It's been an intense time for the CGAA community, as week 10 of semester 1 concluded with final crits for both first and second years. The gloves came off and egos got bruised, but for those still smarting from the slings and arrows of summative feedback, I offer this as balm and olive branch:
"We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him ..." Michel Eyquem De Montaigne
For CGAA/Year 1, Friday 26th November witnessed the end of 'Space' - which sounds like a Mayan Prophecy - but in fact relates to the conclusion of unit 2 - the 'concept art project'.
Students were challenged to generate 3 digital paintings transcribing environments from classic adventure stories written by the likes of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and H. Rider Haggard. Projected large on L1's silver screen, Dayle's evocations of scenes from The Neverending Story hit big; mysterious, immersive and filmic, his concept art for Grogaman's Tomb particularly impressed. In getting to grips with the temple of the titular She, Domantas gave us this ethereal vision, while Jono and Molly took us deep into King Solomon's Mines. Kolade took us deeper still - 20,000 leagues deeper - with this impression of Verne's view of a ruinous Atlantis, and Kay offers up an alternative vision of the same scene. Indeed, one of the true excitements of working with CGAA students is the way in which one idea is taken in so many different directions; consider Andriana's take on Poe's forlorn House of Usher and compare with Sean's interpretation of the same location. Likewise, Well's subterranean moon adventure is given very different treatments by Katy, Lyn-Dae and Naomi, while Nat and Alex 'imagineer' Gormenghast's bright carvings. From decrepit castles to state-of-the art submarines and sci-fi utopias: Justin steampunks a deep-sea library, Sam cuts loose with Nemo's quarters, and Ryan+time machine arrive outside the White Sphinx. Elsewhere, in a land that time forgot, Paul gets Turneresque and Jonny Sharples gets to grips with his pen and tablet.
CGAA Year 2 had their character design crit on Thursday 25th - the culmination of 10 weeks of design workshops with Justin Wyatt - our 'guy from Disney'. It was a marathon session characterised as much by home truths as by 'heroes, villains and sidekicks', but alongside all the bees in bonnets and fleas in ears, there was Jordan's Arthurian trio, Ruben's Robo-Pirates, JJ's Monsters & Aliens, Ethan's Greek-inspired sci-fi stalwarts, Alex's Arabian 3, and Kin's Malik & Co.
With just five term-time weeks remaining before hand-in, pressure mounts for CGAA Year 3, as production on their respective minor projects changes gear. I recommend anyone reading today's PWTM take the time to browse Raj Dhillon's blog - in terms of 'unpacking the pipeline', it's exemplary and illustrates exactly what your tutors are looking for from your creative development blogs. Elsewhere, Zack's rat makes his blog debut and Gary pays £25 for some professional polish.
It's been a tough old week.
It will get tougher too before semester 1 is over, but put aside your fatigue, say "no" to burn out, procrastination and petty resentments and do something incredible instead. Be Amazing!
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