Bridge 5 Reflection: Final Reflection, Seminar
Reflect on the hopes and fears/worries you expressed during the first class session. Which hopes have been fulfilled this semester? Unfulfilled? Which fears or worries did you overcome, and which still remain?
The fear of expressing my creative voice in my writing I have overcome. I feel now the joy and comfort in doing so. I also found new ways in how to express myself in more poetic ways which I truly fall in love with. Since bridge 2, I have started writing poems and use them as a first source of inspiration such as tool that help build my first ideas of my sketches. My worries as an international student were that I couldn’t hold up with the native English speakers in my class. But I think that I have managed to do so. I think that I also managed to clarify my questions and responses expressed verbally more precisely over the semester, which bordered me pretty much since the beginning of class (part of being nervous and anxious of sharing my ideas/thinking that seemed oft very complex in my mind). Expressing them in poems really helped me to ease of my ideas in a simpler format.
How has your relationship to writing, reading, art, design, and making changed over the course of the semester?
Keeping a dairy was indeed helpful, I was more alert to art than I was before, I could write and draw my ideas out immediately and everywhere without shy or discomfort. My observational eye also sharpened and now I see things happening on the Street in a more distinct and playful way. I learned how to learn and be open to new ideas and cultures. I learned to be an evil eyed persona. I learned to be fake and real, weird and crazy with my ideas. I learned what it needs to have to be called an artist or designer. A hard working persona who’s eyes are everywhere.
What have you discovered about the relationship between making, thinking, and writing?
They all are needed to create and be creative. It usually starts off with thinking and having an idea, then you sketch and explore the idea and after that you research your idea further and write about. It may change, it may get more complicate or simpler. The more you invest, explore and experiment with your idea, the better it gets. The better you develop as a designer. Especially in bridge 4 I learned about all 3 components, which really helped me to clarify my idea more precisely. Bridge 4 really dug deep in the question why we need this artwork? Why do we need your voice, your idea in our lives today? I think asking that ourselves really proved to us how essential research is. Art can be so powerful today, we can be so powerful today, so I think we should create with purpose when having the opportunity.
How did mistakes or failed attempts at making and developing your Studio and Seminar projects lead you into new directions and open up new possibilities?
Mistakes are part of my creations. Mistakes make projects more interesting and more valuable (I think). Mistakes are part of us, human error is part of exploring the new, it’s part of living and showing society your identity. I personally think mistakes are necessary to drive perfection. The more we learn from our process the more knowledgeable and experienced we get. Perfectionism is all about how experienced you are to the field studied and experimented with. As designers, we all aim for perfection, and we have a hard time doing so, but I believe having a hard time on projects makes things perfect and mistakes are needed to see that. See the unknown, the new, see the future which happens by chance and by mistakes. The art of making, my making style.
What risks did you take this semester? Why? Which risks did you decide against taking? Why? (Please be as specific as possible.)
One risk was trapping and making my own patterns like the bacteria cell. Creating something I had no clue of and doing so by myself. I think working alone at home with my sawing machine, figuring stuff out pushed my confidence in sawing and creating my own style, my own clothing personality. I hope one can see that in the bacteria cell that I have created for bridge 4. It’s a visual memory of my imagination. My idea of what fashion can be. An act of storytelling and grasping the interest of people to story tell themselves in a piece of clothing they feel identified and comfortable while wearing it.
A risk didn’t take was copying our final zine with the copying facility at Parsons print making shop. We went there twice but things turned out to be more difficult than we have first assumed (adobe files not matching etc.). Though I would have loved to have gained experience and practice using this facility.
What pursuits, interests, and goals have you discovered this semester, and how did your course work lead you to these discoveries? What do you hope to pursue further in the future?
I discovered that my abilities lie in making stuff, especially clothing and story-telling with them. I figured out that story telling is something I love doing. I also favored the print making facility, where I have discovered how much I like creating prints and visualizing my doodles, my mini sketches on T-shirts etc. All in all, I rediscovered why I fall in love with fashion, why I want to make clothing, why I want to create and not draw all the time. For me fashion is about making my ideas real. It’s such a full filling emotion when you see your design walking, interacting and living. It’s so organic, natural and playful. It’s about humanity and living the vibes of our time. A role I want to play and to create simple, sustainable, clothing.
How, specifically, do you feel you can continue to grow as a maker and writer? What would be helpful for your continued growth?
By traveling the world, by collaborating with more artist and designers, learning from them and taking risks. I want to grow especially in the art of making cloths, do saw more clothing for myself and wear them. Show people my style, my identity on the street every day. I also want to continue writing poems and if the possibility is there change them into rap songs. Writing will be always a toll for me to talk of my idea, my first excess point, to further investigate my idea in further depth to come to its simplicity of it, its beauty. By the count of three I would say that I am an ambitious, persistent and passionate young designer, who wants to study fashion design with the ambition to create unique and sustainable street style wear. I want to create fashion which is a piece of art. A look that is practical. A look that lasts. And not a trend that lasts less than a week.
I would be interested and keen to know what you see in me. It would be great if you could get back on me with your feedback and if you agree with in what I see myself in.
Thank you, Rebecca and Emily, for a great semester!
