As a degree student nothing can ever prepare you for a live brief, all you can do is hope that it'll be something you'll enjoy and something that allows you to showcase your talents and strengths. My first brief is a commissioned piece of artwork for the MacRobert Centre whom have decided this year they don't want to have a Christmas tree and want something a little different. That is of course where we come in, given with the challenge of creating something that gives of the same wonder and joy of the HUGE tree they usually have....OH CHRIST.
This wasn't something I instantly felt excited about, the thought of doing something Christmassy felt kind of cheesey and childish, but luckily there were other themes we were to consider incorporating into our Christmas themed show stopper and there was a glimmer of a starting point for me. The 70s, Disco and Aladdin....where do you start??
Well it was tedious to begin with, throwing around ideas of giant stockings and Santa sleighs, all of which lacked any real creativity but after weeks of staring at a blank page and talking to tutors with apposing opinions and ideas (what's new?) I seemed to get somewhere. (Is there such a thing as artists block?)
Researching Arabian textiles and cultures got me really excited! In particular the tradition and meaning behind Mehndi Designs. Drawing on the body in henna ink is something they do around times of great celebration such as weddings and what they draw on the body is supposed to symbolise different things such as joy and luck. Aladdin is known to be set in Saudi Arabia and as far as Christmas is concerned they don't celebrate it. That doesn't mean I can't take the idea of rituals such as the mehndi designs and use them to incorporate there way of celebrating into our celebration of Christmas. At the moment I'm thinking of creating a big Christmas star and incorporating the Arabian patterns and seeing where this takes me. I have a meeting with the MacRobert clients on Thursday so I'll present my idea forward to them and hopefully I'll know whether to take this further or not.
Well I'll keep you posted if I haven't suffered Christmas overload...
