Critical Review

CRITICAL REVIEW/ Final Major Project

 

Student Name: Freya Chauncy

Pathway:  3DCP

 

FMP Title: A London Home

 

1. Briefly describe the context of your project and how you used a range of critical perspectives and approaches to initiate your idea.

My project is focused on my own home and how it has changed over its lifetime, as well as how domestic spaces and the area have changed over the years. I use many different sources to research and gain a wider perspective on my project area for example, the census, artists and visits.

2. Describe how research, analysis and evaluation helped you to feed ideas and develop concepts?

My research allowed me to start thinking deeper into my concept of the home and how they can become part of our identities rather than just a practicality, evaluation helped me to expand my ideas and take me in different directions and to experiment more with different concepts and formats.

3. What specialist skills and methods did you use to realise your project?

To realise my project I used many different skills for example researching and creating my own wallpapers, one block printed and one linocut, I also had to work with wood and using exact measurements to adjust the cabinet to make it exactly how I needed it.

4. How did you integrate practical, theoretical and technical understanding to solve complex problems within your FMP? Please use examples.

A problem I had during my FMP was bringing my ideas into reality and putting my dolls house together in 3D form which would be very technically complex, I found my solution while doing historical research, discovering that dolls houses were made in cabinets during in the 17th and 18th centuries. Another problem I overcame was having a “spare” drawer in my cabinet which I ended up using to give my project a whole new perspective.

5. What systems/ tools did you use to plan your project and how effective were they to organise and develop your work?

To plan my project I used my timetable laying out what i would do each week from research to actually making the final piece, however i didn’t always follow this as my ideas and processes lead me in their own directions. Instead I found my blog much more useful for organising and planning as I used it to write down everything I had done and things I hoped to do. It also gave me a chance to think about what I had done and develop my work further.

6. What type of evaluative and reflective records did you keep? How did this help you develop your learning? Please use examples.

To reflect and evaluate I use both my blog and my sketchbook, I find my sketchbook useful for writing quick notes and reflecting visually for example sticking in pictures i am inspired by and  sketching out different ideas for my final piece, this has helped me develop my learning by giving me somewhere I can always put down and look back on processes and work. My blog was also very useful as somewhere for more in depth written reflection, which was useful as it allowed me to think more about my research and give a personal response back.

7. Who is your intended audience? Describe techniques and methods you used to communicate your idea to them.

My intended audience is very open as I think everyone can relate to it in their own way. The cabinet seem ordinary from the outside but invites the viewer to open it which then reveals a miniature world inside, this makes it seem secretive and special. My piece may also be very nostalgic to people in multiple ways, maybe they remember playing with a dolls house when they were ora child or maybe the even had an avocado green kitchen. However there is also a shock element to it which many people could relate or sympathize with.
8. Overall summary: Describe the key points to take away from this experience. In what ways will your approach to creative production change in future as a result

What I will take away from this experience is to be more open to changing of plans and ideas, I have learnt that your first idea is not always the best or the one you will end up pursuing but is more likely something you can use to start your initial research and develop from. I have also learnt to be a lot more varied with research using different sources such as books, films and not just the internet, also to not just focus on things directly related to my project as you may find inspiration from something completely different. This experience also allowed me to reflect on society when dolls houses were first created and today.