Areas of Practise: Initial Ideas

Now I've completed some basic research and summaries, I'd like to start thinking about where to take my project in terms of making and development. To do this, I've been asking myself questions like, what methods of making and design would suit this brief? What potential does it have in different areas of practise? What kind of skills do I want to learn or expand? To answer these questions, I've thought of a series of potential project ideas as starting points that can be developed further into areas of design and making.

1) Greek Masks
As examples such as plague doctor or Venetian bird masks have already begun to surface in my research and concepts so far, the idea of traditional Greek masks would be a very good place to link back to the original subject of Greek theatre. Conventionally, in traditional Greek theatre every actor on stage would wear a mask, the designs varying depending on the character being played, e.g. different designs for a man, a woman, a child etc. The designs themselves being symbolic of the character being portrayed.
Mask making has been something that I've been quite interested in for a while, as there are a variety of methods that can be used, including sculpting and casting, and a range of materials to chose from as well. For these reasons, a project in mask making would present diverse opportunities in both design an building, which are both skills I'd like to improve throughout this project.

2) Anthropomorphism
Animal symbolism is a theme that runs solidly through both 'The Birds' and 'The Orestia'. Working on this theme and developing it into the character design directly could be a really interesting way of experimenting with characters, e.g. How different animals could be worked into aspects of costume design, or facial features. This could also tie in very easily with the design and making of masks, as mentioned above.

3) Models/ Dolls/ Puppets for use in Stop Motion Animation.
This project would present a new area of study and research but would include skills I've already practiced and have basic ability in. I would therefore not need a lot of tuition within the aspects of making, meaning I could design a much more independent brief for myself, making this a beneficial project for third year self directed study. This skills needed could include; Scale work, sewing, casting, painting, concept art and design work. Some of these skills I've already put into practise the past two years, but this brief would present the opportunity to fine tune these creative abilities.

This project would also revolve around research, prototypes, and experiments, which really suits the framework we've already been briefed on for 'The Greeks' assignment.
The theme of anthropomorphism could also be linked into this character design project very easily.