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ZOETROPE
REFLECTION
In the early stages of this project I emerged as the unofficial leader, as I organised our group discussions and came to them with an agenda to address and really tried to drive the others into jumping into the project as quickly as possible. I set tasks for others to follow and at the start of the project we went with my suggestion for the exhibition/project: a showpitch for a reboot of the My Little Pony franchise (after Levi had brought up MLP). Throughout the project I have organised group discussions, weekly task setting, reviews of work progress and created tasks and goals for members to complete and engage their interests.
For the project I created: 26 of 32 artbook pages, formatted all artbook pages, the backgrounds for the art book, four characters, worldbuilding guides, three sticker sheet designs, two custom cassettes, two clothing designs applied to five t-shirts, a zoetrope and the group instagram account.
This was my first experience of working in a group collective and- it's certainly not been the best experience. The mental load of chasing people for updates, re shifting timelines and ideas, having people not communicate (Robin) or simply not paying attention to established decisions, was frustrating to say the least. This led me to withdraw at the end to try and finish the tasks I had set for myself at the beginning of the project- which is certainly not what a good leader should do.
The short deadline was very exciting and I loved it. It pushed me to shorten my typical timeline and finish my tasks to a high degree, so I’m quite proud of that. It also pushed me into an area of illustration I’ve never explored before- merchandising. It was interesting to approach several different outcomes with the internal priorities of an illustrator.
For the project approach, it shifted throughout the weeks. At first we were relying on another group member to establish a premise, but Paul guided us into thinking of each group member having their own approach to the revisit/remake theme. After researching associated MLP media I decided to challenge its traditional femininity by presenting career driven queer female characters- and I think I’ve been successful. It’s most blatant in my Mrs & Mrs Lunix sticker sheet, but I think the approach comes across in all my outcomes (apart from the zoetrope- that's really just an interactive toy).
The exhibition research led me to understanding the impact the surrounding area or setup can have on an exhibition and how that can enhance a viewer's experience. For the project exhibition I stepped back and allowed the other members of the group to take charge of the presentation whilst I created the bulk of content that would be featured within it. Seeing as I didn’t involve myself with the planning or execution I don’t have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to criticising the exhibition. However I simply didn’t like it, in my opinion it didn’t satirise the original toys well, or display the content in a way that engaged the audience or prompt them to interact. I have no idea where the outsourced labour or blood and viscera comments came from that were written on the walls. The colour schemes of the merch vs packaging vs decor clashed majorly- and in the end it looked like a convention merch table. I wish I involved myself more but after taking on so many tasks from other people (whether due to medical reasons or simply not doing set tasks) I simply did not have the time.
