Swansea Metropolitan University

I’m back…..

I can’t believe its been so long, what with the dissertation, feasibility study, kiddliwinks starting nursery (a whole hour and a half to myself) and the snow…… it’s been a rollercoaster!

The dissertation is going well, I’m halfway through and as per most dissertations its developed its own route, one that I’ve had to restrain from deviating several times. I only hope that the conclusion isn’t a repeat of the content, but I have good guidance in the form of Sue Griffith. Unfortunately, I’ve not been in Uni for any useful period of time, which I’d promised myself I’d do at the start of this blog…so I’m very much behind in productivity, (and so many calls for entries at the same time!)

….but I have been very busy behind the scenes for the proposed sculpture.

I was reminded at my tutorial that this external project only counts as 10% of the mark for the year, but as I said at the time, the grading isn’t relevant, its the experience and the knowledge gained and the desire for conclusion that really matters.

The feasibility study is – I’ve come to realise – fundamental to the outcome. As I mentioned in my blogger profile, I put an outline proposal in to the Agency for consideration, (very VERY basic) and then approached the manufacturers directly for advice in its construction and approximate costings.

Last heard, the proposal had gone up for discussion (but that was before Christmas) and to date, I haven’t heard anything either way, but I’m still going ahead with finalising it to a professional standard.

Going straight to the top – Pilkington Technical Dept very kindly put me in touch with a local contact, who agreed to meet and discuss the sculpture. My vision has them scratching their heads as to its possible construction – something that’s never been achieved in glass on this scale. If it works and is realised, it’ll be a technical first (so they’re keen to see if it can be done too).

A structural engineering company in Swansea is also giving me free advice with regards to snow and wind load capacities (things I never even dreamed of) in readiness for my meeting with Pilkington Architectural next Tuesday.

Everyone has been so enthusiastic and so generous with their time and advice, it renews my confidence in the proposal in this lull. Through these meetings I know that costs and manufacturing will be a major issue to its fruition, and there is a small part of me that thinks it may not be wholly feasible – a case of vision versus technicality. I’ll have to wait and see what they say on Tuesday…. ooer.

I’m really looking forward to starting my final year next week – it’s been a loooong summer – and I’ve missed the stimulation and interaction that comes with the course. Even my husband has been praying for this day!

I’ve kept myself busy with commissions, researching for my dissertation and the proposed project – which is becoming more preposterous with each investigation. While I had the idea some years ago, and it’s evolved through time, the concept never left, but by putting it into a formulated proposal with dimensions, practicalities, materials and costings, as it grows in size the likelihood of it being a reality appears to be diminishing! “Never give up, never surrender!” (Galaxy Quest?)

I’ve settled on the material, not an easy one to source! My husband, who thankfully is an engineer worked out the dimensions, so we’ve had to scale it down by a third, and now that we’ve got the scale, (still massive) I now have to find a manufacturer/advisor who can tell me if its even possible, as there is a time constraint to the construction and lifespan of the material. Never mind permission issues – I’m not even thinking about that one yet!

My first step I think when I get back is to construct a scaled macquette, with which I can use to approach the tutors/advisors, (its a very site specific and visual structure). I just missed the last WARP ‘proposal seminar’, but have enroled on the next one in January – it would be good to get an opinion regarding its feasibility and use the knowledge taught so far with internal and external mentoring.

In the meantime, I am going to embrace this final year to the max – even after 4 years, I still haven’t scratched the surface of the opportunities available to me at Swansea – as I said, I can’t wait to get started!

With the Degree Show over last May, it feels like a lifetime ago already.

I look back on the content and proliferation with some pride, but wondered if some key elements were lost, particularly in the siting of some of the works or in their individual media (installation/video/canvases), as I’m not sure if they flowed as a collective, but I’m going to put that down to experience and work from there.

Over the summer hols since, I’ve entered a few Opens and had some moderate success, in between potty training and entertaining small children on rainy days. Needless to say, I haven’t managed to produce much… no comment on the potty training!

This year is dissertation and a couple of modules, although I do have an external major project that I would like to get off the ground. You know when an idea has been hanging around and you can’t shake it off.. well its been 5 years now and I’ve decided to finally address it and see what happens.

I think the hardest part of getting a project of this scale off the ground is going to be gaining the acceptance; firstly as a concept from an unknown, and secondly having a student status – or even thirdly, finding out if it actually has some merit? This is why I thought it would be interesting to blog the experience, it would help me focus on an end result and whether it came to anything or not, I can at least say I tried…….