When I first started university, I was intrigued by the concept of constellation although I didn’t know exactly what it entailed. To begin with I found it a lot to take in, with the theories and concepts that we had to explore and discuss. Although I was keen to learn more, whether it was about art movements or artists I had never heard about. Something I most certainly struggled with was creating a link between the topics I studied in Constellation to my studio subject work. Although after attending lectures last year on ‘Mannerism’ I was able to find a topic that interested me and enabled me to explore beauty, that then later influenced my whole dissertation. These lectures were very beneficial to my learning. I also liked the way my lecturer Mahnaz got the whole class involved, as I feel that this is a good way in getting a range of opinions on a topic. Something I particularly enjoyed was the focus on the human form and the creation of an unrealistic being. This interested me and sparked my attention to further explore alteration and beauty standards. This created a focus for when I started writing my dissertation proposal.
I feel that the subject of beauty and the media was something that I certainly had my own opinion on before starting my dissertation. Although, the more I researched and explored the subject of beauty itself, I feel that the word lost meaning to me. Looking at theories of philosophers in my lectures last year, undoubtedly made me question the word beauty. It then became subjective to me and no longer stood for anything. I am glad I looked at beauty in a philosophical way, as well as looking at the meaning of beauty in terms of art. I feel this gave my dissertation a different approach and was therefore not so stereotypical to media findings. After exploring mannerist artists and the works of Leonardo da Vinci in my second year of constellation, this majorly helped me in expressing the unrealistic standards of beauty artists set. I feel that the constellation study group from last year has also enabled me to critically look at artwork and be able to express the impact they have on me as a viewer. This was something I noticed whilst writing the ‘beauty in art’ section of my dissertation. In my own creative work this year, I am looking at the subject of making something you see daily appear more ‘beautiful.’ Such as, introducing satisfying colours or making the shapes of things more aesthetically pleasing to look at. Therefore, I feel that looking at artists such as the ancient Greeks to be fascinating, and has changed the way I look at my own work. This also helped me to consider ways that I can make my work look visually ‘beautiful’ to some viewers, even though the actual thing I am creating isn’t.
I feel that exploring magazines, online articles and social media was the most beneficial way to research. I feel that I got a lot of knowledge and insight of the kind of media that is portrayed in the 21st century by working this way. My tutor also advised me that the best way to see the impact of media is to explore current day media. Although, it was difficult to create an argument from this information, as there was a clear relation between the media and the ideal. Therefore, I struggled to express that this isn’t the only cause to the judgement of beauty. This was an issue in my initial proposal also, consequently I had planned a different approach that led me to look into other ways beauty is represented in the media, through plastic surgery. This topic was an eye opener to research as I wasn’t aware of the different kinds of surgery people undergo for ‘beauty’ such as the ethical surgery. I also learnt that females are far more influenced by the media than men. This was an interesting discovery that led my dissertation to become gender leaning, as I was then intrigued to why females were most impacted. This particular topic created a major impression on my whole dissertation.
A minor issue I had during this process was making my conclusion not sound too ‘wishy-washy’, as the subject of beauty was a hard one to conclude. Although I had too much to say about the impact of media, therefore I found creating a well-rounded conclusion to be rather challenging. Other than that, I feel that the writing went rather smoothly. I feel this is because I was happy with my initial proposal feedback and then my dissertation draft feedback. This helped me to gain confidence in my writing abilities as my tutor believed I was on track. The tutorials were crucial for me during this process, as it gave me the opportunity to ask questions and get guidance for anything I didn’t understand. I feel that if I hadn’t attended these tutorials weekly, I would have found this a lot more challenging. Therefore, I am thankful for the assistance of my tutor throughout this process. I feel that overall I handled my time well and had no time-management issues, although I found it difficult to balance writing my dissertation whilst making subject work. This is because, once I start one thing I want to finish that before I move on to anything else. Therefore, juggling both writing and creating was a tough task for me. I also found the editing and proof reading to be a tedious job, although I am thankful I gave myself enough time to do this. I feel that the only thing I would change if I were to do this again, would be to narrow my research to one thing. I feel that there were areas I could get endless information on and other areas that I struggled to find enough.
Overall, I am pleased to have finished my dissertation and I am happy with the outcome of the topic I have chosen.
Courtney Flay's Fine Art Blog. 