Overview of the Inspirational Journal Experience
Creating this inspirational journal is an experience that I did not expect to have here in my time at the Victorian College of the Arts and it’s left me a bit confused. The general idea of the inspirational journal is a good one, to get you to look at a range of different art forms and to find their relevance to different projects and ideas and also to help you express your ideas and thoughts to directors and other creative team members by referencing these images. It also helps you to build up a portfolio of images that you can go back to in the future to use as part of your concept documents. I enjoyed that fact that this assignment made me look up topics and art forms that I would not usually look into if I didn’t have to, like opera and film effects. It was a good way to start becoming more knowledgeable in other fields of work and artists.
It also helped guide me into finding what things I enjoy and what I don’t particularly enjoy, but still appreciate none the less. What I found that I really appreciated is the amount of work that goes into producing each individual piece of art and the thought processes behind each individual one. I like to think about how each project started off as a small idea in someone else’s head and grew and morphed and changed into what you see today.
I found that I really enjoyed looking at the documentary and the photojournalism sections of the assessment. I feel it’s because they have a sense of naturalism behind them and they show images of the real world, past and present, which is where all of our inspiration really comes from; people in the real world, events, colours, moods and sounds. I knew that I always liked naturalism but I found that as I was researching, other styles started to pop out and take my attention. I really enjoyed seeing the projection mapping onto the forest, I though this was a very good modernistic take on naturalism, putting technology into a forest and mapping onto the things that you find. I really like art to have meaning behind it, and I want to incorporate that into my lighting designs so that everything has a purpose and a reason, nothing is there for the sake of it or to be safe. I want to be really involved in the collaborative processes and for the show or idea to grow and form before our eyes into something that fits with the piece and that we all really enjoy, even if it is for different reasons.
Another thing I found that I was really attracted to is the older style movies and documentaries. I like the look and the feel of them, they aren’t overly tech heavy and complicated and I find them really enjoyable to watch.
It was helpful to have to look at areas and genres, which you weren’t used to looking at, such as classical music and life art. I never got to experience life art in college so it was interesting to look into that. I preferred looking at the sketches and photography that were simplistic, line drawings and shadows on bodies. Those kinds of images are easier to perceive as an art form and not as sexual images, which I think would be challenging to do because of the way we have been raised in this society. I particularly liked the ones where the persons face was not shown and you were just looking at the shapes the body could create; it reminded me of dance, which was nice as that is a area that I would like to design for, lighting bodies and not having to worry so much about lighting the face.
Initially, including images that do not appeal to my aesthetic was a challenge, I didn’t know where to start or what to research and it didn’t really appeal to me. Once I got into it though it was really helpful, finding an image and then researching the person who took the image and themes and issues also surrounding the image. I found that to be the most enjoyable part of the experience.
One thing that I would like to see in the assignment is a blank section, where you can find 2 images, videos or audio snippets of your choice and explain aesthetically why you enjoy them and why they inspire you. I think this would be helpful for you so that you have the ability to see our individual styles and get to know more about us in a creative sense whilst seeing what we choose when you give us a topic such as photojournalism.
I’m not sure how much I will end up using this journal in the future. I may create a separate collection somewhere else that isn’t on Tumblr or social media; somewhere I can save images without posting them online. I don’t particularly enjoy posting them to Tumblr and there are other ways to share them with directors and other creative people in the process. If I were to post them online, I would prefer to use Pinterest for images. Overall the experience has been a good way to learn about different art forms and to look at an image and to find out how it influences you, what you like and dislike about it and how to discuss your thoughts and ideas. It’s a good way to start collating things that inspire you and that could come up again in the future. I appreciate the assessment for what it is and it is a good way to start gaining knowledge about the world and how it can influence your creativity, your lighting designs and performances.
