Forged Repetition
Critical Reflection
Final Outcome
My outcome has two elements, a physical 3-piece sculpture and a film. The sculpture looked to explore my main discoveries from the Parsonage, movement and the effects of nature. The design was inspired by the Ironworks’ use of systems to repeat and rotate pattern. I used the Golden Ratio to create a fluid moving structure which I embellished with abstracted details. I chose to leave the surface of the ironwork unfinished and without protection. This is to echo the impermanence of the Ironwork at the Parsonage and how the piece will change and degrade over time. I like the idea of encouraging destruction and the unpredictability of this process.
The film looked to explore the two-sided atmosphere of the Parsonage. I edited audio of the birdsongs and overlayed the process of manufacturing the ironwork to bring together these conflicting emotions. Additionally, this connects the viewer with the making process and the energy expended to construct the work. I continued my exploration of light and shadow from my design development, filming my sculpture in a darkroom using a singular light source. I shot from multiple angles and moved the light, varying the speed to cast shadow. This differing speed and composition helped me to direct the narrative of the video.
I feel that the video was successful in capturing my vision of how a viewer could interact and explore the work. It also gave me greater control over directing narrative, audio and lighting rather than setting up a permanent exhibition. However, I feel that the narrative differed from my initial intentions. I had set out to create a balance between the calming environment of the location, with the oppressive nature that runs throughout the site and the fast-paced city. I think there could have been more consideration between the weighting of this in my edit. One way would be to look at allowing longer pauses in the manufacturing audio to allow for slower paced video clips. Moreover, the birdsong became drowned out by the making sounds a little too much. However, when I tried to adjust this, the background noises from the Parsonage became overwhelming. I think this is an area I could have collaborated with other students on who have a deeper knowledge of video editing to improve this area of my practice. Despite these flaws I think that this is something I will take forwards and progress throughout my third year.
