Platform2 Placement

I got accepted!! Summer = sorted.

Things to do now:

• withdraw application from Camp America
• cancel my stewarding placed at Leeds Festival and Bestival
• find out what I need to do about enrollment next year (seeing as I wont be here for the start of term)
• sort out my many many vaccinations
• finally - Stop. Stressing. Out.

Arts Jobs Mailing List

I've been signed up to receive the Arts Council's email since the beginning of the academic year and so far nothing of any real relevance has been brought to my attention. In this weeks mail I came across this call for 'Volunteer Gallery Assistants'.

http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/index.php?id=25&ne_source=weeklyjobs&ne_post_id=40339

This sort of thing would be ideal to have down on a CV. Even though it isn't directly relevant to my current practice I can relate it to my involvement in the curation of our 129 Exhibition and this sort of thing would look great on a CV - evidencing knowledge and understanding of the commercial side of the creative industry.

Reading over it initially was simply hypothetical, the position is located in 'North-East' and I don't have any time to commit indefinitely because of uni work and uncertain summer plans. But then I did a bit of research into Globe Gallery. It turns out that Globe is located in North Shields - funny coincidence that I happen to reside in South Shields - and this isn't the only volunteering opportunity available, they offer a range of voluntary programs ranging from a few hours to a few months, focusing on "contemporary art as a means to stimulate socially engaging, challenging responses from young people from all backgrounds".

http://www.globegallery.org/?page_id=840

This is definitely something I will be following up, it seems way to ideal that this should crop up on my doorstep out of absolutely nowhere!

Camp America Placement

Received an email back from Cedar Lodge to say that they have opted for someone with more experience and age - which is fair enough. I had momentarily gotten my hopes up about Camp America again and had I been offered the place I would have jumped at the chance, but now that I'm back to square one I realise that the fact that I'm not more upset suggests that my heart probably wouldn't have been in it and I was secretly still pinning all my hopes on Platform2.

Speaking of which, I called up today to see if they could tell me roughly when I will find out.. The 3 week estimate that my interviewer gave was, ummm, optimistic to say the least. The woman on the phone said that they're still waiting to receive all of the interview reports, then they have to go through all 200 of them and shortlist people. At the very latest it will be mid-June. Gargh.

Camp America Placement

I received an email from Camp America Enquiries asking whether or not I was still interested in the program as I hadn't logged into my account for 4 months, and saying that if I wanted my application withdrawn then just not to reply to the email. So I didn't. I had given up hope.

Then, in a display of painful irony, the very next day I received an email from Camp Cedar Lodge in Michigan saying that they want to talk to me about a placement as head of Arts and Crafts at their summer camp! Safe to say I wrote a groveling 'please don't delete me' email to Camp America in a flash. The only issue Cedar Lodge had was with my availability dates, which I have had to bring forward to 12th June as their summer program begins on the 13th.

Nothing is definite as of yet; there are a number of applicants that have been shortlisted. This is the email that they've sent me, it seems incredibly intense - I need to be able to manage and run the entire arts and crafts department, providing continuously fun and engaging projects for up to 60 children that appeal to kids aged 8-16:

Greetings from Cedar Lodge.

You are one of several applications that I have just reserved from Camp America as a possible applicant to fill a job I have open for this summer. The position I am looking to fill is for a camp counselor that would stay in the cabin with kids, and a specialist that has at least one major area of expertise, and several other areas that they are very strong in as well. Our camp is quite small, but offers a variety of intense different programs. Because of that, all our cabin counselors are also program heads. I am interested in your application primarily because of your Arts and Crafts background. Here are some links to our web site that may tell you more about us: www.cedarlodge.com

Summer Camp: http://www.cedarlodge.com/summer/index.shtml

A bit about us: http://www.cedarlodge.com/about/corestaff.shtml

Our Staff: http://www.cedarlodge.com/summer/camp_staff.shtml

About the job: http://www.cedarlodge.com/jobs/index.shtml

Our facility: http://www.cedarlodge.com/about/facilities.shtml

Now that you know something about us, I have some questions for you.

Arts and Crafts: This area is a large program in our camp. I just lost my return counselor for this area and it's a bit of a scramble for me. That being said, I am looking hard for the right "fit". Here is a link to a page on our web site that talks about this program:

http://www.cedarlodge.com/summer/general_programs/crafts.shtml

This is one page, I could probably have dedicated several into this program. Like I said, it's a big program and very popular. The craft "barn" will be open all 6 hours of the day, though perhaps not always with the same person. I am looking for someone that is qualified enough to head the program. They must feel confident in working in various types of art and crafts, for different ages (8-16) and different abilities. They must be able to handle group projects and also smaller groups. They must be able to come up with daily ideas of different craft projects, some that may be simple and only take a small bit of time, and some for more advance students that might go on for hours, days or even weeks. They must be able to organize the craft barn, inventory and supply buying lists of what they need. I am looking for someone that lives and breathes A and C and doesn't mind being in the barn for 4-5 hours a day, 6 days a week, 8 weeks for the summer. There is a partial list on the link that I have supplied. That would be a good place to start. How many of those things (and others) do you feel confident leading? When I say leading, I mean coming up with, organizing and implementing without outside help or prodding. Tell me your feelings on the above and then we can go from there.

One more thing. I have attached a pdf that has to do with the A and C program we did at Winter Camp this last year. I think it will give you a good idea of what we expect for our program. I will be interested on whether you feel that this is a program that you can put together and run.

Additionally, you would be expected to handle at least one evening program a week with the entire camp, so past work with large groups is a plus. All general staff have this responsibility:

http://www.cedarlodge.com/summer/general_programs/evening.shtml

As you see, there is a bunch of information, but those links should give you a great start! It is very important to me that you feel comfortable about the job that I am offering you. With our small size (60 campers),we operate more like an extended family. That is why it is so important to me to try to make sure that everyone is happy with their placement here, and that we are all here for the same purpose, namely working with children and dedicated to the idea of them having a great time. After you have reviewed the information, if you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If you would like to talk to me I will be happy to phone you if you could tell me when it would be convenient, but truthfully, if we could do this by e-mail I would prefer it.

I would be interested in whether you feel you are right for a program and whether we would be the kind of place you would like to work. Lastly, I hate to do this to you, but I need you to contact me ASAP. I only have your application on hold for a short time and I will have to make a decision whether I have heard from you or not. I would certainly like to have some contact from you (e-mail is fine with me) before I have to make that decision.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Have a great day,

Amy Edwards

Cedar Lodge

At present the prospect of heading an 8 week program is freaking me out, to say the least. I have some skills I can use already, such as paper making, book binding, casting, and even silly things like tye dying; it's simply a matter of thinking of innovative ways to utilise basic skills. If I got accepted for the placement I'd definitely be able to over-prepare myself before June 12th - I go to an Art College for god's sake! So right now I'm being optimistic and trying to persuade Cedar Lodge that I'm an incredible human being that loves kids and 'lives and breathes arts and crafts', and I will cross the actually-having-to-teach-people-things-bridge when I come to it.

There is also the minor issue of my possible alternative summer plan, and still not knowing if I've been accepted onto that program. I should find out in the next week or so, but if I do get on and have to choose between the two then I'm definitely screwed. How can I possibly know which of these experiences will benefit me more in the long run??

Festival Volunteering

As it's been over a month since I sent my references and passport copy off to Platform2, and I have yet to hear from them I thought it best to start planning my summer on the assumption that I will be residing in the UK.

So I have came up with a more than satisfactory Plan B: festivals! Me and my friend Sara are volunteering through Oxfam to work at Leeds Festival and Bestival! It's free to do (a deposit of £180 is required but you get that fully refunded a month after the festivals), you get your meals provided, and over the whole 5/6 day period you're only required to work 3 x 8 hour shifts. Perfect.

Leeds resides on the August bank holiday and Bestival 2 weeks later, thus giving me a slither of glimmering optimism through what I fear will be a soul destroying summer of full time call centre work. Win.

Creative Networks

Tonight was my first opportunity to help out at the Creative Networks event, it turned out to be pretty awesome. I was positioned on the front desk along with 2 other new helpers and the two girls who have been helping out for the past year or so. It didn't take long to get my head around the system of logging people in and registering new visitors and then (I know this may come as a shock to some) it was simply a case of maintaining a sickly sweet smile.

This month's speaker was Sir John Hegarty, who - dare I admit - I had never really heard of before this event (I'm not exactly tight with the advertising industry if I'm honest..). Initially I wasn't planning on staying for the lecture as I had a prior engagement but I can definitely say I'm glad I did. Hegarty is the mastermind behind such ad campaigns as 'Vorsprung Durch Technik' for Audi and Levi's famous laundrette advert. As well as conventional TV campaigns it was really interesting to see the variety of new methods created by BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty) in response to the ever evolving contemporary culture. For instance, as an alternative to spending millions on prime time TV ad slots the company tried investing best part of a budget on production and relying on the video streaming phenomenon to do the rest. This campaign for Smirnoff Raw Tea is simply genius - all BBH did was to upload it to YouTube and it swept the nation with so much more volume than a TV ad ever could; a cost effective way of testing your audiences reaction to a particular campaign.

Even though my interest in advertising is minimal at best I was riveted throughout the entire lecture because it was evident that he held a true passion for his subject matter. 'Ten reasons to be in advertising' damn well made me want to be in advertising. Bloody advertising buggers, sucking me in with their shiny adverts and funny jokes.

Summer Placements

I'm starting to scare myself shitless that I won't manage to find a way to flee the country this summer. My friend from work applied to Platform2 last year, aced his interview then got instantly rejected because both of his parents are doctors. My mam is a tutor at Middlesborough College and my dad is some sort of health and safety person.. Granted they are separated, but I have this irrational fear of rejection and they might see them as good jobs and assume I 'am not worthy' of this program. PLEASE DON'T SHUN ME.

I've been looking at other programs that I could apply to and, fuck me, I'm not poor enough to get onto Platform2 but there is NO fucking way I could afford to do anything like this otherwise!

BUNAC is a program that offers the opportunity to volunteer abroad, work in summer camps and find work overseas. I had a peruse. HMMMM to do something like Platform2 without subsidising would cost £899 at the very least, and even then I'd have to have basic Spanish skills to qualify!

This is ridiculous. Capitalist culture has cashed in on this volunteering bandwagon to the extend that it is now pretty much unachievable to anyone that doesn't want to wear it as moral accessory. I'm not homeless. I'm not living of mummy and daddy. I'm screwed.

Creative Networks

Bridget is looking for assistants to help out at the Creative Networks events held once a month in college. In a bid to be more pro-active I offered my services and will consequently be attending a lunch meeting with her and the other volunteers on Thursday. Boom.

Platform2 Programme

In an incredibly depressing reality check after the epic fail of a London trip, it has occurred to me that Camp America is a long shot. And when I really think about it my dislike for Americans and children would not have made for a winning summer combination. I haven't yet withdrawn my application but all hope has definitely been lost and I'm exploring my other options.

Platform2 for instance! Posted on the Viscom Notice board by Christian, looks perfect. The programme offers 10 week placements in developing countries helping to build schools/teach English/dig a well etc. I've applied for it, just need to get some references together and if all goes well I could end up in Asia, Africa, India or Peru! FUCK YOU AMERICA.

It's a government funded scheme which means I wouldn't have to pay for flights/accommodation etc however the program is for 'those who would not otherwise have the chance to have such an experience' so I am fully reliant on whether or not they see me fit.

*pull your best underprivileged face*

Interviewing Prospective Students

Today I got the opportunity to interview prospective students along with Jodie and Graham. I loved it, any role with authority it always a winner. There was only 3 candidates throughout the morning so we didn't really get a big enough scope of work for me and Jodie to make a sound judgement seeing as we were little interview virgins - and also none of the work was mind blowing (not entirely sure if I should disclose that..).

You learn so much about what not to do in an interview just by watching someone else, it's crazy. But to be honest it's all common sense anyway. One guy was entirely himself, had a crack on with Graham about football, shook our hands, looked us in the eye - lovely old job, winner by a mile. None of them had any questions... hmmmm FAIL. I had a list as long as my arm when I came, how could you not have any questions? The mind boggles.

London

8 hour round trip to London on a lovely packed coach at unimaginable hours in the morning = ULTIMATE WASTE OF TIME. Fantastic.

The Camp America recruitment fair was such an epic fail. Despite leaving at 6:30am I didn't actually get to Kensington Hall until 12:45. The doors opened at 12 and by the time I arrived I still had to queue in the bastard cold for an hour and a half at least. When I eventually did get in there it was manic, like nothing I've ever seen. All the preppiness of Disneyland but with this horrible acid hype that everyone knew was there but were denying all knowledge of; if it wouldn't have reflected badly on their applications I reckon every girl in there with an ounce of competitive energy would have slipped a blade between the ribs of the unfortunate rival in front of them who managed to let themselves get distracted for one second whilst flashing an overly white smile to a camp rep. God the whole thing made me sick.

As the London fair was the last one in the UK it started to become apparent as I was shuffling round that any hope I had of securing a place was seriously deluded. Everything had filled up. Unless I was a 21+ equestrian connoisseur with the uncanny ability to juggle fire whilst belting out a pitch perfect selection of west-end classics I didn't have a cat in hells chance. Lovely.

It was a pretty horrible realisation, I've invested a lot of time and money into this and it appears I have hit a brick wall. I haven't withdrawn my application yet but I've definitely given up hope, hmmmm time to explore other options..

Camp America Recruitment Fairs

For the love of all things holy. This date change is actively ruining my life one small nugget of control at a time.

Camp America have recruitment fairs where a vast majority of the participating camps attend, applicants get to meet them, find out all about the various camps, and there's a good chance you may even get hired on the spot - which, if not apparent, is incredibly handy and solves a lot of problems.

There are 3 held around the country and the nearest one by far to me is Manchester (other options being Edinburgh and London), cheap travel, close to home, everyone's a winner.

OHHHH THAT'S RIGHT IT'S ON THE 28TH.

Hello extortionate train fares to get to London on a Saturday on what will turn out to be a 6 hour round trip that will result in extreme difficulty maneuvering myself around a city that's on acid 24/7 crammed full of people that hate me because I'm breathing air that could be potentially be put to better use as pollution. Can't wait.

This whole exhibition change is just throwing more and more shit at the fan, I've already had to take a week off work because I can't afford to not do uni work and if one more thing goes wrong I'm resorting to the fetal position.

Brown Day

A nice photo of my lovely (and completely to scale..) iPod! We managed to make £11.70 altogether, which would have sounded almost impressive in context if it wasn't for Paul Price and his ability to win at life. Had a much better day than expected, there were some amazing ideas - winners have to be Amber and Greevy, hands down.

Camp America Application

Last night I had to make a video of myself. Shit me it is so fucking embarrassing. I better fucking get accepted after this.

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Wow, I can't get it to upload. What a wonderfully wasted effort.

Interview with 3rd Years

By no stretch of the imagination could you classify them as interviews.

I did find it really helpful though. I was 'interviewed' by Dom and Lisa and I felt totally at ease. I felt they were genuinely interested in what I was saying and the questions were relevant to me rather than scripted.

The most stressed point in my session was not to be afraid of approaching the 3rd years for help, which I found really comforting. I know whenever I've been in the studio I've been apprehensive about talking to the 3rd years but hopefully these sessions have lowered some barriers and we'll start to mingle more. Me and Paul have also just set up a facebook group for a Viscom Otley Run next month giving everyone a chance to socialise again, the freshers pub crawl seemed to go down well so hopefully this encourage even more interaction and a lot more of the 3rd years will get involved.

There were a lot of questions about my direction and what I see myself doing. Up till now I've been quite scared at my cluelessness regarding myself as a practitioner, but what I learnt in my interview is that it is not necessarily a bad thing. Just because I'm undecided doesn't mean I can't be good at the things that I do try and there's nothing wrong with having a less clearly defined area of work.

Brown Day

I've been having a think about things I could do for the Viscom village fete on Brown Day. I can't really bake, I don't want to make cards to sell or anything like that and I don't think I have the imagination to come up with a genius stall idea.

So my plan is to create a giant ipod out of card (big enough for someone to sit in with a laptop!) and create a sort of fete jukebox! I'm going to need another body so I've roped in Paul as he reckons he lacks creativity - hmmmm yeah ok then - so one person takes money and song requests and the other sits in the ipod and sorts the music out.

That's all I've got. I'll make it really shiny so people are distracted away from just how primitive the idea is, it'll be fine.

D&AD - Competition Brief

The first brief I've decided to tackle is the D&AD Illustration one:

Create an illustration that captures the theme of resistance.

They want it to be innovative, unobvious and to 'question the politics of existence'. All in all, it's pretentious and vague as hell. Safe to say I didn't know where to start.

I went and pestered some help out of Christian. His advice was to come up with the 3 most obvious approaches, and then the 3 most radical.

There are a million obvious ways to tackle resistance:

• revolution
• military
• physics
• inequality - race, gender etc.
• non-conformity

And the list goes on. When faced with the question 'what is the most extreme way of approaching this?' the only thing I could think of was simple - resist the brief itself. Resist the avant-garde regime that we as young designers are being forced to recognise as the only right path. Resist the 'fact' that non-traditional holds more importance than traditional. Resist the brief.

Christian told me to look at this as more of a critical studies brief than an illustration brief and try and get my head round the concept of resistance fully. Only when I have a solid understanding will I be able to rip the brief apart and critically analyse every single aspect. Once I've figured out why the brief doesn't work, I'll be able to rewrite it and hopefully create a solution to a problem that genuinely exists.

The Art of Looking Sideways

'The Art of Looking Sideways' - Alan Fletcher

After reading a review on Amazon for this book I immediately took it out of the library (not expecting it to be so thick!?! It's pretty much a cube). I cannot emphasis this enough - IT IS AMAZING.

This is the overview as written on Amazon:-

Alan Fletcher's The Art of Looking Sideways is an absolutely extraordinary and inexhaustible "guide to visual awareness," a virtually indescribable concoction of anecdotes, quotes, images, and bizarre facts that offers a wonderfully twisted vision of the chaos of modern life. Fletcher is a renowned designer and art director, and the joy of The Art of Looking Sideways lies in its beautiful design. Loosely arranged in 72 chapters with titles like "Colour," "Noise," "Chance," "Camouflage," and "Handedness," Fletcher's book, which he describes as "a journey without a destination," is "a collection of shards" that captures the sensory overload of a world that simply contains too much information. In one typical section, entitled "Civilization," the reader encounters six Polish flags designed to represent the world, a photograph of an anthropomorphic handbag, Buzz Aldrin's boot print on the moon, drawings of Stone Age pebbles, a painting of "Ireland--as seen from Wales," and a dizzying array of quotations and snippets of information, including the wise words of Marcus Aurelius, Stephen Jay, and Gandhi's comment, "Western civilization? I think it would be a good idea." Fletcher's mastery of design mixes type, space, fonts, alphabets, color, and layout combined with a "jackdaw" eye for the strange and profound to produce a stunning book that cannot be read, but only experienced. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk

As a visual communicator it is a prime example of how we should be looking at the world. Through fresh eyes. Through questioning eyes. No doubt about it, I am buying this book! Until then - here are a few snippets from the mere fraction of the book that I have managed to work my way through.

A double page spread illustrating the silohuettes of every breed of dog as detemined by CRUFTS.

A full alphabet of typography taken from natural markings in pebbles found on a beach. This would have been REALLY relevant last year when we were doing the type module with Graham and Sophie, damnit.

A quote from Queen Victoria.

Portfolio Interviews with 3rd Years.

Sorry.. WHAT??

After the hideous realisation from comm tech that I DO NOT HAVE A GOOD PORTFOLIO OF WORK, they decide that this is what we need? Wow, that's helpful. I've never been less enthused about anything.

Time Management

Such a useful exercise, it was a seriously dragged out workshop, but I'm not going to deny it was useful! Just seeing your days mapped out on a page is horrifying, half of the time I had massive wedges of the pie charts where I really couldn't remember what I'd done, it's worrying. I think, same as everyone really, that it was a definite reality check. Having a visual representation of the time you've wasted just makes you think "wow, I could have done this, this and this in that time and still had time to watch Diagnosis Murder..."

Since then I've spent 5 days at home so work hasn't been my main priority, but in the past few days I've began planning out my time more. I know with everything like this it's a fool proof plan for a few weeks and then you start to get lazy again, so every time I feel myself slipping into a routine procrastination I'll try the pie charts again - or at least thats the plan.

One thing I have committed to is a to do list. By carrying a notebook round with me permanently I have a constant reminder of what needs to be done. So far this has been extremely helpful, being able to cross something off the list is almost a sense of accomplishment - even if it is something as trivial as 'make contact lense appointment', if the little things are in order it's easier to keep the bigger things in order. Makes sense.