Mishmash

Currently (apart from the new series of channel 4's Utopia) I am obsessed with the idea of combination. Mostly this rears its ugly head in the form of papers I write for my degree at Wolverhampton University that focus on Applied Arts and interdisciplinarity but anything that seeks out a kind of cultural mishmash is something I am drawn towards.

The "digital taxidermy" by some magic internet person referring to themselves as quebectango or the beautiful paintings/stylistic abominations by Cesar Santos are artworks that have recently made their way into my internet reading allowing me to make this kind of observation.

In a world where nothing seems original (simply because nothing develops without context) combinations seem attractive to me, and the more honest and blatent, the better.

Quick look back at assessments

 These pictures are from my assessment last week where I created a small installation on my desk space looking at family history, genetic inheritance and the after-effects of domestic violence.

I made a series of chess pieces made from moulds I inherited from my grandfather who passed away in 2011. This gave me the opportunity to explore what it is to be made from the same genetic mould as a man who was violent and abusive towards my father's family when my dad was growing up. 

My grandfather was a strange contradiction in that he both made ornaments for his family and threw ornaments at his family. Each pawn I made was altered uniquely to show how the violence has affected each member of my family in different ways, and several of the chess pieces move away from the chess board in an attempt to escape from repeating the same cycle of violence.

I rarely post pictures of my own work these days, but I'm actually really proud of this and I think its some of the best, most genuine stuff I've done so far. I finally feel like I know what direction my degree work is headed.

Meanwhile in other exhibition news... Chapters

Here is some quick shots I managed to steal from the Chapters Exhibition organised by my class at uni. While I've been squirrelling away on my work placement, seven of my colleagues organised a literature-inspired project at St Peters collegiate Church in Wolverhampton. The work was entirely 3D based using traditional skills in ceramics and glass to build expressive pieces of work.

(I appologise to Beth Abberly and Lucy Kerrane for taking such blurry photos of your fabulous work I was trying to make them look smokey and monolithic respectively but my camera was all ...soooo imma just go ahead and blur everything you terrible picture-taker)

How to get your university student office to listen to you

I'm not sure if that's legible enough, but it appears that my university has finally accepted that I was unable to complete my assignments or apply for mitigating circumstances two years ago.

I still can't get my head around the idea of a bureaucratic system working in my favour. It has been a bit like pounding my face against a brick wall getting my university to accept that you don't have to be in hospital to be ill. Pretty sure this would have never happened without the support from my lecturers and counsellors and I can't believe how lucky I am.

Seems a bit of a none-event but it basically means that my grades won't be penalised by University of Wolverhampton due to mental health problems, which has been a lot harder to establish than what one would initially suspect.


Support ranged from:

• being laughed at in my face for suggesting this was unfair and trying to fight against it (student union, you guys needed to step up there) 
• my lecturers telling me that it was totally unfair and that I needed to fight against it
• the student office telling me that my lecturers were greatly misinformed and needed to be re-educated on this topic
• counsellors and doctors both looking very doubtful as to whether or not I would succeed but assisting me regardless (still had to pay Doctors £25 though)
• my lecturers telling me that the student office was incorrect on this matter and that I would need to talk to a specific person in the student office who seemed to acknowledge that it was indeed unfair
• finally being able to hand in my evidence to the correct person in the student office
• ten minutes later, recieving the above email stating "Hi Jessica your mitigation has been accepted for 2011/12. So the modules you are now taking will be classed as a first sit."

Because succeeding in this avenue appears to be quite unusual, I have taken the time here to provide some brief pointers as to how I did it:

1. Getting proof.

I needed a letter from a doctor to testify that I did have mental health problems between 2011/2012. Therefore it is important to seek out help for any suspected mental health problems, if nothing else to get somebody else to believe that you have them. I also needed a letter from a university counsellor to testify that I was unable to navigate the mitigating circumstances policy system at my university, so even if you don't find it helpful, counselling is also useful for providing official documentation that you are having problems.

2. Improving health

I had to take a year out to improve my health, and without it and the support of family and friends, I would have never been able to work as hard as I have this year had I not. Because of this, I was able to regularly establish my presence within the studio for my course, and this meant that my lecturers could acknowledge that my circumstances were now radically different and being penalised for this was unfair.

3. Getting lecturers on your side.

I was fortunate to hit upon a really good research topic for an assignment which received a very high grade which made the university policy of giving me an automatic D for re-sitting seem extra silly. This gave a higher profile among staff in my department, who went on to give me really great support which led to me being able to speak to the right people in the student office who would be able to listen to my account and see that the standard university policy wasn't adequate for covering my circumstances.

If all of this seems very convoluted and circumstantial, that's because it is.

On the one hand, I am thrilled that sense has finally prevailed, but on the other, I think about the students who won't have the fortune or support I recieved. There are people in subjects with bigger class sizes who won't get noticed, people who have yet to be diagnosed, people who don't get as good grades, people who don't have the resources to take leaves of absences to get better and all of this greatly bothers me.

Winning a battle is not the same as winning a war. I don't know how else I can change things.

CADRE Lecture with Warren Niedich.

Merry April Fools Day dear world.

Next week's Cadre lecture at Wolverhampton is Warren Niedich. Decided to forego using the advertising from the university since it turned out to be kinda misleading last time so I thought I'd go in with an open mind. They did provide a link to this pdf which looks like pretty heavy-going stuff, so I think lecture might be some good brain-exercise.

Hopefully I can provide a better written account this time.

Super Thrilling General Update

Got part-way through making a tool when the people commissioning the project phoned up and asked us to delay the project. The world could always use more fancy paper hearts in it though so I'm sure they'll get used some other time.

Also here's the near-completed Anti-Stigma Canvas with pocketses!

I've been doing shorter hours this week so I can try to catch up on my work for university. I have a research project about typography and material qualities and that has lead me down the path of éctriture and finding out about Helene Cixous.

Tonight University of Wolverhampton has a visiting Lecturer called Geoffrey Mann. According to the email I received "Mann will focus on a new series of work that explores the concept of the 'objectile' examining how an artefact can occupy an in-between state by means of an event. The talk will also discuss the current trend of utilizing new technologies in the world of the hand-made and highlight the possible pitfalls of 'going digital'"

This all sounds right up my alley so I'm looking forward to this.