Sculpture and Intermedia Weeks 3 and 4

Unfortunately the weather made sculpture impossible for me as I could not get out of Haddington! There was extra confusion as the college closed early Monday, all of Tuesday and reopened on Wednesday to those who could make it without risk. By Thursday there was little incentive to start a project which would end the following day.  The plus side was that I managed to spend the time constructively on the 500 word essay for John Beagles. I fretted about this essay until it was underway then I relaxed and enjoyed it!  Still awaiting it to be marked so goodness knows how I fared. Hope springs enternal.

The road and rail conditions made for very exciting travel.  I made it in the last two weeks of college mostly through Andrew - he drove me to Wallyford Station where I picked up the train.  Luckily he had put on snow tyres on his van a week or so before the weather hit. The irony was that although some students got through many tutors did not as they lived out of Edinburgh and were very much discouraged from making the journey if conditions were bad. Conditions were pretty awful for weeks!

As regards the Intermedia project I wanted to take part in this despite reservations about my attendance for the whole week.  Steve Hunter wanted us to make one minute films showing what the studio itelf was all about. Maggie agreed to do a joint project with me. We both had ideas which fortunately converged on key points. Maggie was keen to pursue the idea of a labrynth. I was keen to do something about a journey in the confined space of the college.

The Mural Room in the college has a very dusty floor courtesy of the plaster and clay used. Maggie had printed out a picture of a labrynth which I drew on the floor using clumps of plaster - the lines being pretty much invisible unless you were standing right over them. Then using a mop and a pail of water I went over the lines so the labrynth appeared with the water then disappeared as the water dried out. I thought this had a beautiful ring to it - the studio itself giving the material we needed to make a drawing. Maggie videoed using my camera which proved more user friendly than the college ones. She filmed me in motion then herself walking around the labrynth itself.

The difficulties came with editing.  A complex business techinically using the software in the computer suite but altogether more complicated with differing points of view.  We also had to edit more than eleven minutes of film to two - and that was with negotiation on our part from the initially prescribed one minute of film.  Maggie originally wanted something slow and calming, meditative in nature, but the whole editing process involved speeding up the film. In the end we had rather a humorous film which was fine but perhaps not the best result for the project. Feedback was favourable despite this - the other students responding as we had hoped for in that they were surprised when the camera panned out at the end to reveal the drawing. Steve considered it would have been better to have edited it differently dwelling on the slow, meditative qualities.