Category: Methods 2018

Welcome to the City….

I’ll admit, I didn’t have particularly high expectations for this trip. I assumed it would be very history focused and sort of dry, and though it had a definite focus in history it was probably the highlight of my week. All of the artist books were amazing! Expect a gallery within this post as soon as I’ve processed all the pictures I took. That aside, I’m sort of at a loss for what to write. …

This presentation was a nice companion to the one Katherine Smith gave several weeks prior, in that it continued my search for answers to what the process of scholarly research really is. I really admire Robin’s love of the research process, although I don’t think I match it. I’ve grown to not dislike research as I’ve found ways to do it which combine with processes of information gathering I already enjoy, but I’m not sure …

This was a trip down memory lane! It’s been a while since the film photography class I took in junior year of high school, and as frustrating as that class was at times, this was a welcome return. Thanks Calvin and thanks Nell! You don’t realize you miss that chemical smell till you’re back in the darkroom realizing you don’t know which tongs go where. Needless to say, this ‘trip’ was to a photography darkroom. …

So, firstly: this was really fun!! Big thanks to Andrew for having us. Also thanks to Nell for picking this as a field trip in the first place, since it’s not something I would ever have thought about otherwise. The process of bookmaking is beautiful, and I loved seeing all the different things involved. It’s a lot different from the digital way I usually do things, where my entire “studio” can fit in my backpack, …

I’ve never considered myself good at research. I’m very good at tracking down the information I want (if I want to find an obscure video I saw a few months ago but the only keywords I remember are “medieval wizard music in an old video game”, I will spend half an hour pulling every resource I can think of until I find it. Even if it’s like 1 AM. Ask my roommate. Sorry, Ray.) But, …

because bullet points are fun I mean: look at them like poetry, kind of Subject Matter: Still life-y stuff two children (background) vase of plants (foreground) some fruit and nuts a cricket Black and white only woodcut print shading done with hatching Print is circular frame is square Line: it’s important different within work children are simple few lines flowers and vase very complex many small lines lines used to define different segments of work …

A more formal writing of the notes I took during my close looking at Leonard Baskin’s Children and Still Life. Baskin’s Children and Still Life is more or less what it says on the tin in terms of subject matter. Two children stand, half hidden, behind a vase of plants, while some fruits and nuts are scattered in the foreground, a cricket sitting there as well. The scene is entirely in blacks and whites, shading …

As per the specifications of this assignment, I tried to look at the work I’m researching, Children & Still Life by Leonard Baskin, where it hangs in the library for a solid 60 minutes, while taking notes. Regretfully I only managed around 25 minutes, and it probably would have been even less if I hadn’t been listing to music for some of it. I clearly need to practice sitting still more? Anyway, here are the …

To figure out which parts of my normal research process are effective, and which need work, I did some research into the history of chair design, and documented my workflow as best I could. This is the result. Topic + Reason for Choice Research Notes Sources Topic + Reason for Choice I’m looking into chair design throughout history, specifically how the industrial revolution and mass production changed chair design. It’s a topic that was brought …