focusing on the idea of lies from a parent, the zine fair was the main starting point of this project as i created and sold the first version of my flowers and lies zine, this has since been edited and turned into a publication for the final show.  These two events being at the very beginning of the FMP meant i had a good foundation of ideas and work to start building on. For the FMP i decided to hone in on the idea of apology flowers, this inspired by the many occasions i received flowers instead of a sincere apology from my mother. The work goes on a journey of exploring apology flowers, it may have started with the flowers from my mother but i didn't want that to be front and centre, i wanted this work to be an exploration of apologies and flowers in a wider scope. I spent a day with a local flower seller, this was an awkward and difficult day for me but very beneficial to the work. The final outcome of this work comes together in 4 parts, the flowers and lies publication, the flower game publication, the apology flowers video and my large paste up. I did create various other pieces and experimentations but i belive these to be the most successful pieces that represent each element of the project and my practice. I have evaluated each piece separately in their own blog posts, instead i will evaluate the work as a whole in terms of exhibition viewing. I am pleased with the showing space i have created, in previous years i found it difficult. The adams buiding is beautiful but when it comes to turning it into an exhibition space we are quite limited to what we can do due to its listed nature. This year i took over the small back room we dont usally use for showing, Boarding out a large portion of this room meant i was able to create more of a traditional clean space. I did also choose this room as it was our photography space, i liked the details like the back drop pullys beinge behind attached to the wall still, it kind of frames the screen my video is on, i think it creates a good visual conversation between the video filmed in a studio space and the surroundings its shown in. Last minute I decided to add flower petals all over the floor, like mentioned before I knew I wanted a clean white space, but something felt off, like a disconnect between the work, the walls and the floor, I think adding the petals not only ties the colours together but also adds an extra element that gives the space for of an installation feel rather than purely exhibit. I would of liked to add even more flower petals to the floor, however it was started to get a little expensive as 12 bunches of flowers only coverd the floor to the amount seen below. If I had considered this earlier I could of looked into options that would of been cheaper. Although I hadn’t originally planned for the paste up board to be in the corner of my space I think it looks good, I solved the issue of loosing one side of the board by attaching shelves to the wall for the books instead. The positioning of the A board has meant that it’s lost the shop sign quality but I don’t think that’s overly important as it still works non the less. 

I believe this work paired with my mirror installations both in stony st and the Nottingham castle come together to make a cohesive piece, one that first draws on personal experiences of apology flowers then goes on to explore the idea of both flowers and apology’s. 

When it came to the opening night of the show, many people seemed to be interested in my work. I found my video made people slightly uncomfortable, I think this is ok, it’s an uncomfortable topic.