C.O.P TASK

First, we had to write down our ten pieces of source material on separate pieces, explaining them or describing them in no more than roughly ten words.

1. BRANDI STRICKLAND

- hand cut collage, printing and drawing

2. RONALD DICK

- film photography, LURVE magazine

3. AESTHETICS

- greyscale

- photographic

- pastels

- florals

- beauty

4. LETRASET

- 70s prominent characteristic of type setting in this decade

5. OZ MAGAZINE

- satirical humour magazine

6. HAIGHT-ASHBURY

- LSD was the glue that held the Haight together

- prime area to live, rising drug culture, psychedelic rock

7. LURVE MAGAZINE LOGO

8. THOMAS CHATTERTON

- 18th century poet, romantic figure with a melancholy temperament

- high/low culture

9. MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF

- outrageously-styled show full of glitter, tinsel, sequins...disco vibe

10. ART FOR ARTS SAKE

- high/low culture

- separation between artist and viewer

Each source then had to be labelled as either a theory or a practice...

1. practice

2. practice

3. practice

4. theory/practice

5. theory/practice

6. theory/practice

7. practice

8. theory

9. practice

10. theory

From this, I was left with a good mix of both theory and practice which will be beneficial to me later on as it will leave me with a well balanced piece (hopefully).

Next, we had to eliminate five out of the ten, in order to narrow down our ideas. Then on the back we were to write an explanation of why we got rid of the source.

I chose to get rid of

1. ART FOR ARTS SAKE (don't want to create something for the sake of it - want meaning)

2. MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF (may be quite difficult to include fashion design)

3. THOMAS CHATTERTON (not massively relative, too complicated to fit in with others, a bit random)

4. LURVE MAGAZINE LOGO (wouldn't fit anywhere, can't copy the style)

5. HAIGHT-ASHBURY (could be difficult to fit in with other theories or practices unless they're on a particular decade when the Haight was at its most prominent)

Finally, from our final five, we were to decide on a few ideas that we could possibly develop for our project.

I looked at the possibility of creating a book on Letraset, what it is and how to use it. I decided against this as it sounded too familiar to my 'what is a line brief'.

Another possibility was to produce a miniature version of a satirical humour magazine, or just humour in general, relating to theories and practice. 

My main idea, however, is to create a dating catalogue of different artists/designers/people that are relevant to certain lectures or aesthetics. To guide me, I will use a blend of my five chosen theories and practices.

My group chose my last idea as the strongest. They chose it for the following reasons

- good reference tool for work

- interesting way of learning

- humorous, easy to take in

- useful for all years

- useful for Richard's current lecture task

Now I need to focus on creating a good balance of theory and practice, showing a mediation. I need to make sure it's also both original and functional.