Exercise 1: Feedback

If you took the opportunity to present your work during Project 5 you might already have a selection of reflective thoughts and feedback from various audiences. Using these as a starting point spend some time looking back over the work you have made, thinking critically about its themes, methods, ethics and what it communicates to an audience. Check this with your personal aims for the work and your practice as a whole. You may need to adjust the work you plan to make or the plan, either is fine.

I have received valuable feedback from my tutor, my peer group of fellow OCA students and of people who attended the same artist’s residency as me.  These comments although from different sources, seemed to follow a similar path with comments about being more definite about my narrative, in shaping the order of the work which makes up my major project to define the flow of my work and help identify duplication and find any gaps, to tell my story logically and clearly.  More general feedback comments related to my project having a very strong personal involvement which again relates to the narrative or flow of the work I present. I been thinking about how to present my work whether I try and find a traditional gallery setting or a non-traditional setting perhaps outdoors or in an abandoned property. This second option might mean I get less visitors but a different way of presenting my work might be to make a video of the exhibition. This would be a huge improvement over a 100% digital exhibition which I have been experimenting with. A video would then act as a gateway for my work and could sit on my personal website and allow a much larger potential audience to see my major project. I received some very positive feedback from my peers on this idea. One said that the idea of holding exhibition somewhere which might have very few or even no visitors is an interesting way of responding to grief as something we often deal with on our own. Another gave me feedback, “Your idea of staging the exhibition in an abandoned location is intriging; the desolate setting would underscore the sense of emptiness after a loss. There is a poetic beauty to abandoned places that words cannot fully capture, but this essense can be conveyed through your photographs. I can envision how this would come across powerfully, and a filmed documentary could serve as a compelling addition.” This second element of exhibition needs careful thought. In simple planning terms, I would need to find a suitable property which would mean looking online but more likely visiting the area. I would need to investigate ownership and permissions. This might mean speaking to local residents or the local council. For property which been abandoned for much longer and might be missing its roof, this permission element might be of less importance although I can imagine it would depend on location, ownership of the land on which the property sits and how close teh abndoned property might be to other properties. I would need to consider how safe the property is and whether the floor is rotten for example

I have been thinking long and hard about the order of the work and how I communicate my personal message about loss and grief to my audience. I have compiled a new order and introduced some new works to address the balance of my major project between the actual and the conceptual. I still have doubts over the end of my exhibition . Perhaps that end piece will fall into place when I lay my hands on the see-saw. One of main questions within this rethinking is whether or not I make Rebecca’s image part of my project. When I wrote my dissertation I made a conscious decision to exclude her image from my list of illustrations. My thinking was that her image means so much more to me than it did to my audience and how could I begin to communicate a sense of her from an image. I think my audience might expect to see her. In my revised sequence I have thought long about this point. I will seek more feedback on this revised sequence and on the new works within this sequence I show for the first time.

Research Task: Case Study Elizabeth Woodger

Browse Elizabeth Woodger’s OCA Photography graduate case study padlet. 

Add a short note to your learning log with one or two points that may have relevance to your own practice and project development.

I have been fascinated by the range of activity from the different alumni featured in the Case Studies section of the course notes. Elizabeth Woodger is no different. The depth and wide range of her interests from visual and contextual research to her wider interests outwith the OCA and engagement with other courses such as in Geology and in the folding of photographs to form paper structures as well as all the external engagements made such as Photopocene podcast, yearbook, portfolio review, AOP Student Awards, commissioned essays and more all show the huge depth and range of interests which Woodger developing.

In my own work am fascinated by idea of folded works. I took images of a couple of different examples of such ways of displaying work I found at an exhibition for the Scottish Landscape Awards held at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh.

© Richard Dalgleish, 2024, Display case showing differently printed works.

Photograph © Richard Dalgleish, 2024, Stone Coigach by Rosemary Everett, Dragonfold artist’s book. Edition of 10.

Photograph © Richard Dalgleish, 2024, Burnt Lammermuir by Rosemary Everett, mixed media artist’s book, ‘Venetian Blind’ binding. Accordion fold plus pamphlet stitched signature. Edition of 10.

Although my initial interest was in how these works looked and were presented, when I was on my artist’s residency I took time to do some reseach and was reading “Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation” by Shari Tishman. This work made me reassess the assumptions I had made about the presentatyion of works folded and bound in different ways. I thought of another reason for this binding other than looking nice. These slow down the interaction with the audience, stopping the photograph being seen so quickly before moving on to look at the next piece.

Exercise 3 – Networking and Promotion

Review the Enterprise Hub resources Promoting yourself and Showcasing your work.

Articulate your progress clearly and concisely regarding your networking and promotion plans and activities. Reflect on any challenges and action areas.

Record your findings in your learning log.

The artist’s residency I just completed was important step in building my network and in promoting myself and my work to a new audience. It was however just one step in many potential choices.

From the document in the OCA Enterprise Hub:

Promoting Yourself

Writing CVs, biographies, practitioner statements and developing a manifesto.

These written promotional tools are something I feel comfortable with., I have previously played with an artist’s statement and used different versions of this when I was applying for my artist’s residency. That feels like a key point in these documents. The knowledge of where and when to use these in my promotional journey. For example, a full CV might be useful in job application whereas practitioner statements, manifesto and artist’s statement are more useful when brevity is key and a longer CV would be too much. At this stage, I am focussed on an exhibition but maybe there is more scope to promote myself in different ways when submitting works to competitions, open calls or for display in a short summary of my work rather than a full exhibition of my current major project.

Online Enterprise Tools

Tools such as my OCA blog, my personal website, any sales platform I might use in the future and tools such as social media are things to consider at different points as I might need them. At present for example, I not considered the sale of my work so this might be something to look at in the future. I have rejoined Instagram and post some images there and do some networking. This the only social media platform I use in relation to my art. Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are more of a political space for me. I also have a LinkedIn account but this was not tailored for my art and was a space I used for networking and job searches when I worked in the IT industry.

The course notes mention a business plan along with finances, selling and marketing. I don’t yet feel that this is necessarily something I would be interested in. Not at this stage.

Showcasing your Work

The showcasing my work section in the Enterprise Hub feels much more relevant to my personal journey at this stage than does the promotional elements mentioned above.

The start of this article on the motivations for displaying work seem highly relevant. “Understanding, in quite an intimate and challenging way sometimes, what you desire from exhibiting will inform your choice of context, your curatorial choices and your strategies for engagement. Being self aware and honest about why you are doing what you are doing will help you devise a realistic and rewarding plan. Look to your work and ask yourself what it needs. Look at the potential spaces available to you and ask yourself what those spaces might suggest or require of the work.”

It feels to me that refining and being comfortable with my project is a crucial step I must complete before I start to approach potential spaces for the display of my project. The self-awareness, my choices, the pieces I reject or add to my work and the order I place pieces within my sequence are all part of the curation of my own work. How can I then seek an external party when I am not yet clear in my head as to what my final project will look like? An online exhibition might be a good way to help me self-curate my work and imagine it in different gallery settings. I think that even at this early stage, my work has more meaning and complexity than can be shown online in the digital space so while a digital gallery setting is useful, I see this simply as a tool to how my work would look in real life.

The list of physical spaces in the Enterprise Hub document is extensive and includes National and regional galleries and museums, commercial galleries, white cube galleries, art fairs, community galleries, art walks, open studios, festivals, trade events, markets, craft events, informal settings, workshops, studios, pop-up spaces, street art, performance spaces and screening venues. The choice is almost overwhelming. To this list I also need to consider collaborative shows or solo efforts.

There are two interesting interviews on “Best Ways to Approach a Gallery” from curator Jamnea Finlayson and” How to get Notice by Galleries” by Erica Berkowitz. Unsurprisingly, these are skills the artist can work on and experiences to build upon. I think I might start to build myself a list and detail some of my early approaches as and when I feel my project is ready. As a prompt, this document asks the following questions. This seems as good a starting place as any.

  • What type of venue is it? – is it formal/informal, small/large, public/private, commercial/non-commercial/, subsidised/ independent.
  • What does it offer? – what is its location, context, size, lighting, access, remit, mission statement, reputation, local audience, surrounding network of practitioners,
  • What kind of work does the venue normally show? Look at archive of a gallery to get an idea of the kind of work they are interested in prompting.
  • Is the space artist or curator led? Who is in charge of the space, and how are decisions made? Who do you need to talk to?
  • Will the venue help support your aims? Does the venue give you what you need to help move your practice forward? Is it a suitable space for your work?
  • Is it a realistic option? It’s good to be ambitious, but equally to be practical. How achievable is your choice, given the timescales or remit of the venue.

So much to research and to consider here.

Exercise 2 – Presentation

At a point that feels right to you and using methods that suit your work and goals we ask that you test presenting your work to date to an audience. It could focus on a particular aspect of the project or be an overview. This will depend on who you are presenting to and what you would like to gain. 

When presenting to peers who already know your work and are familiar with the Stage 3 student experience you may want to get their opinion of detailed aspects of the project, perhaps something difficult that you are wrestling with. You may on the other hand want to get more experienced at presenting your work to people unfamiliar with your work. 

There are a wide range of ways you could approach presentation/s, including online via google meet using padlets and google slides, using recorded video content of methods and creative activities, via a PDF or research document. You may wish to explore face to face opportunities in community buildings, workshops and/or open studio events. This is your choice.

I have shown my work both on my residency and as an ongoing task with my peer group and tutor. At this stage in my project, I would rather spend time refining my sense of my project and getting to a place where I am far happier with my output. This feels more important to me than another presentation at this stage.

Exercise 1 – Feedback

This month, in addition to feedback from tutor and from peers, I made use of my residency and used some of the people there to provide me with feedback on both the work done during the residencycy and also my OCA major project.

Unexpectedly, much of the feedback followed a similar path:.

“I should be more selfish and pay less attention to my audience and focus in on what it is I want to say.”

“make a choice right now about the purpose of your project without asking yourself who or what it is intended for”.

To allow my emotions and creativity to feed one another.

“To not put limits on my expression of a very personal journey into memory and remembrance of Rebecca”.

To think more deeply about my narrative and whether this could be better refined.

Not to treat an exhibition as an end in and of itself but as a blip on a journey.

The comments above are very insightful and help me a lot. Given the issues with my eyesight since my Italian trip, it seems to fit well that I spend time reflecting on these comments as I fight with myself to finesse my sense and presentation of my work.

Exercise 3: Publications and Contacts

Review these Enterprise Hub resources:

Articulate your progress clearly and concisely against each of these headings. Reflect on any challenges and action areas.

Record your findings in your learning log.

This aspect of my final project has been one of most challenging for me and there is much still to be done in this area.

On the positive side

  • I have looked at external opportunities such as joining a professional organisation based in the field of death studies and have engaged with them regarding my dissertation and a potential interview.
  • I have applied and been accepted for an artist’s residency.
  • I am investigating funding with Creative Scotland and will also look at the OCA Enterprise funding.

On the negative side

  • I have not submitted any work for Open Calls or competitions.
  • I have not yet engaged with gallery spaces.
  • I realise that I need more engagement with others to help build my practice. I need to engage with the wider world to help build my experience and confidence and to help build networks.

Some of the interaction I am looking for will come from my artist’s residency and with engaging with curators and other participants. The same applies to me joining the Association for the Study of Death and Society but there is more I can do.

I have started to investigate digital exhibition spaces such as Kunstmatrix, Artsteps and Artplacer. I will use these tools to develop an online exhibition test space where I can explore how an exhibition will look and feel and which will offer some public shop window for my work.

My biggest challenge is with physical exhibition spaces. Initially I wondered about gallery space in local hospitals having seen other artworks displayed in the corridors. I had some feedback that my work represents a challenging sense of life and death and that hospitals might not be the best place to display such work. Should my audience be able to stumble across my work by accident as they are sick or are visiting their sick relatives or friends? It also might be the case that hospitals would be reluctant to have such work on show. As I thought about this, I pushed my own thoughts of where to display my work onto a back burner requiring more thought. I am conscious that gallery space is booked up, sometimes a year or more in advance, so it is possible that I won’t be able to display my work in a real gallery setting within the confines of my 3.3 unit. I will give this aspect of my exhibition much more thought and will try and search out suitable spaces, perhaps not for my whole concept but instead for smaller aspects of my work. This might also tie in with submissions for open calls or competitions.

Exercise 2: Materials and Spaces

Review material and spatial aspects of your working practices. Are your working conditions supporting you as best as they can be? Do you have the resources, access to time, materials, peer support and external engagement that you and your projects need to creatively progress? 

Articulate your progress clearly and concisely including any obstacles, areas needing action and strategies to help overcome these. 

Record your findings in your learning log.

This exercise poses interesting questions thinking of any obstacles, areas which need actions and strategies I might use to overcome these areas of concern. It is something I will return to in the coming weeks and months.

My working conditions seem to me to be fine although of course time is always an issue. I am building a collection of artworks which are meaningful to me and which could be used in my final submission. There is more work to be done especially as regards the see-saw which imagine at the centre of my exhibition and I need to consider which materials and processes to use for the wooden board. I bought this piece of scaffold to use to test my ideas. I had hoped to start my tests in the past few weeks but there has been a succession of yellow warnings for heavy rain and so I have yet to start my tests.

At the start of this unit, I marked down in my list of new skills to develop, sound and video production. As my work in 3.3 has been progressing I have not added either of these aspects to my practice, not because I am not interested in these areas, but because this didn’t feel right for me at this time and for this iteration of my project. However, having said that, I have been investigating applying for a grant for my artist’s residency in Italy to help cover my travel, accommodation and time costs. I have made contact with Creative Scotland who have provided very helpful advice and have confirmed that as a part-time student, I am eligible to apply for funding provided the proposed activity is unrelated to my academic studies. It might be that when I put in a funding request that sound comes back to the fore to introduce some separation between my academic studies and my major project and with my continues interest in death studies and in the investigation of memorial and attitudes towards death in another country.

Exercise 1: Checking Your Plan

The title of this month’s project 4 of First Edit, initially had me worried. My work is progressing but am I ready to produce an initial edit at point 4 of 10? My answer was initially  no although after some thought and reflection I changed this to yes, I can produce an ‘initial’ edit. In summary then I can say that my planning is progressing well but not without challenges. The tempo and pace of my Major Project is much more dependent on external factors than I initially envisioned at the start of the 3.3 unit. I have been working on making and refining my images so that when I come to a final selection, I will have a good number of quality images which mean something to me and yet will not immediately or obviously show my audience a final intention or design. I have been utilising peer feedback to help me refine these images. This part of my project feels under control. To act as a fulcrum for my images I have been thinking of an installation of a see-saw at the heart of my project. This will act as a centrepiece around which my images will be shown. I asked for some initial feedback on this idea from peers and from my tutor just to test my thinking about this and to see if I am barking up the wrong tree as regards a final project for a photography degree. I have to be careful as the installation is not designed to be a greater part of my project than my images but I see it as another way to explore the liminal threshold. The see-saw will provide a link to children and will show the balance at the liminal threshold of death. I have purchased some old scaffold board which is 2.5m long.

© Richard Dalgleish, 2024, Scaffold board unworked

I have some photographs I took in Skye on St Columba’s Island which is burial site for the Bishops of the Isles. I mention this site as it contains some interesting effigies carved onto slabs which lie on the ground. The effigies show warriors in armour and helmet with sword. I was drawn to these slabs and the pictures I took popped into my mind as I thought of decoration for the see-saw. A more detailed description of this site can be found on the Journal of the Clan MacNicol of North America. (Nickelson, 2015, pp. 14–16)  I can experiment with maybe using cyanotype impressions onto the wood or perhaps laser transfers or wraps. The feedback on this idea from my tutor was that while idea is very interesting this came with a warning about not forcing my ideas. With this in mind, I have also approached my local council to see if they have any old see-saws which have been removed from play parks. Using such a piece of play equipment might be more effective in representing my ideas rather than building something new. I was able to speak with someone on local council and they happy to supply such equipment as long as I agree not to raise health and safety concerns by actually using this as a piece of play equipment. When I said this would be for an art exhibition this seemed to settle any nerves. While there is nothing currently in stock, they expect to have some equipment later in the summer.

I have also been looking at two pieces of work to support my own project which again need external input. I joined the Association for the Study of Death and Society as a way of growing my network on contacts with an interest in death studies. I was discussing my work and one aspect of discussion was in how many people are drawn into this field having experienced loss. I have been asked to submit my dissertation with a view to possible inclusion in their journal called Mortality. I have also been asked if I would like to be interviewed for a podcast. I mentioned this in my last feedback session with my tutor. An interesting thought is that such an interview walks a tightrope between my personal experience of why I started work in this field, namely the death of my daughter and the work which has grown from this starting point. Such an interview needs to keep in mind that Rebecca was my starting point and not the whole of my experience with my research and creative works which dissect the loss I have experienced and present a wider body of work.

Finally, I found a place which shares many similarities with my own work and experiences which offers residencies. The Museum of Loss and Renewal has a site in Orkney and in Italy and in their own words, “provide space and contexts for making and sharing, nurtured by artists and curators Tracy Mackenna and Edwin Janssen.  I have applied for a 2-week residency during which I want to explore how my experiences influenced by the loss of my daughter feels in another land with different attitudes to death and memorial. While death itself is a universal constant, such a residency would give scope to explore this topic from a different angle.  I have made early contact with Creative Scotland about the potential for a grant so when I hear back on my application, I can then pursue this financial aspect.

Post script – as I write this an email arrived and I have been accepted for this residency for the first two weeks in July. Some interesting feedback given from the curator Tracy Mackenna who is also Professor Emerita at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design; “Your work is highly engaging, as is the way that you describe it. Your motivation for wishing to undertake a period in residence is compelling and relevant, and I thank you for sharing your personal experience of loss.” An exciting development which I will need to think of in regards to my plan. For example, as the residency is in rural Italy, should I attempt to learn some basic Italian so I can interact with locals? Should I approach this residency with an open page and mind and with no preconceptions as I immerse myself in a new location and experience? Or should I form looser detailed plans on how to spend my time? I think I will do some research on other artists and their approach to residencies. I will also look at whether there is a local teacher of Italian or if I can do this online. An interesting, if unrelated aside is that before Alzheimer’s my mother was learning Italian.

References

Nickelson, J. (2015) ‘A Brief History and Archaeology of St. Columba’s Isle at Skeabost’, Scorrybreac: The Journal of Clan MacNicol of North America, 31(1), pp. 14–17.

Exercise 4: Peer Support

During this part of the course we suggest you reach out to your peers through stage 3 forums and familiarise yourself with existing tutor-led and student-led live sessions in photography stage 3 and wider OCA. 

You may also wish to consider any external peer groups, locally and/or online that you may already be engaged with or have ideas about developing. Take a moment to consider peer support structures, and how these may help support you.

I have several pathways I can use with different groups and individuals to ask for feedback on my work. There is a group of Scottish colleagues I have worked with for a number of years. Pre-Covid pandemic, we used to meet regularly for gallery visits and workshops led by OCA tutor Wendy McMurdo. There is also the Level 3 Critique session which runs monthly. The 3.3 student group is limited because at the present time there are only 3 of us on 3.3 but this group can and does provide feedback when asked. My tutor provides another source of feedback.

External to these OCA based groups, I have joined an association who run regular support groups for post-graduate students and who publish their own journal. This is a relationship I will explore during this year.

Exercise 3 – Defining and Planning

Scope:

Use this exercise to define and plan a Major Project that explores and develops your emerging practice. 

We may want to start by exploring what your personal goals might be for this unit and beyond. These could be long term ambitions that brought you to study photography in the first place or recently discovered passions. Combine this with what you learnt during the exercise above to form an understanding of the direction you want to travel with your Major Project. 

Draft your Project Plan (max 1,200 words) and consider it in as much detail as possible. This document should include:

  • practice and research aims and outcomes
  • a detailed timeframe of proposed activities in order to execute and complete your Major Project, within the framework of the unit
  • a detailed breakdown of any costs and funding routes
  • ethical considerations
  • a plan of promotion (at least in terms of networks).

Resources that might be useful at this stage are:

  • Reflect, Propose and Plan – will help you reflect on your current position, propose new projects, and plan ahead.
  • Locating Your Practice – provides ways to help you deepen your awareness of your discipline and its subject boundaries.
  • Creative Strategies – offers different creative strategies to help you consider, develop and extend your creative process.
  • Engagement and External Projects – offers starting points to help frame your research, practical project work, and your overall position to outward-facing creative opportunities.
  • Synthesis of Practice and Research (3.2 Resource section) – encourages you to explore these connections through testing and interpreting.
  • Aspects of the Enterprise Hub, in particular the section on Ethics.

Project Plan Draft

This exercise asks for a draft project plan expressed in 1,200 words. It feels very early to produce such a plan including things such as a detailed breakdown of costs and a plan of promotion but I will start with what I know with an awareness that my plan is likely to develop and change. One aspect of my plan is that even at this early stage, I think that the plan needs to serve different aspects of my major project and my learning; using the 1,200 words to provide some depth and background to my thoughts and to explain myself is a good idea and is distant from tradition Project Management planning with which I am very comfortable., In addition to the words, I think it is a very good idea to have a visual representation of my plan to sit alongside my words. Within this visual representation of my plan, I can break this down into two parts. Firstly, a plan which shows the coursework against time. Secondly, a plan to show the gaps in which I try to show what I think I might need but at this stage am uncertain about. I could summarise this as what I know and what I don’t. I can easily imagine further planning will develop from my unknowns such as what my final output looks like, whether a book, an exhibition whether digital or real and so on. Each of these choices needs research and planning.

Practice and Research Aims and Outcomes.

This final year of my degree asks me to use the skills learned and the experiences I have gained and to supplement this knowledge as required to construct my major project and to consider how and why this work should be displayed.

My art practice has grown from my experience of traumatic grief after the death of a loved one. I investigate loss, and memory, trying to imagine the liminal threshold between life and death. I am finding my place within the field of death studies and am striving to push the boundaries of my work and to see how my work and myself as an artist, integrate with other artists and academics.

My outcome was initially about producing work, whether creative pieces or research which would help me understand my own place in loss and how we remember our dead. This final unit on the major project, has introduced a different feeling less about internalising my own emotions and more about producing work for others which might help them in their own experiences of grief or maybe open their minds to different ways of thinking.

These aims and potential outcomes are tied in with my planning, the skills I think I will need and the testing of my ideas through asking for, and giving, feedback and in expanding my network of contacts.

Detailed timeframe

I have drawn up early visual indicators of where I am and where I think I need to be at the end of this unit.

These indicators can be found at the following links:

Coursework Plan

Planning

Skills Plan

Skills Development

The initial skills I have listed that I think I might need to work on include skills related to sound and video recording and editing, business writing for proposals, grant applications, exhibition entries, residencies etc., promotion, marketing and building my network of contacts and skills around the planning and construction of an exhibition. To help me develop these skills, I will focus on preparing works for submission to open calls and will also look into artist residencies. I am specifically interested in seeking out opportunities with artists who are working in my own field. Earlier in my studies, my collaborations have been with other artists who have their own interests and whose projects are distant from my own work. I think it would be an interesting experience to share work with others interested in loss. Who share a close relationship with my own interests. I will look at other artists who have produced and exhibited works in this area and how they went about their tasks.

In this year, I will continue to build and add to my body of work, concentrating on the production of mature pieces and always keeping in mind the space my audience needs to get the most from my work without me leading them by the nose. Early on this year, I have been investigating computer glitches, what these do to the visual image and how it feels to have accidental input to my work. As a counterpoint, I have also been looking at more deliberate corruption in my work.

Costs

Costs for my project at this stage are not well understood. Do I need help with large scale printing for an exhibition or for creating a book for example or with exhibition space? Is such funding available? Who would I approach? These questions and the answers are part of my list of unknowns which I think will crystalise as I get deeper into this unit.

Ethical considerations

The ethics of working around loss are right there, large and unavoidable at the very forefront of my work. How do I show my work without causing pain or distress in others? How much consideration should I give to my audience and whether they might ‘like’ or be ‘disturbed’ by my work? Do I just accept that what I do won’t appeal to everyone? Is this an important part of my creative process that I shouldn’t try to please everyone?  How do I create my work and maintain my mental health? I don’t have answers to all of these questions at this stage. It is something I will return to as my plan develops.

Plan of promotion

This is another aspect which is on my list of unknowns. How my Major Project develops would seem to come before how and where I promote this. Maybe if I had been through this process before, ideally more than once, my approach to planning would be different but I see no way at this point in time to avoid pitfalls and potential false starts.

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