The higlight of the the first week at College has been this series of Graphical Activities. All seemed to have something in common and I’ve been trying to put my finger on what it is that has pushed all my buttons. They are simple mainly graphical tasks with good structure that demanded lots of little bits of creativity, and in the end you were left with a distinct product/article/design. But I think there is something deeper at work.
Here are the tasks and times that we were given to produce them. (Note that all the times were aggressive that meant you didn’t have time to think and you had to use the first thing that came into your head.)
Production of :
- A Do not disturb/Come in Sign for door handle – 15 mins (MS Publisher)
- A digital Lowry style picture – 5 mins (Publisher)
- An Esher style tile/textile pattern – 15 mins (Publisher)
- A Multimedia Knock Knock Joke – 20 mins (Powerpoint)
These tasks were so satisfying because they allow you to experience in a simple and direct way the power that digital machines give you. The simple act of copy and pasting – almost the primordial digital action – frees us from labourious work and development of specialised skill. The power to extend our capabilites and the speed with which we can acheive things is intoxicating.
Its not without relevance that many of the designs have their origins in the industrial or pre digital world and would have been extremely labourious to produce plus Thats not to consider the expense of the materials and the time taken to train up a skilled artisan to follow such a method. Our 5 minutes some how equates to 5 years.
I am used to this power and speed in a business context but the artistic context is more novel to me and I’ve enjoyed developing my creativity and aesthetics.
Posted by richard 
