Presentations

Today I have sat and watched many presentations on what my peers are looking at researching through their honours years projects. There was a great variety in the issues and topics discussed with  a real depth of approaches as uses of different mediums offered to deal with their research. The thing that probably struck me most was how many people seem to carry out practise based research. My own research seems to have been lead primarily through a more theoretical approach. This is perhaps due to my lack of a full understanding of my subjects of metaphors, semiotics, fables etc. This may seem rather strange saying that I don't fully understand my subject but in there lies the challenge for me. I know that before I pursue a more practical approach I first wish to understand my subject matter as fully as I can. My approach seems to be gathering as much information as possible from books and journals whilst at the same time gathering as many influences as possible through visiting exhibitions, plays, workshops etc.
I also realised that although still trying to grasp many of the concepts I am looking at I still feel very comfortable with my project. I understand what I want out of it in terms of my aims, and I have no concerns in how I am approaching the project. Most likely my research will remain theoretical with practical exercises thrown in (usually something new I have never tried before). Once I have handed in my research proposal my project will very quickly become practise based. This will occur as I will try to get to grips with my story and how it may work as a picture book through trials, storyboards, thumbnails and dummy books. I will also further my knowledge by carrying out case studies on a few books that interest me, this will be done by interview/questionnaires. The methods used for my case studies will hopefully inform how I may research people's reaction to my own work and gain an understanding of their interpretations.
Today was useful in many ways, firstly I got to see where many of my peers are heading with their work, secondly how they were approaching their subject and the kind of things they were doing, and finally it gave me chance to reflect upon my own project and where I find myself right now. I understand my methods of collecting information and inspirations, I am essentially feeding myself until I am full of info and ideas to utilise through my project. I have a good idea of where my project seems to be leading, my main question is currently based around how can visual metaphors be used to open up interpretations of picture books? The theme I am going to use is slavery, based around a story of slaves from Scotland which will be used as the thread that enables me to create a work of fiction from. The aim is to create a dummy picture book that could be shown to publishers, one that may also show much of the workings within drawings. My inspirations are not only taken from picture books but also from theatre, exhibitions of artists such as Ai WeiWei, Daniel Maclise and E.H Shepard, and my participation in various workshops.