My final assignment submission has gone off to Clive today!  A draft set of Introductory Notes for Assessment, covering the two BoW projects; PDF/video versions of the Textbook book; the ‘Stanley Quest’ website; A4 prints of all the ‘Portraits’ and some of the ‘Textbook’ images; and an ‘Evaluation’ for my Body of Work module – there’s plenty for him to get his teeth into!!  The ‘Evaluation’ is a normal experience at this stage in most OCA modules, but it feels particularly significant for this module and we’re required to write 1500-2000 words.  I did wonder whether to make mine ‘public’ here, but perhaps a more appropriate approach would be to draw out some of the main points from it.

• There is no question about my overall response – ‘positive’.  The module has worked well for me and I have made significant progress, gaining a great deal of confidence.  That’s confidence in the work and confidence in presenting or talking about it; something that comes as much from Contextual Studies as the development within this module, I must add.  There was one stage where I was struggling to articulate the link between the two, but I got there, and the experience made me more confident in what I was doing.
• I came out of L2 feeling that a creative ‘voice’ was developing, based around constructed, largely studio-based image-making, and that is the way things have continued.  I originally expressed some concerns about being wholly ‘studio-based’; and also about a tendency to get into ‘over-intellectualising’ the work.  In the end, like it or not, I have produced two projects which, although certainly able to be appreciated in all sorts of ways, are essentially conceptual and highly constructed. C’est la vie!
• There is a slight regret/concern that the work lacks what I can best describe as emotional resonance!  I set off on a mini ‘personal journey’ early in the module and found no inspiration.  I played around a little with constructing images that ‘responded to events’, but took it no further.  My projects could be interpreted as somewhat cold, detached, at times light-hearted.  So much of what my fellow students produce is about personal responses – mine is not.  I’m not sure whether that matters or is of significance in assessing what I’ve done, but it is worth noting!
• One question that I reflected in early in this blog has certainly been resolved.  I am not; possible never have been; and maybe never will be ‘a photographer’!  Well, that depends on definition, of course (and tongue is in cheek as I write); but I would describe myself as a contemporary artist who works with photographic images.  And if I am going to make anything of my work in Sustaining Your Practice, that is the cloak I will put on.
• The ‘Evaluation’ covers influences, which are well enough covered previously in here, so I won’t repeat; and also asks about plans for the work.  ‘Textbook’ is emerging as a book, as expected, and I can see the potential to self-publish within SYP, maybe.  ‘Portraits’ is a little more complicated, as I’ve also discussed in here before – and may end up side-lined after assessment.  By far the most important ‘plan’ must be to find ways for a lot more people to see the work.  I’ll never know whether the confidence expressed earlier is well-founded until the work has been exposed to more ‘criticism’ and I’ve had significantly more feedback.  Which, conveniently, is the whole point of SYP – so, onwards and upwards with that!

… and on that note; I have just set up a Blog for SYP.  There is nothing there as yet, but if anyone reading this is interested (and patient – nothing much may happen for a while), it is here stansocasyp!