Workshop Evaluation and Feedback

CURA200

Wednesday, 28th January 2015

Today we delivered workshops to our peers.  The workshop was 25 minutes and our workshop fitted smoothly into this time.  We began the workshop in the gallery space, asking our peers to look at the use of layering in Poulson’s work.  We then came back to the studio where our table was already laid out, this had a nice effect as it looked very organised and exciting.

We asked the group to sit down and told them the activity.  We had split our time down into sections, and timed each section to make sure we did not over-run.  As there was only three people attending the workshop, we decided to join in.

Participants of our workshop felt that the activity was relaxing and enjoyable.  There was a few suggestions which we will take on board to further develop our workshop to make it more effortless.

Suggestions and Comments:-

• Could we make it so people could take away their finished piece? (This may be difficult as the pieces are collaborative)
• Members enjoyed the shared nature of the workshop
• The workshop was relaxing, which was important as people are more productive when at ease.
• There was an awkward silence during the workshop.  Could we add music or background noise? (Perhaps the silence was due to the awkwardness of being watched by people who were not participating)
• Silence can be useful for productivity and concentration, so background noise may distract from that.
• In the introduction and during the workshop, participants felt that more could have been said about why the layers were important and how the activity related to Kit’s work.
• Could we use an activity in the gallery space such as writing down thoughts so that people had reference during the workshop while it happened outside the space?  Be specific with the task set.
• Could we explain the objective of the workshop more?
• The use of time restraints was very strong, it was nice to have the time broken into sessions.
• Make sure you check and double check that everyone understands the task.
• Get people to write down their feedback to use for future planning.
• Explain why certain times are given.

Workshop Plan

CURA200

Thursday, 21st January 2014

We spent some time in our pair thinking about how we could deliver a workshop that was relevant to Kit Poulson’s work.  We decided to focus on the aspect of ‘layering’ which is common in his work; he produces paintings over years by building them in several layers until he feels they are finished.  We were also interested in conveying the subject of his work, “Guests”, grouped together at a wedding.

For our workshop we will ask the participants to draw a simple still life with fine-liner.  The still life will be a champagne flute, a vase of flowers and confetti, set up as you would expect at a wedding.  There will be a paper tablecloth onto which we will make ‘place mats’ by drawing, with marker, a square at each place.  The participants will sit to the table and draw with fine-liner directly onto the tablecloth for 2 minutes.

When the time is up, everyone will be asked to stand and move one place to the right.  The next medium will be used for a further 2 minutes (marker pen), and then 4 minutes for collage, finishing with 2 minutes acrylic.  Each time the medium changes the participants will move around the table, layering on top of other drawings.

The workshop should allow the participants to experiment with different mediums at the same time as loosening the ‘preciousness’ of the work by allowing others to draw on top.  We felt this experience would be similar to Kit Poulson’s work in that he obscures the original marks with new marks over a long period of time.

We tested the workshop ourselves, with these results:

An example of Kit Poulson’s work:

(Kit Poulson, image sourced from Nom de Strip)

Introducing: ‘Artist as Educator’ Project

CURA200

GROUP PROJECT

Wednesday, 14th January 2015

Today we were introduced to the ‘Artist as Educator’ project within the cura200 module.  We were put into groups of two with the aim of producing a short workshop for other members of the class.  The workshop will respond to Kit Poulson’s current exhibition as part of the South West Showcase.  The workshop will be delivered on 28th January and again on 25th February.

Tasks:

• Attend a workshop and write a reflective text about our own experiences as a participator.  (Completed 16th December)
• Research the practice of Kit Poulson in order to relate the workshop to his work, but also our own.
• Design and deliver a resource or activity in our groups.  Deliver the workshop to other students.
• Write a reflective text on the experience.

To help us put the project into context we visited the college gallery to see Kit Poulson’s work and to speak with the exhibitions officer of the college.  She explained the system under which the gallery is run.  The exhibitions are organised into ‘seasons’ and usually host two to three exhibitions per season.  These exhibitions tend to be grouped under a particular theme.  Occasionally, longer exhibitions take place that may last a full season (such as the Walk-On exhibition at the end of last year).  The gallery is a teaching and learning resource for students and teachers of the college.  It is a white cube gallery.  The South West Showcase was an open call in which artists were invited to apply.  Out of more than 100 applicants two were chosen to exhibit, these are Kit Poulson and Marie Toseland.  The supporting programme for the exhibitions includes weekly talks and events open to the public as well as students.  They do not tend to run workshops due to a lack of resources for this.

We were advised to think about who we are creating the workshop for (the audience), how many participants, their level of experience, the time/length of the workshops and factoring in time for both participation and feedback.  During the workshop, the gallery must not be closed off to the general public and cannot make a mess or disturb the space.

To progress with the tasks we have decided to attend the opening of Kit Poulson’s show and do some research about his methods of practice.