Blog Post 3- Project Outcome Reflection
My Better lives project was Make Up Breakdown, something I chose because firstly I am already interested in this and also a skill I may be able to use in the future, alongside my own discipline of Costume for Performance.
Our project themes were all about the fashion mistake and the ideas of imperfection and how they can be turned into something that is perfect. I hadn’t started working on my final outcome for this project before the lockdown, which threw a lot of our plans into disarray. With everyone in quarantine back home away from Uni, it meant that a lot of people didn’t have access to the professional makeup we use in class, which prompted the use of some really unconventional materials that we used to develop our ideas. This linked into the Better Lives theme of sustainability, with a lot of people recycling materials and creating something really beautiful from them.
I worked with some old lace that I had unpicked from one of my old projects to make some bold shapes in the place of where makeup would typically go e.g. lips and eyebrows. Ultimately, the materials weren’t used in my outcome, but going through the process helped because using them as I developed my ideas helped me to focus on the themes and express myself in a way that felt really organic and unpressured.
My final design was heavily influenced by the New Romantics era and the bold colours and contours that they would use in their makeup. I took inspiration from the theme of diversity that I found important in the lectures, however I struggled to convey this fully in my final outcome, as I was only doing the makeup on myself.
I would love to explore what it may have looked like on someone else and I think it would have made even more of a statement on a man. A lot of my inspiration photos were of men, with the late 70s- early 80s being the time when people were more experimental with their gender and what it meant to be more feminine or masculine. Through my discipline of Costume for performance I will be able to explore the Better lives themes in a greater detail and with a better understanding than I had when I first started this course. I am looking forward to continue to learn about these topics, as I have become more aware of how they influence my everyday life and my creative processes as a designer.
10th May 2020 @ 9:33 pm
Reading through the blog post website, it was interesting to see other people’s responses to the Better Lives unit and the creative outcomes that people have produced. Reading everyone’s views and responses gave me a new perspective on the unit and it was refreshing to see new approaches to the ideas and work we were presented with, as well as the knowledge that people have gained from this unit.
I have chosen to peer review Molly Zapletal’s third blog post where she reflected on her Make Up Breakdown Project. I really enjoyed reading her blog post, as I have an interest in makeup myself. Molly discussed the disruption that the lockdown caused to her project, being at home meant that there was no access to the professional makeup that was used in class, therefore people turned to unconventional methods to develop their ideas. She also wrote about the further limitation of only being able to do the makeup on herself due to the lockdown being imposed. She linked this perfectly to the theme of sustainability and how people can innovate by using new and unexpected methods and materials to overcome obstacles in unprecedented times.
I enjoyed reading about how she used lace from an old project instead of conventional makeup to develop her ideas, again linking to the theme of sustainability by recycling materials. It was refreshing to read about the environmental consciousness in her decision and how she put the Better Lives themes into practice within her work. Recycling materials was not something that I considered using within my own project, and reading about this gave me inspiration for what I could do differently within my own work in the future.
Molly also wrote her final design being influenced by the New Romantics era, and being inspired by the key theme of diversity within the lectures at the start of the unit. Although limited in the final outcome due to the lockdown, it shows that she again considered the Better Lives themes within her work. She then spoke about wanting to create her makeup look on a man which links in with themes of diversity. Finally, she wrote about her intentions to explore the Better Lives themes in greater detail within her discipline of Costume for Performance.
It is refreshing to read about how Molly overcame the obstacles she faced caused by the pandemic, approaching them in a thoughtful, environmentally conscious and innovative way. I think that she has reflected fully on themes of diversity and sustainability within her writing. There could have been a mention of social responsibility, however it is difficult to include all themes into one project, and there will be future opportunities for this. Maybe she could have considered social responsibility in terms of where she acquired the materials from. Overall, It is clear that she has taken the ideas and themes behind the Better Lives unit on board and will continue to utilise this knowledge within her future work.
10th May 2020 @ 10:56 pm
After reviewing a few of my peer’s blogs I decided to write my response on Molly Zepatel’s 3rd blog reflecting on her project outcome of Makeup Breakdown. I chose this as she attached and analysed pictures of her work during the project which would be interesting to respond to. She is also on my course so I thought it would be a good way of comparing responses and elements of the project that she would incorporate in her future practices.
Molly starts addressing the better lives themes within the context of how the project aspects had changed during the lockdown. Stating that people were “recycling materials and creating something really beautiful from them.” And thus being sustainable through reusing. She then goes on to detail which materials she, personally, reused and utilises pictures of the look she created with some recycled lace. Said lace was “unpicked” from an “old project” making it even more sustainable as two separate items were being recycled.
Diversity is another theme Molly illudes to within her blog. Referring to lectures surrounding the subject as “inspiration” for her final design. Linking this blog to previous ones. She expresses disappointment as she feels she struggled to “convey” it and goes on to say her ideal model would have been a man. Hindrance of COVID 19 and the nationwide lockdown. A male model would have been more relevant and suitable as Molly took inspiration from the glam rock era when traditional views of gender began to be subverted and “were more experimental with their gender”.
Molly, however, neglects to mention the third better lives theme of Social Responsibility. I feel as if this might be because it can be difficult to define as well as being difficult to apply to low scale projects. It is arguable that Molly is being socially responsible merely by adhering to the rules of the lockdown. Even despite her desire for a male model. Molly has also been socially responsible as a result of recycling and being sustainable as well as the small scale she was working on resulting in no unethical practices or mass waste.
Overall Molly addressed how, both, sustainability and diversity were themes incorporated into her project and designs. Although she neglected to mention social responsibility in this blog it was, indeed, something she pursued during this project due to her adherence to the lockdown guidelines. As well as the many other responsible aspects of her practice.