‘A Sense of Place’ can mean different things to different people. To some it may be interpreted as a happy, safe or comfortable feeling. To some it may come across as a geographical place which they might have special connection to. To others it may not be a necessarily positive feeling. A sense of place can be considered as a feeling of fear, disappointment or loneliness, a zone or a place within an individual’s mind, which only she or he can relate to.
When a sense of place was introduced as a title, I immediately thought of somewhere, a geographical place which I have a personal connection to. A place where memories surrounded me with a pleasant atmosphere; home. Home had always been somewhere that I had considered to be a sense of place. It all depended on what I personally considered as home. I had many ideas on what I considered to be ‘home’, such as Wales, Caerphilly, The Brecon Beacons, Nelson, House or My car. Therefore I had decided to include most of these within my sketch book.
I still felt as though I had not discovered what I considered to be a ‘sense of place’. I needed to decide why these places made me feel so comfortable, why these places make me feel like I do. I realised then, that family and friends also had a huge impact in the reasoning of why I had chosen these places as a sense of place. Trying to explore my ideas, I realised that ‘A sense of place’ did not necessarily need to be somewhere that I feel comfortable. Not wanting to lose my previous ideas, I wanted them to lead to something deeper and more meaningful. As I had finished my previous ideas on ‘friends’, one of the first ideas that came to me was the idea of social networks. After doing some research online, most social networks can be considered as something happy, but can also be seen as something of hatred, cyber bullying and harassment. Which then guided me to ‘bullying’ and then found the idea of ‘A sense of place’ being a lonely place where one is left with her or his thoughts.
I had decided to put all of these ideas in my sketch book, including photos that I had taken myself, images off of the internet and a few rough sketches that I did myself, of a few things that caught my eye. Throughout my sketch book I have used water colours and pens as I feel they represent the mood and the atmosphere that I am portraying with in my work. As a part of the ict aspect, I explored many techniques that helped throughout the process of the sketch book. I have used an application called ‘instagram’ that has let me edit pictures of my choice, through changing colours, highlighting or adding effects to certain areas. As well as updating blogger throughout my course of the assignment, I have also used a bubbl.us which was very helpful as I could see all my ideas spread out and how I got to my final conclusion.
An artist was an important detail throughout my sketchbook. I wanted somebody to be inspired by, something for my ideas to reflect. I decided to use an artist called Haroshi. The Japanese artist creates three-dimensional sculptures out of old and used skateboards. Being an avid skateboarder, he believed that collecting and using his skateboards gave his art a connection to the outside world. He uses such techniques like stacking his skateboards and carving them into wooden mosaics. The reason I chose this artist, and the reason why he inspired me was because of his ‘screaming hand’ sculpture. He uses his hand positions, that give the sense of pain or frustration which helped give my work and sketches that drive it needed.
For my final piece I had decided to incorporate the ideas of bullying and a sense of place being a lonely place. As I have enjoyed drawing hands, and my artist has inspired me, I therefore used hands within my final piece. I have used a canvas as I feel it helps the piece stand out. My idea is to have a pair of hands, palm upwards and to have feelings and words that resemble sadness, hatred and bullying. I have also decided to paint it black and white as I feel though it would show that atmosphere that I am trying to portray.
Throughout the beginning of the assignment I had intended to use ‘A Sense of Place’ as something positive, and although I had shown some happy ideas in my sketch book, I have also shown that I have changed my mind about how I see ‘A sense of place’. I do believe that my decision to change my idea of ‘A sense of place’ was a good one as I think that it had lead me to think deeper about what could be considered as a sense of place and has ultimately led me to a better outcome. I believe that my use of two tone colours is the best option for my work as I think that it gives it a greater sense and atmosphere of bullying and sadness.
I have used ict thought-out the assignment and it has helped me a great deal. I have used the internet for research and to find images that would be appropriate for my work. I have also used blogger to update my work, which was useful as I could look back and see how far I have come.
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