FMP FINAL STATEMENT

My final outcome for my final major project consists of three videos, two for the exhibition and one from the exhibition, many pieces of spray painted cardboard/prints and a zine made from the photos of the night of my exhibition. I started off this project by digging deep into my personal and emotional thoughts on life after death, and although I do not believe in an afterlife, I still found the prospect of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory outstandingly intriguing and followed this up with extensive research with books, web pages, films, documentaries and peoples personal views and opinions. My original proposal suggested that I would have some sort of space where I would gather all my work, but I was not expecting this to reach hiring out a space and putting on my first exhibition. 

My blog was used as a documentary of my thoughts and ideas but also as a reflective tool where I could look back at what I had done and what worked and what didn't and use that to my advantage. I believe that my blog was instrumental in flourishing and finding pleasure in this project. Along with the blog I have filled 5 small notebooks that I carried around in my pocket everywhere, this allowed me to jot down or doodle every thought I had no matter where I was. This ended up creating a series of random thoughts and ideas that's mimetic of my thought process, as if I have put my brain on display. I'm incredibly proud of these as I think that it's something that people tend to avoid because many people don't like the thought of everything being neatly laid out, by letting these bad habits go I have created something incredibly personal to contrast the heavily research and documentary style blog.

Discussing my project with several tutors, classmates and peers I was able to gain outside insight in what other people believed was working or wasn't. This was essential to me because I truly wanted people's opinions to not only play a significant part in their experience of the exhibition, but to also influence my development as the original concept is so subjective. My tutors recommended a huge amount of different reading and watching material that was instrumental in the key developmental stages of my research, for example one tutor suggested to look at the Chapman Brothers and Goya documentary that was incredibly influential to me and my final outcome of the posters in my exhibition. Group tutorials and reviews were also useful, bouncing ideas back and forth with each other and being able to see how different people's minds work and even learning more about myself when giving others feedback was so important and educational to me. 

I have surprised myself in unexplainable ways at every part of this project, I never thought I could be so passionate and invest so much of my time and energy into one thing before I started. I think I have proved others wrong by completing everything in a timely, well executed and professional manner and undertaking every task largely on my own terms and in my own way whilst still taking advice of others. This project, although thoroughly enjoyed, was genuinely one of the most frustrating, tiring and draining thing I have done in a long time, there were times when I felt like everything was over but I managed to keep a positive headspace and persevere through it. The exhibition itself was a huge success, everyone who came gave me an array of congratulations, although there is a few things I would've changed such as having more time, I never thought the outcome would be so magnificently pleasing to myself and others. I am incredibly proud of myself for working so hard and thoroughly and putting on my very own exhibition, it is something I will never forget about and I can't wait for the next challenge I give for myself.