Final Major Project – Statement of Intent - Sample

Progress and achievement

At the start of the course I lacked confidence in the way I perceived and made art, and a real understanding of its purpose; basically I lacked an over all context to work from.  My experience upon entering an art gallery is now completely different.  Now when I go to an exhibition I approach another artist's work empirically, and see all of the facets they've dealt with.   I'm as interested in the curation as much as the art and I want to know why and how it exists.  

Pathway choice

Fine Art seemed an obvious pathway before I even started on the Art and Design foundation.  Previously I’d sculpted with clay and embellished found objects but I always tried to make my work conceptual and inspired by subjects I was reading about through my interests such as history or other cultures.  I never wanted my work to just look aesthetically pleasing or ornamental, yet there was no practical purpose other than the enjoyment I got from creating. On the course I seized the opportunity to continue in 3D on a larger scale using installations, and to experiment further with new dimensions such as light, time and video.   Project Proposal

I want to create a piece of contemporary art that is entirely unique and highly conceptual. It is likely I will continue to work with 3D objects but these could be used in a video or a performance.

The very first thing I will do is write a lengthy list of any subject matters and artistic themes which I am interested in.  These will be things I have yet to tackle, and also recurring themes I have noticed in my work over the course of the Art and Design Foundation such as how I seem to enjoy lists, categorising, ordering and reordering, the properties of objects, and philosophy.

I will then use online resources such as journals, and conversations with my tutors, to discover any artists who deal with similar themes, and also read more in depth about those particular ideas. For example, to learn more about lists and ordering, I will read about enumeration and Foucault's 'The Order of Things'.

I believe that carrying out this initial research may lead me to very different exhibitions, however I have made a preliminary list of contemporary art exhibitions to visit, as they seem relevant to my current practice.  In conjunction with this I will be reading philosophical literature or reference books to promote critical thinking.

I will record my thoughts and ideas via blog posts, which will include how I could implement my ideas practically.  Any visual ideas will be sketched.  My aim here is to produce enough material to have a catalogue of ideas I can go on to develop.  When I move out of the initial research stage and into the development stage I will begin to experiment with materials, objects, performances, video, or with whichever other medium fits my ideas.

Evaluation

I am going to keep a blog to document the chronological order of the research and development of my project.  It is also a way of documenting my ideas and decisions in a relevant context, so they can be understood by anyone else reading and for me to stay organised and reflect upon when I need to, as a reflective journal.  I work mainly in 3D so I normally photograph anything that I can not put in a sketch book, and these will be uploaded on to the blog too.

List of exhibitions and galleries to visit

Benoit Maire: Weapon, at the David Roberts Art FoundationGuiseppe Penone, at the Whitechapel GalleryBen Washington: Geometric Figuring, at Bow Arts TrustThe World of Extraordinary Objects, at the October GallerySaatchi GallerySerpentine Gallery

List of booked to read  

'The Pig Who Wants to be Eaten and 99 Other Thought Experiments' - Jullian Baggini'Think' - Simon Blackburn'The Order of Things' - Michael Foucault

Title: Ordering ThingsDate: Action ResourcesEaster Visit Benoit Maire - Weapon

at DRAF and blog. (Last day 11th May)

Visit the Saatchi Gallery and Blog.

Start reading The Pig Who Wants to be Eaten and blog any thoughts.

Begin extensive list of interests.

Portfolio work to date

Easter Continue list and read further in to things on list/obtaining literature. Blog.

Visit The World of Extraordinary Objects at the October Gallery and blog.

Visit Serpentine Gallery and blog

Internet/loan or buy books

Blog

Blog

Week beginning15/4/13

Get tutor feedback

Continue research about things on list.

Speak to tutors about artists with similar themesList this on blog

Visit Ben Washington: Geometric Figuring at Bow

College

Books/internet

College library, internet, books

Arts Trust and blog. (Ends 9th

May)If no longer relevant, replace with more appropriate exhibition.

Week beginning22/4/13

Get tutor feedback

Gallery visit Guiseppe Penone at the Whitechapel Gallery and blog. (Until 4th Sept) If no longer relevant, replace with more appropriate exhibition.

Reflect on blogs so far and start ideas phase.

College

Week beginning29/4/13

Continue ideas phase and seek feedback from tutors/classmates

Research as and when needed in accompaniment to ideas.

Test ideas

Feedback from tutors

Galleries, internet, tutors advice, other students advice

Photos/blogBuy materials

Week beginning6/5/13

Continue testing ideas phase.

Research as and when needed in accompaniment to ideas.

Making phase

Photos/blog

Galleries, internet, tutors advice, other students advice

Week beginning13/5/13

In making phase and finalizing ideas.

Reflection on work so far.

Seek feedback.

Blog/sketch books/physical work

College

Week beginning20/5/13

Final evaluation and reflection on entire project.

Present work.

Blog