Thursday 7 May
Final day and Exhibition set up
Our house made it in for 7 am this morning while the lads went fishing with Joe at 6am.
The BYU students were working till 2am last night to get done and most of us made the 12 pm deadline this lunch time.
The pressure to complete our books has made an interesting difference to the usual way we might prevaricate and delay decisions, but we have had to be decisive and productive with our time from monday morning till now.
Even under the strain of our deadline the students have continued to help those who needed support and the good humour has persisted to the end across both groups.
Michelle Rowley
Today has been another busy day. As tomorrow’s deadline looms, some of us still have much to do, whilst others have completely finished. There is a concentrated atmosphere in the studios and I have been busy helping to resolve production problems for some and settling nervous anxiety in others.
The major problem is that the short making period leaves no time for prints to dry before handling, but we have overcome this niggle. Necessity definitely is the mother of invention and this has been born out thought the creative interpretation of the project brief and the adoption of new print methods to speed up image making where possible.
Between the two groups there is a shared interest in, and respect for, each other’s work with much discussion about possibilities, methods, sharing of skills and research resources. It has been really enjoyable to watch this happening and I think that the camping trip has definitely fostered this trust in each other.
The facilities at BYU are amazing and they have been made easily accessible to us, we will miss the airy print studios, the huge etching press, the enormous and affordable digital print suite and the well stocked college shop which is more like a department store!
But more than any of these things, we are already sorrowfully thinking of our goodbyes to come and wondering how we can stay in touch, with all the friends we have made, into the future.
Tuesday 5 May
2nd Day of making and printing
Today we printed an edition of the group litho plate with Joe's help. Everyone got a 5 minute slot to have a go at printing it. It was something that we have never done before and some of the BYU students hadn't experienced either.
Both Cath and Louise have managed to complete a litho each and they have turned out really well, though it is a time consuming and troublesome process.
Michelle and Louise helped meredith to print the edition of the collaborative text piece using a phtographic letterpress plate on an automated press. It was a really interesting session and very satisfying to see it done, its so much better than a digital / inkjet print.
WMC Group comments:
Julie: "I was really nervous about using Illustrator, even with the help of Amy and Meredith, so I used photoshop instead but will have to face it again tomorrow. But I am confident enough to have a go again."
Patricia: "I have found it challenging getting used to how different materials behave here, but I have thouroughly enjoyed today and have produced some interesting work.'
Christine: "The day went very quickly and I have learnt some new and useful skills. I've nearly finished my book now, only the cover to do now. The BYU students have all been very encouraging and there has been a good exchange of skills and knowledge between us."
Tuesday 5 May
2nd day of printing and making
Rebecca from BYU explains her ideas for her book
When we were in the Escalante area we were shown a map of Utah from 1868 that had a big empty white circle of where Escalante was. This area had been unexplored and left blank. This part of Utah was one of the last places in the US to be explored and made known to the rest of
the world. I don’t really like that because to me Utah is the greatest place in the world. My ancestors found Utah to be a safe haven, they worked the land, my parents met here, and I did my growing up in Utah.
For my project I have been researching Utah maps. I have found a collection that spans from 1782 to present day. I want my project to illustrate the evolution of mapping Utah. At first I planned to show these maps creatively in layers or some way to chronologically show the history. But I realized that I don’t want the focus to be on the world discovering Utah. I want it to also show that Utah has always been here and why it is important to me, whether it is mapped on the world or not. So instead I have used the old maps I found as a springboard to my own exploration of what Utah has meant and does mean to me; poppies, rainbow arch, Lake Powell, the tabernacle, Mormon temples, the lamp-posts in my city, my home. I hope my project will show how long the process has been for recognition, but if not- at least I was reminded of why I love my home land.
