IxArt - project outcome recap

It's the 1st September, which marks the beginning of this MA study's last element: professional report. But before I start writing about this, I want to highlight some of things that have occurred during the my third module: the project outcome.

Coniglio Trial, Bohunk Institute

July was a fairly stressful month, and I don't refer to workloads, here. A couple of days before the private view of the Open 2014 at Bohunk Institute, the gallery space was burgled. The culprits didn't take a great deal of many things, but unfortunately, the MacBook Pro that I had borrowed from the university was one of the items taken. This greatly affected my work, and there was very little time to make amends for this upsetting. So, I had to cancel my shift at work (7.30 til 19:45 - full 12 hour shift), in order to come in, give a police statement and use my own, slightly more rubbish Mac to get my piece up and running. It's amazing that I managed to do this before the private view, and it was generally well received, from what I've been told. Despite the slower quality of my own laptop's performance (a further incentive to invest in a newer one), one was able to notice the interactive nature of the piece. As I pointed out, the static side was not really acknowledged as such, mainly due to being out of site and facing the wall. 

Moral of that time, ultimately: when using a laptop for an artistic piece, invest in a kensington lock and don't leave such stuff loose in another building, even if others are adequately looking after it for you.

Tangible Projection

This endeavour was put on hold due to facility access and other technical, logistical difficulties. I highlighted in my documentation that the greatest issue with this piece was a projection mapping matter. The screen, I felt, wasn't the right dimension, and I should have been more considerate in this area. So, I intend to have another one made, which is more suitable for the mapping and, perhaps, transport. 

I did not submit this as a piece for the MA degree show at Nottingham Trent for several reasons, which I will highlight:

• Facility access - due to Bonington and Waverley being shut over August, I could not feasibly come in to experiment further and develop this in time for the MA show. Had they both been open. then it might have been a different story.
• The logistical requirements for an exhibiting space in the MA show meant that my piece, which is light sensitive, electrical and demanding of very specific dimensions of physical space, could not be accommodated. They were not friendly towards projections outright, which in my opinion was logistically unreasonable, especially as I know of the amount of rooms and space the Bonington building actually has.
• I categorically refused on principle, because I disagreed with the selection process on the work of MA students, who have paid upfront on their tuition fees. And yet, they are subjected to more worry and scrutiny of whether or not they get to show the outcome of their projects, which they have been extremely passionate about. So, on that principle, the university does not deserve to have my work displayed. I'll exhibit the ambitions of my creative practice elsewhere. This rationale might be seen as arrogant, but it is still unfair in comparison to undergraduate students, who automatically have an exhibiting space.
• There are other domains in which I could exhibit this piece to the wider art community, and highlight the interactivity of a tangible piece that a spectator can feel inclusive towards. It might even be a part of the next Light Night event, given my collection of contacts from the last one.

Summary

• Coniglio Trial was successful, albeit many a headaches, curses and setbacks, and may have gone to some lengths of answering my project question.
• Tangible Projection will not be exhibited at the MA Expo (Post-graduate Exposition), but will be pushed into the public sphere instead.