DEGREES UNEDITED

# 19 [14 February 2010]

A litle experiment with format. Another method of display for the symbols has been simple postcards. This requires a change in format which at least has me questioning the assumption that square is best. I will test rectangular, both portrait and landscape.

During half term I may also have another go with canvas and paint. or at least mixed media. I feel like I gave up too quickly on my last attempt. In any case I love to experiment with materials that feel a little uncomfortable to work with. Very little that is creative comes out of working inside the comfort zone.

There is much temptation to find and follow an easy route to a final show, but my best work comes from exploration and work at the edge of what I understand and can already do. I must hold my nerve and keep experimenting, keeping faith in my ability to discover something fresh and interesting just-in-time for the exhibition.

Put the work in and something good will happen!

# 18 [12 February 2010]

Not been too well the later half of the week, forcing me to miss the group critique. Very unhappy about that, I like to have my say and, more important, listen to what others say. The group critique is also a good way to keep up with what others are doing.

The dissertation is bound and ready to hand in next time I am in college. I may go in next week (half term) just to get it out of my hands and safely beyond fiddling with!

Next week I will be exploring alternative ways of storing and displaying a large number of images (100 to 500).

One method I have used in the past is the Bochner inspired ring binder. I may yet use this method again. It is certainly cost-effective and relevant to the engineering inspired connections of my symbols.

# 17 [10 February 2010]

The dissertation is printed and ready for binding (three copies, one for me and two for college). With luck this can happen tomorrow and I can hand it in. When it is out of my hands I will then focus 100% on the final project and exhibition.

I also sent in my exhibition catalogue information today. The image is generic and should act as a visual clue for anything I might actually exhibit.

The installation tests are going well. I like the intimacy of the digital photo frame. My budget will cover a backup frame, so this is one piece of technology that might yet find a place in the exhibition.

# 16 [8 February 2010]

On Thursday we have a group critique. Apparently this will coincide with a visit from our external examiner, so no pressure there!

Between now and then I have our installation room booked. I aim to setup some video test pieces using both a digital photo frame and a computer projector. I have the frame but need to borrow a projector. The college should be able to supply this kit, but you never can be absolutely certain.

Despite, or maybe because of my systems engineering background, I am dubious about using technology in the final show - unless I can ensure there are backups available for each and every item. My risk management experience tells me that if something can go wrong it will, so unless backups can be guaranteed then the show will be low tech.

Anyway, the installation test this week should help me decide how hard to work toward making the technology available as an integral part of the exhibit.

Key dates approaching: group critique 11th February; dissertation deadline 3rd March; deadline for my final show catalogue information 1st March.

We have the half term break next week followed by a reading week (where many students are off to Venice, but not I).

# 15 [4 February 2010]

The painting idea didn't get very far. Very early on it became obvious that paint was not the right medium for this line of enquiry (at least not paint and canvas). It was good to experiment, but painting is now off the agenda.

On the other hand, the process of deriving the expanded symbol set went very well. The exploration made connections to alternative methods of presentation. I now have a rough idea of the components and organisation I need for the exhibition. I have more experiments to perform in order to prototype the components

The symbols are begining to stand-alone, the connection with their original purpose now seems less important.

I feel the need for a detailed plan. I sound like an engineer again. I'm not sure if that is positive, negative or just an inevitable consequence of my past - probably the later!

# 14 [31 January 2010]

This week I started out with the intention of creating the two new symbol sets I mentioned in my last post. As it happens, a line of conversation in a tutorial has set me off on a different path. So, instead of creating those symbols I have been questioning the role of the hand-made in my work. Where is the balance between the idea and the execution. Will I be satisfied with the aesthetic of the entirely machine made output. Can I find my own balance point between hand-made and machine-made. In all of this there is a large element of self doubt too. Maybe this is just my nerves on edge at the realisation that four years of dedicated work is about to come to a head, about to be tested in the spotlight of a final show!

The danger is that, while procrastinating over the various arguments raging in my head, I dither and fail to make a decision. To break this deadlock I will try something different. I haven't lifted a paint brush for eighteen months (since my last life class) and so this week I will set-up a canvas and see what feel I get from using paint again.

So, this week, I will paint in the college studio during the day and I will create new symbols on the computer in the home studio in the evening.

Can I connect the two in some meaningful way?

# 13 [24 January 2010]

Following a review of progress, I have taken a step back.

It became clear that to continue with just 27 codes in my symbol set would be to journey down a blind alley. I had reached a point where having symbols only for alpha and space became just too restrictive. So what to do!

After some investigation (via sketching in my journal) I made the decision to add a triangle to my circle and square (this also fits with my dissertation research of Vasarely). Now this may have triggered a trip back to square one and an entirely new journey, where I build a new set of symbols from scratch, a set that could include all three shapes in a single symbol. However, by way of preference, I like to reuse what has gone before, so instead I have decided to add to my symbols already based on circle and square (this also fits with the way new systems are built on the architecture of earlier incarnations).

As the circle and square (CIRCUARE) symbols were built using a times 3 principle, it seems logical (and comfortable) to try to use times 3 again. So if CIRCUARE is 1 then I need another 2 sets to make 3.

So we already have:

CIRCle + sqUARE = CIRCUARE

To which I will add:

TRIAngle + ciRCLE = TRIARCLE

SQUAre + triANGLE = SQUANGLE

The naming convention was chosen to reflect the contortions that are often brought to bare in the naming of computer projects or systems, where the hunt for the right TLA, FLA or in this case ELA (eight letter abbreviation) can often appear to be of vital importance! Whatever you (or I) may think of these abbreviations they are a convenient shorthand.

This trebling of resources will allow my code symbols to represent 27 x 3 = 81 codes. This will suffice for now and we will see how far I go before this new set becomes too restrictive.

This week will be spent working out and recording the new symbols.

# 12 [23 January 2010]

The second draft of the dissertation is done. This is the first version to include a conclusion. I also have complete end-notes, illustration references and bibliography. There is still more tweaking to do, but if the deadline were tomorrow, then there would be something of reasonable quality to submit.

Relief is the word of the moment...

# 11 [20 January 2010]

This week has seen a continued effort to finish the dissertation. There is still work to be done on the conclusion, but it is going well and the end is in-sight.

In parallel, I have continued to work with the CIRCUARE symbols in the digital domain. There have been many composite images made that convey a coded message using both the monochrome and the colour symbol sets.

The colour symbol set has also been used as a basis for a series of more uncertain outcomes, outcomes I describe as static kinetic. I include some sample images made for this series, a series designed to be viewed in a transmissive medium like a computer monitor or digital TV.

Some test prints, made with pigment ink on archival matte paper, prove they also print well. They have a different feel in a reflective medium, but it is valid nonetheless. It may be worth considering the investment in a much larger mounted print to see how a significant increase in scale might change the way the image can be read. I am considering a Lambda print mounted on aluminum or dibond. An acrylic face-mount would be ideal, but remains outside my budget.

The problem with technology is that it is oh so easy to breach the budget. Affordability and logistics become a very important consideration. Budgets and risk management can put pressure on ambition.

I guess financing art production is not a new issue for an artist!

# 10 [15 January 2010]

Today has been all about the dissertation.

After some excellent feedback [on my first draft] I have been working on the next revision. Hopefully this one will hang together and be better balanced in terms of: primary research, secondary, research, the opinions of others, and my own input.

Unfortunately formal writing is [as usual] taking a dissproportionate amount of time when compared to the assesment marks on offer. But I guess that is just the way life is when doing something we find hard.