CoP3: Visual Investigation

Over the past few weeks I've been visually investigating David Cameron's face. He is key figurehead of the Establishment and one in which people will recognise the most. During the crit a few weeks ago I proposed a series of portraits that would show the main members of the Conservative Party in over exaggerated terms.

With this in mind I investigated the best way to encapsulate and mock their likenesses, specifically Cameron. Using collage, pencils, inks and digital drawing I examined his likeness and merged it with a pigs head to point out the recent Piggate incident.

I found the collage pieces to be very effect and I enjoyed making them, however they were time consuming to make (even digitally), and considering how my dissertation has been taking up so much time, may not be the most logical process to use.

CoP3: Dissertation First Draft Submission

The first draft of my dissertation has been handed in using the Turn It In submission method on eStudio. I have a few thoughts on my first draft;

Firstly. There is still much to be done with the writing, I'm very aware that it is not at the quality of writing that I am aiming for. I also feel that quotations in the piece needs to be reviewed. The beginning is too heavy is quotes, whilst the latter half is quite light - this needs to be balanced out with them also being triangulated arguments, to hammer home my points.

The bibliography needs to be organised into alphabetical order as whilst writing I was noting down the sources as I went, rather than the order they should be.

Finally, the conclusion and introduction need to be fleshed out, however I wanted to wait until the final CoP lecture about concluding dissertations before I did so myself. The reason being that I'll undoubtably find some important tips with the lecture.

My next steps;
Reviewing, reorganising and completing.

Here is my first draft, should it need to be viewed:

CoP3: Tutorial 4

I left today's tutorial with Pete feeling relieved and excited with my work so far - I finally feel as though I've broken through the introductory problem with my dissertation.

I've been hovering around the 1,000-2,000 word mark for some time, which has frustratingly left me behind schedule, however this seems to have been resolved now. The trouble came about as mentioned, due to my introduction - I just couldn't decide on a good angle to start with, which resulted in me going in metaphorical circles of writing. However, after taking Pete's advice and looking more in-depth at the socio-political theory of Marxism, I discovered that it was created as a response to the establishment of the time - the Bourgeois. This added both social and historical context to my writing.

With the initial part of my dissertation now up to a satisfactory standard, I can move forward with the advice Pete has given me. I am not too concerned with the turn it in deadline fast approaching as due to my extensive research and now informed knowledge on the subject I feel that I will reach the word quota in an adequate amount of time.

CoP3: Good Job Jeremy

In recent weeks there has been ongoing issues concerning the NHS, Junior Doctors and Jeremy Hunts harmful changes to their practice. My response to this is entitled 'Well Done, Jeremy':






















Here is a Guardian article discussing the ongoing issues:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/22/patients-could-die-junior-doctors-strike-jeremy-hunt

I have experimented with David Cameron's face in this piece, however I feel it didn't work out too well. What I have learnt is that the key to Cameron's appearance is definitely in his nose. I just need to figure out how to present it.

CoP3: Thought Bubble Feedback

With Thought Bubble over I am very happy to say that my Tory Chums zine was very well received by the public. I took 10 copies on the Saturday and had to make more on the evening as they sold out. Complete strangers genuinely laughing at my work and enjoying the strips is exactly the positive feedback I wanted.

CoP3: BBC News 25

I came across this video today. This is is exactly the sort of live action satire that I feel is missing from today's television. Maybe the internet is the best platform for such comedy now, away from restrictions of political neutrality.

CoP3: Tutorial 3

My tutorial today went as expected. I received formative feedback which indicated where I feel my work is at the moment -being satisfactory leaning towards good. The form I received is correct in its marking, I feel that if I look at my work honestly and critically the form can't be argued against. Whilst having a good knowledge of my subject my work isn't very strong at the moment. I need to spend some time researching the theoretical side of my argument which hopefully will help inform my dissertation and help me with my introduction.

Here is the formative feedback sheet I received:

CoP3: Crit Session

I presented my work thus far to my peers. I filled in a Practical Response Feedback form before hand and there are a few points to talk about before going further. Firstly, I've decided that providing it can be arranged in time, I'd like to bind my final piece in hardback form. This will give it a more professional and quality feel. Secondly, I have proposed a series of portraits which will be based on the characters I'm working with. Whether these portraits come to light depend on how well my theoretical work moves forward.

Now onto the feedback. The zine was very well received, and I am hopeful that the same will be said at Thought Bubble in a few weeks time. The work within the zine shows evidence of development but not as extensively as I'd like. I need to actively spend some time developing my characters, playing with a few different medias tools etc in my sketchbook. However my peers informed me that the synthesis between my theoretical and practical work appears to still be strong.

The portraits, my peers informed me, whilst a good idea, aren't as strong as my zine, so I should definitely keep that as proposed outcome and focus on my comic strips.

Here is my Practical Response Form and the Crit Feedback sheets:

CoP3: Zine Printing

After giving it some thought, I decided to rework my zine to make it more friendly to people who might have a vague knowledge of politics but not really understand who certain people are. So I decided to have a character introduction section at the beginning of my zine. This was done with the hopes of expanding the following that would read my work as, I feel, the audience is potentially quite limited. The digital version of these pages can be seen below:

Due to the layout of the pages, I faced a problem with the printing order so had to print out a copy, separate the individual pages and stick them together to understand how the book should be laid out in InDesign (see Print Version 2). I then gave some thought to the colour stock I was using. With the book being printed in black and white, for costing reasons, I decided to add some colour by way of the cover. This print came out terribly due to the over use of ink (see Print Version 3). To remedy this I removed all texture from the page and made the title text black. The next print (see Print Version 4) came out exactly as I had desired.

The different prints can be seen below:


Whilst the process of figuring out the best print method was frustrating, I feel that I finally have a product work showing to people. I'm going to take a number of the final prints to Thought Bubble in a few weeks to gauge reaction from the general public.