The theme I will be focusing within my project is balance and looking into optimism

Why did I choose this theme?

I am interested in the theme of balance as I believe there is always to sides to everything. I am also interested in the belief that there are always two sides to a story and much like the ying yang how there is always dark in the light and vice versa. I like art which has a strong sense of contrast or opposites, I thought through this project I could explore balance focusing on bold shape and monochrome. . One opposite thing which I am in interested in is being an optimist and pessimist. I enjoy learning about people different perspectives and how that effects the way they see the world. I want to look at the difference between being an optimist and pessimist and how the two beliefs contrast one another.

How will I develop this theme?

I want to develop the theme of balance through shape and colour. I want to investigate the different types of balance like symmetrical an asymmetrical in art using shapes. I want to create a contrast in my art so want to explore using monochrome as I think through using these opposite colours it will represent the two sides however will be equal. I want to explore balance in a 2D and 3D scenes and how are they different. I will take inspiration from artists such as Brigit Riley, Josef Albers and Edna Andrade.

What research will I do?

I will be looking a lot about the philosophical beliefs of optimism and balance. I want to find the key aspects to start off and then start to look deeper into how being an optimist and pessimist are different and how they contrast each other. I also want to investigate the more historic side of the Jing and jang and trying to find that happy balance in life.

Where will I start?

I will start the visual development though small sketches and ideas and gradually getting bigger. I want to experiment using over lapping shapes to create quite complex designs to help show my themes. I will start my development using collage as it is will allow me to explore different surfaces and textures together exploring shape

What resources will I use?

I will use books about philosophy which I have so will be able to look more into being an optimist and the famous philosophical question “is the glass half full or half empty? I will also use the internet to access research through videos, websites and blogs to help me develop me knowledge. I will also use the internet to help me find inspiration and look at artists who create similar work or look at the themes of balance or shape.

Planning a schedule

want to spend the first couple of weeks really experimenting the different themes and trying out different medias like paint and collage seeing what the best way to put my ideas across would be. In the third week I really want to focus on the research and get quite deep into the different beliefs and how I could put these ideas into my work. I want to look at a rangeof resources and try and collect as much research and use the time efficiently. I then want to look into the artists as I want to do this before I get to forward in my work as I want to take inspiration from these artists or find artist who have a conceptual or visual similarity to my work which I think would really help me. Once I have all my reach done(still do reach through out the weeks however don’t focus on it too much) I then want to experiment with the different medium and really think about what the best way to put across my idea would be if that’s collage, sculpture or painting. I want to spend the last couple of weeks really bringing my work to a conclusion and working on and completing my final piece. I want to evaluate my work the last week and really consider how successful my work was and I have I done enough or delegated my time efficiently. In the last week I also want to prepare myself for the final project crit and consider what the best way of showing my work and how it will be presented.

What are my strengths?

My strengths are I am quite good at exploring a range of ideas and looking into different themes and really getting stuck in with the research. I really like the research part of the project and enjoy note taking. Some technique which I am good at is collage. I really enjoy the process of collage and think it is a good way to start a project. I think collage also goes well with my theme of contrast and balance so will be useful. In can set myself a timescale and make sure everything is done in time. I am also good at keeping track of deadlines for crits so will have all my work ready and with me to present.

What are me weaknesses?

My weaknesses are sticking to a schedule. I can write and plan out a calendar and what I must do each day however its sticking to that plan and really getting my head stuck in which is sometimes the challenge. I also need to make sure that I am spending my time on important things and not spending all my time doing small development of research when that time could be used to make something big in scale or work on my final piece.

What will I gain from this self direct project ?

This project will allow me to learn a lot of new things about balance and contrast in art and how this is shown, I will learn about the philosophical and phycological looks on balance and optimism. This project will al so let me learn about new artists and take inspiration from them. Through this project I will learn how to set your self a brief and allocate the time needed to complete everything.