At this point, you’ll begin collating your ideas and resources for a formal critical review in the form of an essay or presentation. You will select, question, test, interpret and synthesize relevant knowledge to inform connections between your practice and research interests.
The following outlines the requirements for a Critical Review of either 1250 words or a 10-minute presentation. You will work on this throughout the course and have it complete for assessment at the end of Project 10. Remember to regularly update your tutor on your ideas and progress as you make your way through the course. This will enable you to get feedback and gain confidence in being able to clarify and articulate your ideas.
The Critical Review may seem daunting, but you have been building up to it during your OCA studies. It is an opportunity to show your awareness and understanding of how your own and other practitioners’ work and ideas are related to the wider cultural framework. Similarly, how do the concepts and theories that you have encountered inform your work?
Think of your critical analysis as a way to contextualise your practice so that you are able to bring critical awareness to it and formulate a way to communicate this in a way that suits your practice.
It is also an opportunity to consider which parts of the unit particularly resonated with you and to develop these further. Think about writing as another kind of practice using another material. Although your critical analysis may be a piece of academic writing that follows particular conventions, you will see throughout the unit how it is possible to approach it creatively even within this format.
- Critical Thinking Skills
- https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSsr3XqEsI2HKua22XIQLCI0u9rY4EkEE003_Nnm5Ch9qFa1XjPdSV-R2ozpFlsdOawf7jZthFKM8n5/embed?start=true&loop=false&delayms=12000000
To complete this study skills video you are asked to carry out a short activity.
Answer the following questions then write a short summary of what you have learnt on your learning blog.
Start by naming the two different sources of contextual research.
There are two main sources of contextual research, primary and secondary. Both are valuable to our creative process, each with advantages and disadvantages.
A primary source is experienced directly by us. Think of it as us being in the room with an art object rather than seeing a photograph in a magazine. Primary sources of contextual research are important because the experience is first-hand.
Secondary sources are materials that are produced by others. For example, images of sculpture in books and on websites.
Secondary sources enable us to experience works that are otherwise out of reach. Online museum archives are an example of this.
Whilst experiencing secondary sources it is essential, we have to be aware that what is viewed or heard has been filtered through a piece of technology.
Then write a list of places that include both sources where you might go to find contextual research suitable for your studies.
Contextual Research is where critical thought in the creative process starts.
Sources of contextual research are all around us, and in everyday life we absorb this information as a way of understanding our world.
LIST OF PLACES:
ART GALLERIES
MUSEUMS
WEBSITES
MAGASINES
CONSERTS
FASHION SHOWS
BOOKS
MUSIC
PLACES WHERE PEOPLE HANG OUT; CAFES, PUBS, RESTAURANTS.
Using your list, find one piece of contextual research for further investigation.
MONSTERS is a piece of work I accidently discovered recently. The impact of it it shocked me entirely. It all started with the following video.
An 18 year old amateur singer singing this song released by James Blunt.
Once you have it take some time to find and note down the elements that make up the composition. These might be lines, shapes, sentences, musical phrases, colour palettes, etc.
I find the lyrics meaningful. Listening to it generates so many feelings! I believe a piece of work is valued by what it makes you feel. The whole song delivers a story that I find very powerful.
Research:
“Monsters” is a song by English singer-songwriter James Blunt. It was written by Blunt, Amy Wadge and Jimmy Hogarth for Blunt’s sixth studio album Once Upon a Mind (2019).[1] It was released as the fourth single from the album on 1 November 2019.[2]
Blunt has decided to donate all of the profit made from the song to Help for Heroes and British Legion charities.[3][4]
Background
James Blunt’s father Charles, himself a kidney donor, was diagnosed with stage four chronic kidney disease.[5] Blunt wrote “Monsters” to “express his feelings about his father and his illness, almost as if it’s a touching farewell to his father”.[6] In an interview with Good Morning Britain Blunt said,[5]
Really that has been an amazing moment. Because when you realise your father’s mortality it’s a great opportunity to say the things I’d like to say to him. So I have written a song called Monsters for him.
In the same interview, he made a plea for type O kidney donors to step forward.
source:
Wikipedia contributors. “Monsters (James Blunt song).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 13 Aug. 2023. Web. 19 Aug. 2023.
Lyrics
Oh, before they turn off all the lights
I won’t read you your wrongs or your rights
The time has gone
I’ll tell you goodnight, close the door
Tell you I love you once more
The time has gone
So here it is
I’m not your son, you’re not my father
We’re just two grown men saying goodbye
No need to forgive, no need to forget
I know your mistakes and you know mine
And while you’re sleeping I’ll try to make you proud
So, Daddy, won’t you just close your eyes?
Don’t be afraid, it’s my turn
To chase the monsters away
Oh, well, I’ll read a story to you
Only difference is this one is true
The time has gone
I folded your clothes on the chair
I hope you sleep well, don’t be scared
The time has gone
So here it is
I’m not your son, you’re not my father
We’re just two grown men saying goodbye
No need to forgive, no need to forget
I know your mistakes and you know mine
And while you’re sleeping I’ll try to make you proud
So, Daddy, won’t you just close your eyes?
Don’t be afraid, it’s my turn
To chase the monsters away
Sleep a lifetime
Yes, and breathe a last word
You can feel my hand on your own
I will be the last one
So I’ll leave a light on
Let there be no darkness, in your heart
But I’m not your son, you’re not my father
We’re just two grown men saying goodbye
No need to forgive, no need to forget
I know your mistakes and you know mine
And while you’re sleeping I’ll try to make you proud
So, Daddy, won’t you just close your eyes?
Don’t be afraid, it’s my turn
To chase the monsters away
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Jimmy Hogarth / James Blount / Amy Wadge
Monsters lyrics © Cookie Jar Music Llp, EMI Music Publishing Ltd
Finally, from these notes, briefly come to some conclusions about the work and how you might use what you have experienced within your own creative practice.
<<Monsters>> is a song that speaks to my soul. Having experienced a personal loss, listening to that piece always brings tears to my eyes. It is a powerful theme and delivers an engaging and timeless story. A marvellous ballad that hits sensitive spots and shows how a personal experience can turn into a work of art.
Write this up as a short paragraph in your learning log.
The whole research process gave me a glimpse of a holistic approach: how the idea of the <<Monsters>> masterpiece came to life and how this inspiration escalated as a piece of art. Then, how an artwork can influence others; the video of the 18-year-old boy (IAM TOGI) singing about his late father is proof of the multiple effects caused by a single artist and how this experience has been utilised as a piece of redemption, a catharsis to another creator. As the brief suggests, Contextual research can be described as compost for your creativity, where someone’s work can be the seed for a new way of expression or a pathway of a personal journey that will take thoughts, feelings and ideas further creating new outcomes.
Similarly to the nutrients in compost the wider you source your contextual research and the deeper you consider it, the more nourishment it will provide your creative practice.
BRIEF:
- Framing Ideas
- As you make your way through the unit, think about what you have found particularly engaging and relevant to your work that you would like to pursue in a more rigorous way. It should be something that you are curious about and feel excited about exploring critically; perhaps something that generated questions for you or something that you find problems that you want to unravel. As this is a Critical Analysis, you will need to bring different methods of analysing your chosen topic so that you can offer arguments and your own opinions in relation to what already exists. Make sure that you keep records of the progress in your learning log as your ideas and interests change and develop.
- Structuring Your Analysis
Planning a structure will enable you to break down the task so that it feels more manageable. It may well change as you proceed and it is good to be open to this possibility, but it is a good starting point to work from. In your practice the work doesn’t appear fully realised, but develops from a creative process, which can at times feel perplexing and confusing; approach your analysis in a similar way. In order to support your argument and show other positions that counter it, you will rely on secondary source material from books, journals, interviews, videos, and quotations acquired through reading or observation. Don’t be afraid to take a position, but make sure you back it up with references. Remember that you can also make effective use of images to demonstrate your argument powerfully if you choose them in a considered way. Below is a suggested structure, but you should feel free to adapt it to suit your topic and analysis method, written or presentation.
Title
Think about the title for your essay – this could be a question, which can be a useful starting point – giving you a proposition that you can answer or address.
Introduction
Outline your question and summarise the main ideas that you propose to use in order to answer it. If you want to structure your critical analysis around a quotation from the course reading, or your own, it would be useful to explain the context of the quote and your interpretation of what it proposes, before you proceed to frame your arguments around it. You may want to argue for, or against what is proposed, or to identify nuances within it if you agree with some aspects, but not with it in its entirety.
Body of Analysis
Outline the area you will cover and identify the important questions and ideas you propose to explore in this section. Your discussion could refer to specific artworks, theoretical concepts or debates. Draw also on your own experience of being a creative practitioner and being a viewer of it.
Expand the topic to include other positions counter to your own and broaden it out to show the broader discussions within the area, taking into account your new knowledge and experience of relational form and working in the context of the wider world. When framing the discussion in relation to your own work – what insights does your analysis reveal in terms of your practice? Does it help to situate it within a context or approach and will it affect or change how you work?
Conclusion
Summarise what you have deduced and the implications for your work.
Referencing
All the materials you use, text and images must be referenced, whatever their source. Use your Study Skills Student Support Guide and the guide to Harvard Referencing on the UCA student website.
Bibliography
Use the Harvard Referencing System guidelines to reference source material throughout the text. Make sure this is done correctly and consistently as you go along. Include a comprehensive list of sources at the end of your review.
List of Illustrations
Use the Harvard Referencing System guidelines to correctly caption and reference any images used. Include a comprehensive illustration list at the end of your review.
- Planning a structure will enable you to break down the task so that it feels more manageable. It may well change as you proceed and it is good to be open to this possibility, but it is a good starting point to work from. In your practice the work doesn’t appear fully realised, but develops from a creative process, which can at times feel perplexing and confusing; approach your analysis in a similar way.
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