Assignment 9: Audience Engagement – Tutorial
At this point, you should feel confident in discussing your themes and your creative activity. As you work on completing your Critical Analysis alongside your creative practice, remember that all the work you are doing here is to support your creative voice. Developing this with the support you gain from tutors and peers will help you produce the most fully resolved outcomes of which you are capable.
Creative Arts Studio
This assignment requires you to present your digital portfolio to your peers and tutor for feedback. Student presentations are an important part of your studies and give you invaluable feedback and advice to take forward. Present your portfolio on the Creative Arts Studio along with your practitioner statement.
Once you have uploaded your work, your tutor and peers will respond and comment on your presentation. You can follow up and ask questions or arrange a time to meet and discuss online.
It is important to engage with others’ work and give feedback on the work of your peers. Review and comment on their work, and write a review of your observations of other students’ work (300 words).
Support
Having your work looked at and considered by other creative practitioners is the first step to discovering what others think of your work and assessing whether you agree with their critical interpretation. Therefore, your next step is to find an appropriate point at which to reach out and invite peers to look, read, listen or all of these.
All feedback, whether from your tutor, a friend, members of the public or your peers, is subject to their own personal beliefs, opinions (both subjective and objective) and interests. Do not be put off by any feedback you receive. It is up to you to filter this feedback and decide what is relevant and useful to your work and what you simply disagree with. This part of engaging with the wider creative world and learning to deal with feedback will make you a better creative practitioner.
Giving Feedback
As well as receiving feedback from others, you should try to take part in giving feedback to other creative practitioners. If you are critiquing other people’s work, make sure you prepare by looking at their work in advance. Listen carefully and try to help them resolve issues in their practice by asking questions that will prompt them to find their own solutions.
Talking to others about their work will help you engage clearly with your own issues. It is extremely helpful to see both sides of the argument, and you can do this by opening yourself up to being challenged.
Allow peers to engage with your work and demonstrate their perceptiveness and enthusiasm. Use their insight and expose your work to fresh eyes. Your responsibility is to do the same for them – and so the process continues, allowing everyone to gain from this interaction.
This process is an integral part of your creative development. Enjoy it, and consider how you will record the outcomes concisely in a way that will make sense to you when you look back on it later.
Tutorial
This Tutorial is an opportunity to discuss your audience engagement. What platform and presentation methods worked for you? What challenges did you encounter? What questions do you have for your tutor?
In addition to the Tutorial, your tutor will read your Critical Review and give feedback for you to action during Project 10, the final part of the unit. Please submit your critical review and any questions through the assignment activity.
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Apart from the work I have created with photography and story telling, there is a significant part of my journey that has been imprinted through my Odyssey concept.
THE LAND OF LOTUS EATERS.
And so I found myself in the land of lotus eaters.
With the great buildings full of flashing images.
With voluptuous aromas and wonderful smells.
It’s hard not to be smitten by the land of the people who eat lotuses,
And they grow taller day by day.
Until their feet will be so long that they will step on the clouds.
But as much as I am impressed every day, more and more,
Seduced by voluptuous aromas and wonderful smells
I have to keep on walking fast.
Looking away
not to touch the luscious lotuses.
Lest I forget.
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Reflection
Impressed by my recent visit and (still) stay in China, the food, the culture, the people, I wrote a poem about myself and my purpose of living here.
One of the fruits that is eaten quite a lot in China is the lotus fruit. When I saw the these fruits in grocery stores and supermarkets, my mind went to the Land Of Lotus Eaters from Odyssey.As the myth said, eating them was the equal to eternal oblivion.
As I mention in the poem, I enjoy the benefits of living in a country that respects foreigners and treats them well offering a nice lifestyle. Because it is easy to lose myself in the comfort and the peace of mind that this place offers to me, I need to focus on the things that will make me grow and evolve; and above all, stay on my path that brought me here.
REFERENCE
Blumberg, Naomi. “Odyssey”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Sep. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer. Accessed 29 October 2024.
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The book-the story
When Odysseus was cast ashore on the coast of Sicily, he fell into the hands of Polyphemus who was farming sheep and making cheese. The giant shut him up with 12 of his companions in his cave and blocked the entrance with an enormous rock. Odysseus at length succeeded in making Polyphemus drunk, blinded him by plunging a burning stake into his eye while he lay asleep, and, with six of his friends (the others having been devoured by Polyphemus), made his escape by clinging to the bellies of the sheep let out to pasture.
Influence
In Greece we grow up with the myths and the epics of the Ancient Greek religion. Homer’s work, Iliad and Odyssey were part of our school curriculum. Odysseus saga and his longing to find his way home, his adventures and his struggles was always a big inspiration to me. Nowadays, I live my own Odyssey so this story has been reintroduced to me. I look to find many similarities between the legend and my reality. I embrace these findings as a part of my journey to become an understanding of my soul and somehow to give me more strength and peace to carry on and overcome all the obstacles that I encounter.
Recently I had to stay inside a massive factory for almost one month. I was impressed by the loss of identity, especially at lunch time when people quequed (including myself)to get food. People lined up wearing uniforms waiting for their time to serve themselves. I saw that line and the scale of people as an identity loss. I imagined myself as being Nobody. This is the phrase Odysseus used when Cyclops asked for him for his name when Odysseus offered him wine to put him to sleep. At the end of this adventure when Odysseus with his companions managed to escape from the cave shouted his name out loud to the Cyclops.
My work
None (ΚΑΝΕΝΑΣ).
In the cave of Cyclops,
the sheep had fallen into line.
As per every day, they waited for their time to come.
The Good Lord pampered and cared for them
He knew he lived on them,
but even the naive sheep could not do without the precious presence of Polyphemus.
I also found myself in this cave.
I was amazed at the size of the Cyclops,
I also admired his herd from which he made the best cheese in the world.
I saw how they make it and how they maintain it.
But my mind was set to sail far, far away.
Cyclops’ cave was just a stopover. Other ports wanted to tell me about their secrets.
The days passed and I was lost in the abyss of the cave,
waiting for the rock to open and escape.
Cyclops had noticed me but didn’t care,
confident in his strength,
He showed me he could crush me with one touch.
But when he asked me what my name is, I answered him Nobody.
Nobody I am inside the cave with the sheep, outside of it, I am still Odysseus.
REFERENCES
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Cyclops”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Jun. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cyclops-Greek-mythology. Accessed 13 November 2024.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Polyphemus”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 May. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Polyphemus-Greek-mythology. Accessed 13 November 2024.
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RESEARCH
Leukothea, White Goddess: the nymph of the foam of the waves.
Rhapsody V of the Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus’ return from the island of Calypso to the island of Phaeacia, which is very close to Ithaca. This return is also a return to the human world. After the gods decided to let Odysseus return, and their message was conveyed by Hermes to the nymph, it was necessary to organize the hero’s departure. He had to set about building a small advantage in a few days, equipped with a foresail and a rudder, as well as a mast and sail. For seventeen days and without any sleep, Odysseus sailed straight ahead, with the Great Bear in his left hand. Although Homer mentions the Great Bear in conjunction with the polar star, the route follows a constant easterly direction. On the eighteenth day, Odysseus sees the land of the Phaeacians and its dark forests. He is therefore almost there. At that moment, Poseidon, returning from Africa and seeing the situation, realizes that his old enemy has almost managed to return to good conditions. Then the god unleashes a storm where the winds blow simultaneously from the four points of the horizon.
If he drowns, the sailor fears a fate harsher than if he died on land, in front of Troy, because then he would have a funeral with all the honours, praising his glory. At that moment, a large wave throws him into the raging sea and breaks up his ship. He is drowning, unable to surface due to the weight of his soaked clothes. He tries to grab what he can from the remains of his raft. But then the four winds push him here and there, each in its own direction. At this point, a goddess, Leucothea, takes pity on him and offers him a sure way to save his life: a veil (Rhapsody V, v. 184). Offering this veil to Odysseus, Leucothea advises him to swim steadily by spreading it across his chest. This veil is “immortal”, since it comes from a deity and protects from death. After this, the goddess dives back into the sea, which “covers” her.
Odysseus does not rely on this promise of salvation and prefers to hold on to what is left of his raft for as long as it lasts. No matter how much the veil protects him, he will ultimately decide to swim only when he cannot do otherwise, that is, soon. At this point, he takes off the clothes that Calypso gave him. He then covers his chest with the immortal veil and throws himself into the water: “he dives headlong, both arms open and begins to swim”. Poseidon can leave in peace: Odysseus has no chance of surviving.
However, he swam for two days and two nights. On the morning of the third day he is very close to the shore, but the force of the waves hitting the sharp rocks of the coast prevents him from reaching land. Another big wave throws him onto the rock, from which he is holding on, scalding his fingers. And then, as the wave abruptly recedes, he is swept out to sea and the sea covers him. Then Athena decides to help him and he is able to swim again, looking for an accessible shore. When he finally steps on land, he takes off Leukothea’s veil and sends it back into the sea, as the goddess had requested, and she takes it. Odysseus may then think that it is time to rest. He makes a bed of dry leaves and covers himself with them.
In this entire scene with Odysseus’ swimming, the saving veil stands out, which, worn around his chest, will save him from the wave that could cover him, or even swallow him. He throws himself into the water with this veil only on him, as if he absolutely needs it to swim, that is, to avoid being completely covered by the water. When he reaches land, he makes a cover of leaves and the veil of sleep covers him.
References:
Homer. The Odyssey. London : New York :W. Heinemann; G.P. Putnam’s sons, 1919.
Inspiration and thoughts
My China Odyssey keeps on inspiring me.
Reflecting on the original story, I can’t help but make connections all the time, parallelising my adventure with Homer’s work. Since the beginning of my journey Leukothea was a name that kept on coming to my mind, not only as beautiful name but as a redemption: The Goddess that saved Odysseus.
Leucothea.
Desperate from the hunt of the wild Poseidon,
I fell into the sea to save myself.
The journey ends here! I said.
I should not have left the certainty of Calypso,
asking her to sail away!
And then she appeared before me.
Take off your clothes! She said.
This veil will save you!
She threw the garment at me and disappeared.
I did not believe her, I confess.
With the storm around me,
The winds blowing from all sides,
I thought I would find a way.
But there was no way.
The raging Sea swallowed my raft.
I took off my clothes.
‘Thus naked I will face you, Poseidon!’ I said.
With the transparent veil girded
And with my gaze towards the Phaeacian Land,
I did not stop swimming.
…That morning, she found me with my face in the sand.
I had reached the shore.
And then she reappeared before me.
Could you give me back the veil? she said.
I returned it to her with respect.
This piece of cloth saved me! I said.
You saved yourself alone! You just had to believe in something!
The veil gave you the certainty that you would be saved,
But the one who swam and came to shore was you.
I knew it from the beginning. I said.
I wanted to have someone who would believe in me.
Who would offer something of themselves and give me faith?
Leukothea turned and disappeared into the foam of the now-calm sea.
Now that I think about it, life always needs a Lefkothea,
who will wrap you in her veil and fall into the void,
sure that you will always be saved,
even if you are walking towards destruction.
Reflection
The poem above belongs to my China project, and comes as part of a greater scheme that evolves along with the journey.
In real life, being isolated and stranded somewhere in China, having the language barrier, unable to communicate appropriately and being through complex tasks, it would be very logical to lose faith and quit: Forget this journey and get back to the safety and the comfort of home and family.
It is like living in the perfect storm Odysseus faces, as described by Homer. But the crucial moment, the time faith is lost, there is an unexpected visit. In Odyssey, a goddess orders Odysseus to strip naked and use a veil to save his life.
My veil is art: the force and the powerful light that comes with it is my saviour who holds my hand and becomes my refuge until the storm passes.
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