30/09/2019 : Skype Session Module One Focus

A shorter post than normal for me but I wanted to share one particular afterthought that has kept coming into my mind since this session. I'm not sure why its remained so prominent compared to other thoughts I had throughout the session, but maybe thats OK...

...so here goes.

We were discussing the impacts of the evolution of the internet on creative practise and the increasing difficulty to separate your private and professional lives on Web 2.0. Generally, if you see your practise as an integral part of your being, you may not find this an issue...I know my practise is a natural part of my DNA and I can't say I ever really feel the need to have a separate personal and professional life. There are certain aspects that I find it useful to disengage with at certain times...perhaps the admin and more mundane tasks are things I try to avoid doing on holiday...but being open to creative encounters, responding to various contexts and needs are just part of how I operate.
However, 'filtering' the content available to others via Web 2.0 platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, can be needed sometimes. For example, you may not wish for a new high-profile potential sponsor of a community project you are organising to instantly be faced with millions of photos of a friends birthday party you have been tagged in online before they get to the photos of the dementia cafe you were involved in a few days ago! Even having separate profiles for your various work doesn't completely eliminate the risks of this happening through the results when your name is typed into a Google search. 

These artefacts (I think they could fall under this title?), form your CARBON FOOTPRINT. I remember being told that your carbon footprint begins before you are even born. You have little control over the shape of this, or steps it takes. It makes you vulnerable. There is very little you can do to control it, although there are perhaps ways to alter its impact and direction. 

Anyway, I'm going to stop there, having really only introduced the term. It feels good to have shared the term...in this instance thats all I wanted to do. I'm more interested in how others perceive the idea of a carbon footprint and am looking forward to digging deeper into this concept with my research over the next few days. 

Hope this made some sense or proved to be of some significance for someone reading! 
Amy x

27/09/2019 Skype Session Reflection (Module Two/ Mapping)

The session on Friday may have seemed similar to other Skype conversations that have so far taken place this year...that is in structure over content. However, with just three students and Adesola, I found it a very different experience to the previous calls. I was running slightly late and joined in my usual flustered and anxious state, then automatically realised that less participants meant more participation on each of our parts would be needed throughout the call. Usually this would have filled me with such dread that I would have automatically begun to dig an escape route 'just in case'. Having not had the time to properly settle for the session beforehand, I found that these thoughts didn't even enter my mind and I had to literally just throw myself in at the deep end. 

It was brilliant.

This level of interactivity was made so natural and comfortable by those on the call and I found it surprisingly easily to join in. Even more unusually, I wanted to! My mind was instantly engaged in the topics we were discussing and I learnt so much more in depth information about others on the course (in terms of their work and professional enquiries) as well as the various perspectives of 'mapping' as a process. The atmosphere was open and it was easy to ask questions and begin to 'dig deeper' into the topics we were discussing. Despite not being on Module Two at present, the content was relevant and useful across the modules and beyond the contexts this course. 

I could have continued this call all night and can only thank the others for making it such an enjoyable and valuable experience. I wanted to mention all of the above as I am sure there are other who will experience similar feelings of anxiety about participating in Skype calls, especially if its not a method of communication they are used to using. Hopefully a little comfort and courage can be gained through sharing my experience with you. 

Following the session I sat to blog about the notion of 'mapping'. I found that noting my response formed a strange sort of prose and didn't at all produce anything like I had intended. I wanted to share my notes from the session and review the content in the 'usual' blog style but instead the below text emerged. I wan't going to share it initially but feel like it's much more of an accurate reflection of the term 'mapping' that I discovered during the hour than I could ever reproduce in any other textual/visual format for the blog. It might not make much sense but maybe thats ok...so....here goes...

A map can only ever be a guide 

It cannot dictate

It is a tool but not a solution 

Perhaps useful 

Maybe a distraction

Is this a good thing?

For what is not on the map is still to be encountered

Blanket and dummy replaced by map and compass 

These are what some explorers needs to keep moving

Time off grid is daunting

What is they get lost?

Excitement and adrenaline may creep in

Possibilities arise there is potential

An alternative reality

Different perspectives skew the truth of the map

A natural occurrence 

A human influence

A detour

Alternatives

Creativity

Not solutions

Observations

To keep exploring 

To continue encountering

They must prevail.

...phewwwww.

On a much lighter note, I was discussing maps with my Mum over the weekend. Currently in her work with young children they are going through a 'pirate' phase. According to one of their stories (I'll let you decide if this is an appropriately reliable source!!!!) the pirates did not really have peg legs or hooked hands. They did not use maps. Interestingly, they did have telescopes though, which they used to stargaze. It was the sky and the constellations that replaced their maps...that lead to the treasure. 

I'd always wondered why they had telescopes. I naively wondered if they used these to view the lands ahead. I can't say it was a question that I agonised over much, but I did wonder why they used a telescope rather than binoculars!

So no maps...not paper ones anyway. Hope this made you smile. 

Enough of my babble for now. Sorry guys!

Amy x

23/09/2019 Better late than never...

So finally I am getting to write a post about the introductory Skype session held over a week ago. Usually I would be mortified at having left it so late but actually my delay reminded me of the saying 'better late than never'; something I believe rings true throughout many aspects of life. 

After being so concerned about my artistic practise being so different to those of the dancers and performers on this course, I am growing more and more aware of the similarities that are rooted in our practises. For example, when thinking about the saying above, one of the driving forces behind my work is the urge to DO SOMETHING. This could manifest in a number of ways but simply refers to the actions we perform in response to an experience. Whether that be painting, dancing, teaching or simply smiling at someone...the options are endless but all equally as valid. In terms of this course, I am therefore refocusing less on the WHAT and more on the WHY in terms of my work. Through this adjustment of my viewing angle I now feel much more in tune with other learners, and have realised that we share many more similarities despite the final physical action being different. 

The main tool that has helped me in making this discovery is the BLOGS that we all use to record our  journeys on this course. It may be that we never get to physically meet anyone else during our journey yet we are still using the same map at the same time and thus can use these online platforms as communication tools without the need to deviate from our unique pathways. They make take a little effort to keep updated but act as tracker, not just for our personal use but to allow others to remain aware of our progress. They are also a safety net, a way for others to identify when we are struggling, perhaps the silent periods speaking louder than the narratives we type. They comfort the many doubts we explorers may face through the realisation that there are others out there who are having similar experiences. They allows us to share tools for progression without the need to deviate from our own routes. The twists and turns may cause our paths to cross sometimes, through SKYPE sessions, or CAMPUS days. I'm particularly looking forward to these interludes and the change in scenery they will provide. 

Eurgh...shut up Amy...enough now! Sorry everyone, if you haven't realised yet I have a slight obsession with maps!

So maybe I haven't summarised the Skype session as originally intended, but I have shared some of the tools that it highlighted to me; mainly the blogs. So it was better to write a reflection than not, even if was late. It may not have resulted in what I had intended but that doesn't matter, it has at least resulted in something....something that has come far more naturally and I hope will be far more beneficial for others. The session was a starting point; a platform to leap off. It initiated an act, it provided a time and place to do something, to jump. As we leap into the unknown I look forward to our future sessions and the many other interludes that offer us a brief opportunity to pause in our journey, take a look at where we have come from and look ahead at the next stages on the adventure we now face. 

For now though I need stop typing...there are maps to study and many many more creative discoveries to be had! 

Amy x