Evaluation of Freedom Project

When I was given this project I had mixed feelings. All of us in the class were provided with one word which was ‘Freedom’ and we were told we could it interpret anyway we wanted, using any media and style. I felt intrigued but also in control. This was a project I was totally in charge of and could develop how I wanted.

Then we were given a plastic poly pocket with 63 pieces of papers 10 x10 cm in size and we were told to use these as ‘sort of like a sketch book without a binder’ (tutor comment).  I looked at the packet and thought about how I could use the different selection of card and paper inside.

At first I did not know what aspect of Freedom to look at so I talked it over with my mum. One thing I could definitely remember was my final piece of work would go in the exhibition of the 800^th Anniversary of the Magna Carta. We looked at the Magna Carta page on the British Library website and followed a lot of the links.

The links led to articles on the American Bill of Rights, the Human Rights Act and UNESCO. All were in part inspired by the Magna Carta and were all related to how individual people should have rights, equality and freedom. This then led me to think about what freedom means to individual people and I talked about this with my dad. He advised me to think about the first thing that came into my head then disregard it.

With this in mind I typed in the words ‘What is freedom?’ in the spacebar on Google and saw what came up. It fetched up images of people dancing in a meadow with butterflies, rainbows, doves flying and breaking chains. Words and phrases it fetched included equality, empowerment, and freedom to be what you want.  I found none of this inspired me and I decided that this did not appeal to me as I have never been subjugated and chained up and if I want to listen to music or stare at the stars I do. I

did what my dad suggested and disregarded it.

After thinking about it and talking about it with family, friends and my tutors I decided to find out about what Freedom meant to individuals and also what freedom meant to me.

I did this by using a combination of primary and secondary research. My primary research involved me asking fellow students, tutors, family and friends from different age groups and genders the question ‘What does the word Freedom mean to you?’ I got a variety of answers and soon realized freedom meant different things to different people. It ranged from ‘those little things in life …’ to not being judged for what you believe in. I then interpreted this with looking for an image to match the quote and this is where my secondary research came in as I looked at books, Google, pinterest and various websites. When I found an appropriate image I then drew it using a variety of media (acrylics to prismacolour pencils) on the original cards and A4 paper (from watercolour to parchment).

I then followed on these interpretations for myself and listed things I am interested in such as music and films and looked at how they were related to freedom. Again I used primary and secondary research and interpreted this by displaying it in a variety of pictures.

Part of this research involved me looking at various artists and artwork and one which interested me was Cornelia Parker who was commissioned to create a piece of work to celebrate the anniversary of the Magna Carta.

On the 15 June 2014 (the 799^th anniversary) she took a screen shot of the Magna Carta Wikipedia page and had this printed onto fabric. This was then cut into bits and sent to chosen people who were all linked to civil liberties and politics (including prisoners).  Her quote ‘Wikipedia is a kind of embroidery, it’s very subjective with many contributions and anyone can add their bit’ inspired me and I can link it to my interpretation of Freedom. She showed an understanding of the word freedom depends on an individual’s viewpoint and I found it interesting that she worked with prisoners and took the Magna Carta in a new direction. Her working with other people inspired me to work with other people by asking people for quotes for my work the way she asked people to embroider her artwork.

Another artist who inspired me was Frida Kahlo. I liked how she did not let normal conventions and her illness hold her back. She made strong statements and still is popular today so much that one of the characters in Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy was based on her. The Guardian recently did an article on her wardrobe, which is the first time the public has seen since she died. She had her leg amputated and created her own prosthetic leg with a funky red boot which in a way reflects her freedom as an individual.
Another main artist I looked at and researched was Noel Fielding, mentioned above. His work is very inspiring, creative and expressive. In my opinion, his art work truly sums up the word Freedom because he lets his imagination run wild on the canvas without worrying.

My starting point for my 63 pieces of paper was the looking at the quotes and texts and decided which ones I could link to an image of Freedom. This then led me to think how I would present my work.  I knew it would be a book format but looked at a scrapbook and a photo album. I have used a combination of these to create a book that is a unique as the original Magna Carta. I have chosen to display it like this due to the quotes I have collected from people that are personal to them, and I wanted to leave that slightly pure and personal atmosphere in my work. Photo Albums and scrapbooks are sentimental and unique to individuals and are full of personal memories and I wanted to reflect this personal angle in my artwork.

I have developed my use of thinking about how to interpret set targets and make them personal to me. I have also started to develop the skill of analyzing words and reflecting what they can mean and how to represent them in art form. I have also found out that one thing can have much different interpretation to individuals and I hope that I have reflected this in my Book of Freedom.

Again I have not managed my time as well as I should and I need to look at time management.  I am pleased with my work but I think this has been an issue for me throughout the course and I need to make it a SMART target for when I progress onto next year.

I have evaluated my work throughout by a number of ways. I have talked to my tutors about my ideas and listened to what they have advised. An example would be when my tutor suggested I ask college students on my course about their opinion as well as my family and friends and this gave me more information to look at and evaluate. I have also kept a weekly blog and discussed my ideas with my parents.

I have found it challenging but I have enjoyed it. Interpreting one word can be daunting but leaves you lots of opportunities to express yourself. I do not think I would change anything, as I believe I have shown what I wanted to do which is that freedom means many things to different people.