Touch point presentations. L3 semester 2

For the beginning of the end of 3rd year textiles, each of the design disciplines have to be present at a lecture every second Thursday for four different touch point presentations, held by the tutors and visitors.

The first touch point was held in DJCAD Matthew building on the 22nd of January (2015). This was to discuss what would be happening in the next couple of weeks or so with projects and who would be coming into the university to speak to us.

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We had our second lecture on the 29th of January. There was  two international experts in design who came to visit to give us a creative workshop focusing on design and sustainable futures.

Professor David Gauntlett, an author of “Making Connections”. He has created a fun workshop that involves Lego to enhance your creative thinking which he has done for years. Dr. Amy Twigger Holroyd, is a researcher for fashion, sustainability and amateur making. She uses a knitting workshop which has traveled to many festivals, this helps you to learn new skills. Both workshops create an inspiring approach to creative thinking.

Platform for creativity #pfcdnd lecture has made me inspired to think even more creatively. As we were displayed a list of eight sentences that were very interesting and made my brain think about each of them more in depth.

Here is the list and my take on it:

1. Embrace “because we want to”
I think of this as – you can choose you path in life. So take every day as it comes because you will learn something new every day. You want to do it. So do it.

2. Set no limits on participation.
Don’t be afraid to take part in things you wouldn’t normally or would normally. Be open to take part in something with people you know or don’t know. Life only has limitations because you make them.

3. Celebrate participants, not the platform.
Be inspired and impressed or proud that people want to take part in the event or organisation or party that you have invented. It’s the people that will make your “platform” successful. Not the other way around. Thank the little people in your big world.

4. Support story telling.
Become more at one with other people, find out more about them to enhance yourself and your dreams. You can learn a lot and teach a lot by discussing/telling stories. Think of the cave men & women.

5. Some gifts, theatre, recognition.
It’s not a bad thing to have a little bit of drama in the things that you do. That’s life. If there was no ups and downs you wouldn’t be living. Gift as in giving to not receive – this could be anything from advice to a box of chocolates. And recognition – not just for what you have done but for others too. Look around.

6. Online to offline is a continuum.

7. Reinvent learning.
Learning something isn’t a like a rule you have to follow. Learning is an openminded doing thing.

8. Foster genuine communities.
Adopted new techniques that you have learned from other people.

The work shops for #pfcdnd were really interesting – we had to bring in an object used for thinking.. mines was my ring and necklace as I fiddle with them all the time and most of the time I am thinking. So put two and two together tudahhh got my thinking tool.  We were placed into mixed groups of students from DJCAD (Interiors, Textiles, Product Design, and Jewelry). There were also people from other university that came along interested in the presentations and workshops.

   

We all brought something in to ‘show and tell’  we found that the newspaper is 10/10 in the way of having many strengths and hardly any weaknesses.

Strengths :

– Flexible   – Free   -Sustainable  – Accessible  -2D/3D  -No caution

Weaknesses :

-Durability  -Fragile

Fiddle-ability :

-Limitless  e.g Cut, Roll, Scrunch, Stick, Build

Metaphor-ability :

-Large possibilities.

This work shop was good in a way of getting people to communicate to each other who wouldn’t normally, and to throw about some ideas and possibilities with the chosen objects people brought in to the workshops. If you were stuck in the way of thinking ‘What the hell is a thinking tool?!’ there was a table with some objects, games, buttons etc that you could use. Our table discovered and hid away the ‘Fuzzy Felt’ which every one knew about and had played with in their childhood apart from me. They told me I didn’t have a childhood if I had never had a ‘Fuzzy Felt’ box… I thought I had a great childhood with all my Barbies… Obviously not.

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We had our third touch point presentation on the 19th of February, with the V&A Museum, ‘Design in Motion’ Bus arrived outside DJCAD!

The bus is amazing, such a tiny gallery, it doesn’t feel like your standing in a bus, its like your in small exhibition. I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to it coming to Dundee, I am sure I will be graduated by the time the V&A museum in Dundee is finished but I will be making sure I am back to see the finished product.

My lecturers work was displayed there – Sara Robertson. Her work that is showcased is of the digital lace samples, which is very interesting to find out more about and to touch.

There was also another piece that caught my eye, the work of Geoffrey Mann – Attracted to Light, long exposure series…

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Touch Point Presentation 3 coming soon…