Blog 3
BLOG 3: PROJECT OUTCOME
The better lives unit has encouraged me to think beyond merely creating fashion images. It has brought so much awareness and has changed my perspective of fashion in many ways. This entire unit has been so helpful to me in terms of seeing the scope of fashion and how much of a difference it can make, be it positive or negative. I have learned so much about sustainability, diversity, and technologies that can be used to expand the scope of fashion. It was an excellent opportunity to learn about new materials and techniques, thanks to our tutor. Creating the bruise has been my favorite, although it was hard to maintain the right pressure on the brush. I learned about better options of materials available for prosthetics such as sustainable gelatin.
The inspiration for my final project comes from acid attack victims in my country (India). There is a massive number of cases reported each year about women being harassed and attacked by men with acid resulting in ghastly disfigurement of their faces and bodies. This is due to an extreme level of patriarchy within the community, and It is an extremely horrifying reality in rural India. These women are often shunned and shamed In society after that due to the way they look. Yes, there is a general awareness of acid attack acts within the Indian community.
However, the government is not acting on it enough.
Yet, there has been an exponential growth and understanding of its horrors after the film industry released movies based on it. This shows the power I have as an image maker to impact and make a difference in society about such issues. This kind of disfigurement ruins the victim’s identity to almost a level of unfixable. Certain crimes are happening around us, but each of us has a role to play towards our community, and I believe we must contribute as much as we can no matter how little. Upon researching more about acid attack victims, I realized that it is something that happens all around the world. I would have loved to try using the technique of sculpting this trauma effect using clay to create the effect of acid burn, although I am not sure if that would have worked, I confident that I would have thoroughly enjoyed the process and learned about more techniques and materials
It has been a challenging year due to the coronavirus pandemic, as I did not have a chance to execute my idea practically, but I would have tried my best to re-create this. It has been an enjoyable experience working prosthetics. I tried to create a character in photoshop using a couple of images as a reference to emboss.
Dpa picture-alliance. (2016) Kampala,Uganda. Available at: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-kampala-uganda-10th-mar-2016-silvier-nambirige-who-was-attacked-with-102745062.html (Accessed: 23 April 2020).
3rd May 2020 @ 7:02 pm
While looking through the numerous blog posts to review, I came across ‘Blog 3’ by Soumya Ramachandran Iyer. I had the predetermined mindset that I would review a blog post that reflects on personal development, so I was looking forward to reading this.
Firstly, I am able to see clearly that Soumya has highlighted that the Better Lives’ unit has broadened their creative thinking by encouraging them to “think beyond merely creating fashion images” and experiment with new materials. I can relate to this, in the sense that being able to choose a project that isn’t related to the course I am studying here at UAL has made the first year here more interesting and enjoyable. Going back to the blog post, Soumya has highlighted the impact of the fashion industry and touched on the subject of using sustainable materials, thus influenced by the Better Lives’ lectures and themes.
Continuing, Soumya goes on to explain a current issue in India where women are often victims of acid attacks. Highlighting their position as a creative practitioner (image maker) and how they could use this to raise awareness on this issue can be linked to the theme of social responsibility.
After reading this blog post I have identified something that they could work on in the future:
Although touching lightly on sustainability and social responsibility, they could develop further and state how/if the theme of diversity could be portrayed in their work. And if not, could diversity be explored in future practice? I also think they could further reflect on their personal development.
Overall, I can see that the better Lives’ themes and lectures have had a good influence on the work produced during this unit and I think this is a successful blog post.
https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/03/blog-3-10/