I'm very easily swayed by flashing lights, fountains of knowledge and further enhancing my brain with needless things. So obviously, I've been finding myself more and more distant with my work. Second Journal entry, the first one was written with the intention that it would make me feel like I could make a step forward with my professional career, but instead I've turned around and retreated back to base like some kind of recluse. I created a wonderful vision of what I want, but I'm finding myself giving up in even trying to obtain it. I honestly lost the desire to work recently because I was too busy settling for quick fixes. It's become like a routine, and because of that, I've lost all creativity with it. My brain has officially become creatively bankrupt and I'm trying to fix it.Recently, I went to a seminar at the University of Lincoln and became suddenly re-energized to work. In particular, Ken Garland stood out amongst the rest of the speakers that day and really engaged everyone with his topic, Sustainability. People like Bruce Mau have been pushing this topic for a while now, and you see efforts by companies trying to be more sustainable more and more often, trying to conserve, improve and make things more reliable. I've realized to myself then that what I've been lacking is a direction for my work to take from here.
So, what am I making for my final major project at Uni now? A magazine. How is it sustainable? Well, at the moment, it's not because it's simple a concept. In Pluto's realm of idea's is my wicked awesome super call magazine that's constantly changing shape and size. The one thing that has probably stopped me from making it is the actual format. Do I want it big or small? I'm thinking that my magazine concept is something that is clearly able to be a working product, unlike the previous magazine before it.
This magazine was originally just going to be a travel magazine pitched at a student audience, which engaged the reader and aimed to inspire them to travel outside the country and learn more about the world that they would be entering soon at a professional level. I thought that the experiences I had, traveling to America, Japan and Ireland, were all incredibly valuable to me. Then I was presented with a problem. The target audience might not be too keen on just reading about why someone should simply go to a place, like a regular travel magazine. So I was directed with a methord on trying to resolve what kind of travel magazine I should actually make. A magazine aimed at backpackers? Surely not, we've got tons of those.
So I sat and thought about "the perfect target audience member". The client essentially became the person I was creating this magazine for, it wasn't an out of the blue concept anymore, but a product that this person would want to see. I had some time to think, and after a while, I went and read a post from Phil (Bury me in Celluloid) about Mark Rothko's seagraphs. Seeing someone so emotionally expressive about a piece of art really hit me with a whole set of new ideas for this project. I thought to myself "Clearly, when an object, whether it be a piece of art, a piece of architecture or even just a mountain, can bring out emotions like that from someone, then others would want to read and hear about it." The scope for such a thing is somewhat grand, but I decided to focus on items that would require the person to go out and see it, and therefore essentially make it a travel magazine.
As a gamer, I noticed a fundamental flaw in the whole philosophy of reviewing anything. I'm now finding a means to get around it, going beyond the ideal that you simply review the content and whether or not this product would be worth the purchase, and instead describing scenarios of whether people have enjoyed something so much that they wish to talk about it. It would be like me talking about particular favorite games of mine, for example Grandia or Thunder Force 4.
So now I'm finally putting work out again and actually moving forward with my idea of what "reviewing" something should be. Opinions will no long be written along side a public opinion or political correctness, but instead be more personal and intimate. When I first started this year at Uni, we was asked to create a group for our learning sets. Our group, which only has 2 members left, was called "Above the Fold" with the strapline "we want you to immerse you in our vision". Right now, with this idea, I actually think I might be able to complete this ideal with this project.
If you managed to survive this wall of text, I'd appreciate some feedback. Thanks :)
It sounds like Lincoln was worth the trip! In a weird coincidence I was up there on the same day, although doing something a lot less interesting.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about getting the balance right between creativity and routine. Personally, I subscribe to what Gustave Flaubert (one of my favourite writers) used to say about it all: ‘Be regular and orderly in your life, so you can be violent and original in your work’.
In my experience, to do anything that’s creatively worthwhile, you need to have structure and discipline in the first place. Without that it only becomes harder to realise your vision, because you end up just getting more and more distracted.
Flaubert is one of my heroes. If you read his private letters his writing is fairly average, but in his published novels, some of his phrasings are absolutely exquisite.
Scholars say Flaubert developed his writing style not through any superlative innate talent, but just by doggedly plugging away day after day until he found what he called the ‘mot juste’ – the exact word and expression.
To me, he’s a great example of sheer grit and tenacity paying off, and the fact that even when you’re a genius, there’s still no substitute for hard work.
I like what you’ve said about reviewing. Although there’s a place in mainstream media for the more traditional ‘should I buy this or shouldn’t I’ kind of reviewing, I’ve always found the more personal and intimate style to be much more interesting, and at times, inspirational.
Responses to art, games, films and music are all subjective anyway, so why not treat them like that? Ultimately, a good review will always say more about the reviewer that what he or she is actually reviewing.
Good luck with the project and let me know if you need that Rothko piece writing up. I can turn it round pretty quickly if you need me to.