Summary of summer research.

I started off the research by looking into articles that asked questions about the responsibilities that designers have towards social and political issues. The articles highlight the freedom we have as designers to decided how and who we work for, therefore they claim we do have to take some responsibility. That working for companies that do have unethical practises can reflect badly on you as a designer and sends out negative messages to the wider communities. That we should be creating work that demands the viewer attention in order to bring about social change, thus having a more positive impact on society. Following on from this I reasurched into art movements , such as DADA , Fluxes along with artist such as George Groz who mainly occured during the 19th and 20th Century and held very similar values that art should be for the masses of the privileged class. Inclusive and take a form that involves the audience, and had a strong element of protest and calls for a more equal and fair society.

On the back burn I was also reasurching into the refugee crisis. Looking into the system specifically and seeing what resource and support refugee / asylum seeks have when enter a country. But more importantly how they are received by society. For this I decided that as part of my practical for this module I am going to develop a workshop (that will span over several weeks) in collaboration with the Refugee Council named The Paper Bird that aims to build and promote their community, help them realise their ambitions and as result of this hopefully have a lasting positive impact on their lives. The reason behind doing this is experimental and I want to challenge my practise. I want to see the what kind of impact of learning new skills creative and being able to use that to help identify ambitions and other key self worths has on the families and individual I work with.  I want to investigate more into weather or not visual culture has and impact on society and what is the impact, how dose it influence?

Looking into more current practise in this area , Louis Vormittag is a practitioner who's practise revolves around people and generating work that is inclusive for them. Her practise is very much collaborative based , however you then have artists such as George Butler who's work is generated independently but has external influence through the individuals he meets.  It is interesting to see the similarities and differences in these two ethic practitioners. And in regards to my practise , I do tend to prefer working alone but I have never tired setting up my own collaboration from scratch and involving first hand the individuals that the issues i'm addressing effects. I externally work a lot with adults and children and really enjoy seeing the impact art has on them. But these individuals tend to come from backgrounds that are supported and safe. So I am really keen to see if art / illustration can have the same if not a more positive impact on people who are in harder circumstances and a fresh into a new society.

Moving on from this I really need to start working practically and figure out how I can record and process information in a practical way , but also research more into possible theories surrounding the impact of visual culture and the ideal of a perfect society. However after a discussion with a tutor , I am in agreement that I need to be careful that this project doesn't get to academic , it is vital that workshops and practical investigation are it fun !!!

House of illustration - Nous Vous Residence.

• 'Our attempt at making work about collaborating is itself a real illustration of collaboration, although perhaps not a very interesting or overtly visual one.' - Will Luz- Nous Vous.
• Nous Vous collective as part of their residence decided to illustrate Three Men in a boat by Jerome K. Jerome.
• The residency lasted for 6 months and this allowed them to experiment a lot with materials and methods of illustrating. 
• The chosen approach of illustrating is brilliant. They designed a machine out of wood that each member could control at the same time. The machine had different drawing materials attached to it and by using the pullies to move the pen you are able to draw the image. 
• The way they have approach the making of the images has made me think that I need to work out more experimental approaches to drawing that I can use for the workshop. It would make the drawing element more fun and interactive. But also it may make it more enjoyable. Maybe mark making with unusual objects or like Nous Vous have done and invent a tool that can be used for drawing.  

Parent consent from for participants

I have outlined an approximate budget for the project and this has helped me to be able to think more specifically about the practicalities it.

Budget -

. Material costs- £20-includes collage materials and paper for all of the sessions.

.Transport costs- £20- £24 per session - weekend family bus ticket (day rider) £5- weekday bus ticket £8 a family.

.Food and drink costs per session - £2-3.

. Goodie bag with art materials - £3-4 per person 

Total estimated cost - £85 aprox.

Sadly with the transport budget being so small I may have to reduce the number of families that can take part , down from 5 to 2-3. One advantage to this is that I will be able to focus and talk to them more as an enclosed group and this may help them to feel less worried about walking into a room where there is a large amount of people they don't know. And may also enable them to relax easier and enjoy the workshops more. I also plan to run the workshop on a Saturday as this is when the college is mostly quite , again making the participants more comfortable. It also mean that the families are likely to be available, depending on whether their children are in school. 

I have also written a parent consent letter that outlines how the project is going to run and where their children work will be used asking there permission for there children to take part. Given the language barrier, the letter will be read to them by a Arabic interpreter ensuring that they fully understand. The workshop will be offered to families who attend the councils drop in sessions and hopefully some will show interest (cross fingers). 

Creative Review- Where is the content ? where is the comment? - Lawrence Zeegen 2012.(notes)

• David Shirgley's Brain activity show- Hayward Gallery.

• 'Illustration has become entrenched in navel- gazing and self- authorship, says Lawrence Zeegen. Obsessed with it's own craft, it has withdrawn from society's big debates to focus on the chit- chat of inner sanctum nothingness.' 
• 'Shrigley... as an artist has the responsibility , and opportunity thanks to the Hayward , to pass comment on our society. '
• 'Shrigley's mantra could be seen as a wakeup call to contemporary graphic art and illustration, a discipline he has always been keen to distance himself from.' 
• Somerset house - pick me up (2012) an opportunity to take Shrigley's message and spread it. ' But is anyone listening? who outside of the cozy world of graphic and and illustration is stepping inside to sample the goods? and one inside , what more is there to be discovered`/ and we offered much more than more nothingness? 
• Zeegsn states that , illustration is again at risk of falling in the creative industry. The disaplin  is driven more by asethitcs and don't have any real impact on the audience. 
• ' Where is the content ? Where is the comment? it's all about the materials , rather than the message. It's all about quantity rather than quality.'
• Olympic artist poster - another opportunity.

• ' ... another glossy new tome of back to back , jam - packed illustration arrive hot- off - the -press to take pride of place on the coffee table , it is clear that the discipline remains unable to peer over the fence at the world outside it's own garden.'
• Zeegen also comments that the fact more creative practitioners are independent and build careers from this. As a result they become less relient on commissions and focus more on artefacts...'
• Lecture Barcelona illustrator and graphic designer Javier Mariscal.
• Landfill editions and Panther club ( or jaguar shoes collective.)
• Peepshow collective. 

Manifesto

This is a new film that been releases in the uk this year.  It analyses the art world ' an homage to the 20th century's most impassioned artistic statements and innovators...'  and covers the political significance of these movements during that time. It is also an opportunity to questions the different approaches and theories artists have. Right at the beginning of the trailer there is a reference to the dada movement and Traza's first line of his manifesto ' to put out a manifesto you must want ABC to fulminate against 123.' This could be a really good chance to view that different theories of this time and see as time progresses how the altered and changed. The films it's self has been described as a performance piece and is written and directed by German artiest Julian Rosefeldt.

Dada Manifesto - Tristan Tzara - 1918. notes.

This Manifesto is confusing and contradicts itself a lot, but has to be commend on it use of metaphors.

• 'To put out a manifesto you must want: ABC, to fulminate against 123.'
• 'To fly into a rage and sharpen your wings to conquer and disseminate little ABC and big ABC , to sign , shout , smear, to organise prose into a form of absolute and irrefutable evidence ...' 
• Tzara uses the example of god to explain this further, Stating that the essence go god proves nothing but his existence was previously proved by the creation of landscapes and the wheeling word.
• "To impose your ABC is a natural thing....'
• Crystal bluff Madonna ? .., 'monetary system, pharmaceutical products , or a bare leg advertising....' 
• Novelty- but is out of use?
• Human is the novelty , ' impulsive, vibrant to crucify boredom.'
• 'I write this manifesto to show that people can perform contrary actions together ... I am against action; for continuous contradiction... affirmation too, I am neither for nor against and I do not explain because I hate common sense.'  
• Dada means nothing.
• But there are some meanings behind the word - the tail of a holy cow Dada or ' the cube and the mother in a certain district of Italy are called : DADA.'
• 'Dada was born of a need for independence , of a distrust towards unity.'
• 'We recognise no theory. We have enough cubist and futurist academics...'
• Cubiam was born out of the simple way of looking at an objet: Cezanna cup.

• 'The new artist protests: he no longer paints.' 
• 'Philosophy is the question: from which side shall we look at life , god , the ideas other phenomena.'
• Active simplicity- 
• 'Supposing life is a poor farce, without aim or initial parturition , and because we think it our duty to extricate ourselves as fresh and clean... we have proclaimed as the sole basis for agreement: art.' 
• 'Art afflicts no one and those who manage to talk an interest in it will harvest caresses and fine opportunity to populate the country with their conversations.' 
• ' What we need is works that are strong straight precise and forever beyond understanding. Logic is a complication. Logic is always wrong.' 
• ' An enormous centipede stifling independence.' 
• In italics are the potential different meanings for Dada:

• DADA Disgust:
• 'Freedom : dada dada dada , a roaring of these colours , and interlacing of opposities and of all contradictions, grotesques, inconsistencies : LIFE.'

This was a trick manifesto to follow however I have found a better copy so am going to re analyse and hopefully it will help build on the points I have already highlighted. But Tristan Tzara was one of the main creators of the movement and was an essayist. So may also source out some more of his material to add to the research also. A magazine he created called Simbolul - 'The Symbol' is something that I need to look into.

Research into the refugee council.

• They are one of the leading charities in the UK that wokrs directly with refugees. 
• The council reseves funding from local, central and european goverment services. 
• The council works to support and empower refugees and asylum seekers.
• The council has been running for over 60 years. 
• They have the right to advise on the rights and entitlements individuals or families seeking refuge or been granted it has. 
•  They can not, however, change the decisions made by the home office or UK border agency but they have permission to advice. 
• They offer a wide range of support to people from counseling and therapy sessions, also specialist care for children in the form of youth developments projects. They also work closely with the foster care network and support those children that have been trafficked. 
• 'The UK will be a country that respects the dignity of everyone who seeks protection , regardless of the outome of thier claim for asylum.' 
• There values :

• Empathy and respect drive everything we do, both inside and outside the organisation
• We focus on the humanity and dignity of the people we help, not their nationality or immigration status
• We believe that cooperation and collaboration are essential to achieving meaningful change
• We are resolute and creative in the promotion and defence of refugee rights
• We believe that transparency and openness are the keys to accountability

https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/about_refugee_council/vision-mission-values

Change of plan and meeting (1/9/17) with the refugee council in Leeds.

So from emailing the creative engagement manager at the West Yorkshire play house, she say that unfortunately that the schedule is full however she forwarded my details onto the Refugee Council who have a office in Leeds.  Their response was that the project sounds really interesting and that it would be worth a meeting. So I had a meeting today with the manager (Richard) and a support worker for families (David).  The meeting was around 20-30 minutes long.

I started off the meeting by explaining the project and the aims the processes I intend to use. The first point addressed was where could the workshops be held. In the building where the offices that activity room has just be redecorated and re furbished so its not possible to use that room. So they suggested that I could run the workshops from the University. Therefore I need to find out weather it would be possible for them to take place in a room here? Also some of the individuals struggle coming to new places. Therefore if the project goes ahead pre visits for those who feel apprehensive would have to be organised
The second point is language barriers. Most of the individuals that they help sadly speak very little English and therefore would struggle to understand the different instructions for the tasks. But there is one way round this. Some of them have English tutors who could potentially come and help translator , but also give support to the clients.
Because the organisation has changed from somewhere that runs creative classes on a regular basis to somewhere that in more of an office based environment that doesn't have facilities to run projects, it some make it more difficult to arrange somewhere where we can all meet to carry out the workshop. Also a more business like approach needs to be adapted, for example it was suggested a Budget. I did say originally that I am more than willing to pay for materials but with not having a regular place that they already attend , travel costs are going to have to be taken into consideration as well. Depending on the numbers it could get very expensive and unaffordable on my own. So I need to find a way everyone can get together with out it costing too much.
I agreed to a minimum of a fmaily of 5 and a maxim of 10. A wide range of people , families with small children aged 5+. Although, after the conversation about budget and facilities it may be easier to do the project with one or two families and for me to go to them somehow?
In addition , due to some of the individuals having very hectic lives , what happens if they can only attend one session? I will need to make some mini tasks that can run with the main task so if they can only make it to one session they have something physical to take home at the end. But also if any work is left I can pass it onto the office and they can give it to them.

Also the main focal point of the project is going to be about aspirations and what they would like to achieve. It is a much more positive approach rather then focusing on a past that has been extremely damaging to a lot of people.

Overall I think that the meeting has given me a lot to think about and has made me question whether I have been a bit too ambitious. The project proposal is now going to need adjusting and to fit with the new organisation and I need to see how feasible it is to use rooms at the college. It may be worth also thinking about other paths I could go down and how I could still do the project but with one or two families rather than 5. I also suggested that I try and get in touch with external people who would be willing to show the work for example a window display , but this idea may no happen depending on how the rest of the planning goes.