Reflective Statement

A  conclusion to our first Unit -"Introduction to Study in Higher Education" which included creating a blog to record our responses to tasks set in lectures and our Rough Guide Project. 

After starting this course I feel I managed my time well and efficiently. I approached each blog task with focus and my conclusions to each task have been honest and highlight my personal views towards the subjects appropriately. I have sourced the material for the blog tasks to the best of my ability, highlighting points and objects that have caught interest during my research. Thus I have acquired allot of knowledge regarding subjects I previously wouldn't have looked into. The African Masks from the Mining the Museum task I found particularly interesting and I really engaged with the craftsmanship and meanings that each of the different masks represented. However, I feel that in some cases I could have made more of an effort to research deeper into the subjects required such as the pathology of collecting and thus broadening my understanding beyond the needs for the blog tasks.

My visual research for the rough guide project was very focussed, I knew what I was looking for and was able to acquire and expand on it quickly and easily. I like the approach I took by documenting textures in Kensington as it completely detracts the stereotype of a pristine and rich area as some textures are particularly grimey and wouldn’t be out of place anywhere in London. Furthermore my documentation of Kew Gardens supports this approcach as I wasn’t as focussed on the plants as I was on the textures of the plants. I feel I analysed my research well and highlighted the textures that were particularly interesting and different.

I enjoy writing this blog and find it extremely useful in ordering my mind and cataloguing my process through this course. I have tried to make my posts sensitive to the needs of the task and maintain a personal yet professional response to them. Through my blog I feel I am able to compose succinct and clear responses to the blog tasks as well as personally reflect on my feelings towards the course and other experiences I've had so far.

Comparing the National Army Museum and Imperial War Museum

As you enter the Holocaust exhibition in the Imperial War Museum you are greeted by a video depicting Jewish people reminiscing about what life was like before the Nazi’s. As you go through the rooms you are following a specific timeline of events which culminate in the mass murder in the concentration camps and the defeat of Hitler and the Nazis. It feels as though you are being told a story and the way the exhibition is displayed it has an impact, there isn't too much information and it’s in a wide range of media such as videos, posters and artefacts  I think the Museum is portraying Jews as “the ultimate victim.”

In Contrast, when you enter the World War I & World War II exhibition in the National Army Museum the layout has a less personal atmosphere, there doesn't seem to be a flow in the information given which makes it harder to decipher the story it is trying to tell. When walking through the exhibition you feel almost overwhelmed with the amount of information on offer, there doesn't seem to be a single angle or vested interest imposed on you.  However, it has a more interactive approach as they have remodelled many scenes from battle incorporating sound effects and realistic dummies.

Overall, I feel I engaged more with the Imperial War Museum. The general layout and display felt more personal and although there was less information you still got a wider picture of what happened as if you were being told the story first hand and thus evoking more emotion. However, although the exhibitions had a brief crossover through WWII and Germany I feel I can’t fully evaluate them against each other as they are predominantly for different purposes and are presenting different histories.

The Pathology of Collecting- Newborn baby Dolls.

This video depicts a woman who is obsessed with creating the most lifelike newborn baby dolls. She will easily spend 15 hours every day making and caring for these dolls. I find it really fascinating the way she can actually create something that looks so real, in the video it says that most doll makers take weeks to create lifelike effects such a drool but she can bake and finish a doll in a day. I believe this shows supreme creativity.

However, this compulsion to create the most lifelike newborn baby dolls which on the surface seems very strange but harmless underlies an almost psychopathic god complex; she wants to effectively create life. This is particularly unnerving. Baudrillard states that collecting can bring about a reactive satisfaction that is every bit as intense as sexual satisfaction.  “In which the object in question should undoubtedly be seen as a loved one... the passion for an object leads to its being construed as god’s special handiwork”. In this case, rather than god’s handiwork, it is her handiwork, which reaffirms my point that she is subconsciously trying to play god and gets an almost innate pure satisfaction from each newborn she creates.

Mining the British Museum

Masquerade Room as part of the Sainsburies African Galleries

The British Museum is organised by a series of galleries each containing artefacts from a certain culture, the separate rooms in these galleries are then used to group together similar objects from either the same region or time. This is how the curator tries to represent every culture, although every culture is analysed by an outsider. Therefore it can be argued that it isn’t an accurate representation of these cultures as the curators ideas are projected onto us through the displays.

The Masquerade Room tries to create a narrative of culture, they have a general synopsis of the tradition of Masquerade opposite a huge display cabinet filled with various masks that are used in traditional ceremonies across Africa. The masks are divided into 4 categories;

1. What is a Mask- A general introduction into the different kinds of masks and their purposes
2. Wild Beasts- Masks emulating wild animals, as a way for the wearer to channel their spirits
3.  Female Masks- Females aren’t generally allowed in Masquerade, therefore men wear female masks to portray women in the ceremonies.
4. The Dead- Masks used to channel spirits of the dead, or help relatives into the next life.

I think the room tries to tell a story, about the different masquerade traditions throughout Africa. However I feel that they leave out some key points in the labelling cards e.g. if a particular colour means certain individuals are more powerful. The more extravagant the mask = the more power the individuals or the village has? The Voice of the story is the Curator instead of a primary source, they choose which masks are on show and what labels each mask is given and by doing so project their own views and insights into the tradition on us.