The subject of artificial intelligence is one that has always interested me. Because it’s such a vast and complicated area to research it was an all consuming research project that involved a lot of reading and I should have narrowed my subject to a specific area earlier on. My research became a series of long trails off track into areas that fascinated me but weren’t linked to my project.
My practical work became delayed as a result. It felt in the first three weeks as if time was wasted searching for a specific subject rather than allowing my practical work to push things forward. At certain points I felt a million miles away from getting any coherent question together.
I found myself confused about what I wanted to get out of the project and was wary of the short time scale we had.
My first essay tutorial was a good example of how my priorities were all wrong. I came unprepared, having not even started writing my essay. I’d been spending too much time on a single piece of time consuming practical work instead of making work that was responding to the project proposal. The tutorial was useful in that it gave me a wake up call and focused my research.
A better coming together and triangulation of reading, practical and writing would have made the project stronger. I put too much pressure on myself by attempting to become an expert in the area I was researching. Knowing less would allow for more interesting work especially as my work is more conceptually driven.
This module has thrown up lots of areas of science and practices I want to further explore next year. It has refined my understanding of artificial intelligence but also how other practitioners approach creating visions of the future. The complex nature of the project and the unknowables were overwhelming at times but I’m happy I pushed myself out of my comfort zone into a challenging topic even if the my productivity and work didn’t flow as I’d hoped. The project has forced me to question my approach to complex subjects.
The final digital collage outcomes meant the project finished stronger than it had began and the feedback has been overall positive. They evoke the tone and aesthetic I feel is appropriate - they’re highly conceptual but still feel relevant to my research.
My project management has been clunky and at times wayward but the writing and practical work link together. Missing a couple of group crits probably added to feeling a bit lost without more feedback.
I’ve seen a flexibility and range in artists’ work that has given me new ambitions to make work for areas I previously thought cut off to me such as concept art for film. It’s renewed for me the important fact that good ideas are core to everything and they can be applied from illustration to film beautifully when practitioners work together well.
Overall it’s been a tough project where I’ve taken on more than I should have and it’s a missed opportunity to have done practice driven project which would have been more rewarding but despite the third year being a challenge personally I’m pleased I gave it ago and strongly feel once again the mistakes will be invaluable when researching for my next project. This has only encouraged me to take on more complex and challenging subjects.
