Bethany Joy Thompson: Statement of Intent

SECTION ONE – Your Final Major Project (guide 150 words)

What is the title of your Project? What will you work towards producing and what is your proposed end point? Explain how this relates to your work and ideas from the Pathway Stage and how it extends your knowledge, understanding and creative ability.

The theme of my project is about language and how we interpret a message if its verbally or visually. For example texting is hard to understand the tone of someone’s voice or how they are saying something so this can often lead to misunderstandings as we have taken away important senses that we use to judge a conversation and a person.

This closely relates to my research with proxemics as this is about body language and communication, Jennifer Crupis work with body language and forcing people into certain poses that display certain emotions or preconceived ideas of what they mean force the wearer to confront how they use language in non verbal forms. From this I want to create an end piece that puts the person into a situation covering facial and verbal forms of language and only leaves body language. However I want the displayed body language to conflict with the way im trying to disguise it. When someones face and voice are taken away and the message is taken out of context leaving the body then does it still give the same message? How do we interpret or have preconceived ideas that help us understand language when senses are taken away.

SECTION TWO – Influences, Research, Sources and Ideas (guide 150 words)

What are the influences, starting points and contextual references and why are they relevant to your ideas? Indicate the subject areas you intend to research and the likely sources of information including any museums, specific locations, performances, etc you plan to visit. However you should not make extensive lists in this section. Instead you should compile an accurate bibliography correctly acknowledging all references including texts, periodicals, websites and video/DVD’s etc. Enter your bibliography in the APPENDIX .

My starting point for this was Jennifer Crupis Guarded Gestures project which then lead me onto proxemics where we all have our own comfort zones and ways of coping with unfamiliarity. She references Edward Halls theory of proxemics and personal space. Jennifers work forces the wearer to confront how they use language and how they are perceived to the outside world. I found it interesting that although the body language could be guarded and uncomfortable the persons face would have a completely different emotion laughing as theyre trying it or they mirror the emotion as theyre being put into uncomfortable situations with others watching. I also intend to look further at Charles Rays work as he works with the body and sculpture. My earlier research into Mari Iwaharas work looking at skin lead me onto how leaving impressions and marks on the body can tell a history and language of a previous unseen action. From this I found Scout Pare Phillips who made a series of photographs showing impressions and marks of clothing on the skin. For my research I went to The New Art Exchange as they had a new exhibition on Middle Eastern identity, although this had nothing to do with my work the photographs were of different forms and shapes of the body such as people with missing limbs, body builders and transsexuals. I intend to go to the Surface Gallery in Nottingham to see Lisa Selbys With or Without exhibition-

‘The awareness of inevitable loss is central to Lisa Selby’s material and sculptural approach. With and Without seeks to grasp and eternalize what cannot be held firm: Selby re-articulates items from the domestic environment, relaying the familiarity and alienation experienced as one moves physically and psychologically from one home to another.

Whilst she begins with found objects, her sculptural forms effectively make these anew: imperfect copies are alien from their originals, traces of former existence are erased and their function is redefined. The fragile and impermanent works evoke vulnerable homely spaces: materials are far too delicate or look poised to fall, fragrant domestic liquids evaporate throughout the exhibition, and disappearance, failure and melancholy hang in the air.’

SECTION THREE – Techniques, Processes and Timescale (guide 150 words)

Refer to any techniques and processes you intend to use. Describe the range of media and materials relevant to your project and how you may use them to explore and develop your ideas. Include aspects of studio practice, workshop procedures or the use of particular equipment and software etc. Provide an indicative timescale for your project and indicate the manner in which you intend to divide your time in order to investigate, develop, produce and evaluate your project appropriately. This should be a meaningful plan to you and should be personalised to your project. You may wish to write your plan as a daily or weekly schedule in which case enter your timescale in the APPENDIX .

I intend to use sculpture but im not entirely sure of the materials just yet. I want to take the language out of context and into a completely new one to hopefully try change the interpretation. I want to use ways of disguising body parts through sculpture as everyday objects that the person fits into or I had another idea from Scout Pare Phillips work called Projections where images were projected onto the body disguising it until it nearly became lost and a part of the image. For this I could use a conflicting image on the projection, im interested in using this as ive always wanted to experiment with it and the physicality of it rather than a 2D projected image. I may try further work with casts as it’s a good way of fitting something to the body but I would like to try alternative materials than plaster as ive already done some work with it. I might try combing projections and sculpture as a way of distorting and disturbing the senses.

I plan for the first couple of weeks that I get back to college I will go straight into experimenting with maquettes to get a sense of the shape and form of the sculpture I want. As these 2 weeks of holiday I am starting my research so I can go straight into working when im back. The 3^rd and 4^th week I intend to start working with materials or I may start this earlier with my maquettes if I find some appropriate materials.

SECTION FOUR – Method of Evaluation (guide 50 words)

How will you critically review and analyse your work and determine if it is successful? How will you identify directions for ongoing development? Do you have a method to record the critical response to your ideas? How do you propose to assess the success of your Final Major Project and what will be your methods of evaluation? Unit 9 requires you to produce a supporting statement at the end of your project. This section can inform your analysis.

During the 2weeks that ill be making maquettes for experiments I will be using people to try them and recording their reactions and feelings. Not only theres but others that are watching to see how they feel or what they interpret from it. I plan to take videos of these to use for further reference or they could somehow be used within projections. I will be using my notebook to write down my ideas and feelings from the last session to then plan for the next lesson ahead, what I need to research or what materials I need. I will assess the success of my FMP once I have finished my proposed piece hopefully within enough time before the exhibition to allow me to make changes if I need to, whether people are interacting with my piece and can see the idea and message I have behind it. It doesn’t matter to me whether a person doesn’t understand it as in a way its meant to be confusing the senses and communication.