Sol Archer
A provision for the provisional. or a proposal for a proposal (for a proposal)
I will detail a bit of both the graduate project and the thesis thinking, as the research will be overlapping and divergent in varying degrees, so its maybe useful to outline some of the distinctions in these initial chats.
Tentative Title
Graduate project:
"and this also has been on of the dark places of the world" - from heart of darkness
or
"we are fitted for works of darkness, all the while deprived of light" - from John Donne
Thesis
How we can be responsible.
sub title in 2 parts.
how the artists position is instrumentalised by institutions and philanthropists, and can how we can instrumentalise right back
and
the responsibility of representation. speaking for others in their own voice"
italic subtitle
how we are all victims and we are all guilty.
and maybe thats ok
Remember this can change as your research evolves - also keep in mind that the title of your research does not have to be the eventual title of your exhibited final project. Proposal outline. Word count 1500 words max
Introduction
A general introduction laying out your plan for your final project.
Be as specific as possible about the form you imagine the graduate project to take.
Describe the field you wish to research.
Identify key questions driving what you want to explore and how you will test these questions through practice.
this is quite vague at the moment.
specific form
I intend to create a primarily video work, with installation elements, or an installation structure which is key to the reading of the video in its manipulation of sculptural and spatial languages.
my current thinking is that it will be a film investigation, using conversation and interview as a site of production, with editing as a curatorial process which winnows out the intersections of global pressures on local/specific narratives and histories.
specific techniques.
I think it will be centered around filmed conversation, using that as a means to intimate relations between current and historical grand/global narratives and pressures, and their as i see it at the moment it is centered around the docks, here and possibly in hamburg.
it will conflate, or at least use a superposition of, the Black box as cinema space, and the black box, literally as the shipping container; cloaking infinite possibilities in one inform schoedingers cat style unit.
current probing lines of inquiry.
I am trying to contact translators who have worked with police when refugees have been found in shipping containers (this is difficult, and also traumatic in many cases for the translator - hence the direct overlap with responsibility - see above)
I am trying to just turn up with a camera and talk to people who work in the docks, the lower they are in the heirarchy the better - to see if, in conversation with them about their daily schedules, and historical relationship with the dockworks suggests their alienation and mechanisation. this has been unsuccessful
I am spending time on pilot forums (which are horrifically right wing militaristic places, unsurprisingly) to see if i can find people who flew in the bombing raids on Hamburg and Rotterdam - now the largest ports in Europe to hear their visual recollection.
Relation to previous practice
How does your research connect to previous projects you have done? Remember to briefly explain or describe related projects as the external is not familiar with your work.
It is useful to address the points raised by tutors in the feedback from your Self-assessment at the end of trimester 3 and to draw on your 'essay on method' written in trimester 2.
Relation to a larger context
Meaning practices or ideas that go beyond the scope of your personal work. Write briefly about other projects or theoretical material which share an affinity with your project. Keep in mind that we are *not* expecting well formulated conclusions or persuasive arguments in the proposal phase. At this juncture, it's simply about showing an awareness of a broader context, which you will later build upon as your research progresses.
Practical steps
Describe how you will go about conducting your research through reading, writing and practice. In other words, through a combination of these approaches, you will explore questions or interests you have laid out in your general introduction. In this section you can help us understand how your project will come together on a practical level and talk about possible outcome(s). Of course, the outcome(s) may change as your research evolves, but it's important at this stage to have some idea of how your project might come together as a whole.
References
A list of references (Remember that dictionaries, encyclopedias and wikipedia are not references to be listed). These are starting points which should lead to more substantial texts and practices. As with your previous essays, the references need to be formatted according to the Harvard method. See: http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/A_Guide_to_Essay_Writing#The_Harvard_System_of_referencing
Feel free to include any visual material to substantiate, illustrate or elucidate your proposal. For example use images to reference your work or that of others.