Dissertation PDP

Initially, I struggled to think of a topic to write about for my dissertation; however, when I discussed this with my tutor, I realised that there was a lot that I could write about. We discussed topics such as writing about a particular artist and how the museums control how we view pieces of art, and considered various time periods to focus on. I eventually choose to write a thesis on something that my practice related to so that this research would also benefit that. I chose the subject of figurative abstraction in the end as figurative art is something that I have always been interested in, and prior to choosing my dissertation topic, I had started to gain an interest in abstracting the figure. I was making work about the figures presence and disappearance in the world, taking inspiration from artists such as Keith Vaughan and David Oliveria. After choosing a topic to write about, I quickly planned the structure of my dissertation and that allowed me to get stuck in and start enjoying this project. I was surprised at this as I thought that writing a dissertation would be tedious.

I started this project by reading generally around my chosen topic of figurative abstraction and from that I was able to narrow down what I wanted to write about. Luckily, there were lots of resources available on this topic for me to look at for my research. My interests fell with art in the post-war period; this was a period where existentialism was popular and writing about philosophy in conjunction with art appealed to me as I had already been influenced by Keith Vaughan and Francis Bacon who were making their art during this time and were influenced by this way of thinking. Reading about Existentialism in particular has enabled me to learn so much about the context behind figurative abstraction and I have found it really interesting to research. My subject work this year has been greatly enhanced by this research; I have been able to expand greatly upon the work I had started prior to this project and inject new meaning into it. Soon after this, my original dissertation tutor suggested that I researched the New Images of Man exhibition that took place in the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1959. I found this exhibition really exciting and it brought together many artists that I had an interest in, such as Bacon and Giacometti. I decided to base my dissertation around this exhibition, using it as a core that bound everything together as it had an existential theme running throughout it and caused much controversy at the time. I was able to contact one of the artists involved with NIoM, James McGarrell, who wrote to me about his experiences of the exhibition. This was really insightful and it made me more motivated to research the exhibition. I chose to write individual chapters about Giacometti and Francis Bacon as I found their art particularly interesting. I have enjoyed researching and writing about these artists as it has given me a good understanding of their work and helped me think about my own art practice.

I found writing the proposal not long after starting to research my project very beneficial; it allowed me to start piecing together all of the information that I had gathered and realise what else needed to be researched. For my book/journal reviews, I chose to write about books/journals that related to my four different chapters. This also gave me clarity as to the layout of my dissertation. It was encouraging when I had good feedback for my proposal as it made me more confident about my project. From my feedback, I was able to write a substantial amount of my dissertation over the summer break, which I was grateful for during the first term back at university as I could focus more on my subject work without worrying too much about my dissertation.

My way of writing my dissertation was to skip between different parts and write about sections that I felt like at that time. This kept it interesting for me and also meant that I knew exactly what I needed to research. I think that if I had worked methodically through my dissertation, I would have been panicking about not having written certain parts and worrying about not having done enough research. I feel that I have been organised and productive throughout writing my dissertation, although maybe a little complacent during the first term back after the summer break.

Overall, I have found writing my dissertation enjoyable and helpful with my studio practice. I was nervous about it in the beginning when I had no clear direction, but once I got started and had a clear plan, I was able to organise my project and get a lot out of it. Being able to research art and philosophy that feeds directly into my practice has enabled me to contextualise my work more clearly. Although I did not have any major struggles with this project, towards the end of writing my dissertation, I did find it hard to think of what else to write about. I had written about all of the main parts and needed to include small points to enhance my chapters. I also found writing an interesting conclusion more difficult than I initially thought it would be. Quite often, I found myself repeating what I had already said in the main chapters and it was hard to expand upon points without delving into something completely new. I found my dissertation tutorials throughout the first term helpful with this mental block as listening to a new perspective on what I had written gave me new ideas and areas to research. Also, having feedback from my draft was helpful as it gave me a good idea of how I was progressing with my project and it made me feel confident about what I had already written. I feel I was given clear guidance on how to develop and have written my dissertation to the best of my ability.