Project Plan - Revision 1
What are you going to do for your practical or creative project(s)?
Check that these fit within your assessment outcomes in the unit introduction.
Describe the project’s aims and outcomes.
In view of the progression meeting with Ariadne Xenou, I identified the themes that are connected to the so-called “drift theory” and collected documentation on psychogeography, situationism, flaneurism.
The creative project that I intend to develop starts from these themes and authors who have theorized and addressed them.
The outcome takes the form of a photographic book that I plan to carry out in several drifts on the Giudecca island, which faces the city of Venice.
This island is of such size that it can be explored on foot and allows you to pass between very different areas, from a social, urban and contextual point of view. It is not too big to be distracting and difficult to map and the fact that there are no cars allows the development of social life literally "in the middle of the road" (like the Paris of Doisneau) or in the navigable canals.
Unlike Venice, the island is not very popular with tourists: therefore the population is all local. They consider the space outside the home as a psycho/physical extension of their property. It is easy to see clothes hanging in the middle of the street, chairs, or tables. Family life unfolds seamlessly inside and outside the home.
I would like to title this photobook:
"Across the canal, in the middle of the road -The Giudecca’s Drifts Project”.
I am referring to the fact that the Giudecca is positioned "across the canal" called Canale Della Giudecca and that the images will be taken "in the middle of the road".
From the western tip (Sacca di San Biagio) to the eastern tip (Fondamenta di San Giovanni), I will walk the whole island through an alternation of different places and social situations.
I would like to take both color and black and white photos.
Are you doing a Critical Review or Dissertation?
Check that these fit within your assessment outcomes in the unit introduction. Write a few words about your thinking behind this choice.
I feel more inclined to write a Critical Review. For the time being, I think I'll make this choice and have therefore researched resources and authors.
A critical review on some authors who, according to my research, have applied and interpreted the drift: consciously, following philosophical/political/artistic currents, or even unconsciously.
I'm not so sure about my choice of topic. I will discuss this with my Tutor.
What does your research explore, and what is your topic or outline research question?
My aim is to produce a group of outcomes, including:
• a Mind Map
• a blog/learning log where to publish the research results, notes and reflections on readings;
• a critical review
In my research, I intend to deepen the themes underlying the practice of "drifting".
These themes derive from Situationism and Psychogeography. It involved philosophers, sociologists, but also interdisciplinary authors such as poets, writers, painters, videographers and photographers. I will focus on photographical practitioners who have moved within or even on the fringes of these currents of thought.
Venice had, for many years and still now, a particular relationship with these themes. This unique location attracted artists from all over the world.
On the web there is a Venetian virtual museum, called “Museo del Camminare” (trad. “Museum of walking", which mentions artists such as Ralph Rumney (one of the founders of the Situationist International) and Sophie Calle (her photobook "Suite Venitienne" is practically about Venetian “drifting”).
Ralph Rumney's drift project in the city of Venice, carried out too late compared to the schedule agreed with Guy Debord, costed Rumney his expulsion from the Situationist International.
It could be said that Venice (or its islands) is the ideal place for the practice of flaneur and drifting. I, therefore, plan to research this topic and, having the good fortune of living near the Venice lagoon, immerse myself personally in the same context that witnessed these events.
However, I do not intend to limit my research only to artists who have had to do with the dualism of Venice/drifting. For this reason, I will also look for other artists who, marginally or unknowingly, have developed their work in analogy with these themes, including street photography and flaneurism (eg. Josef Sudek, Diane Arbus, Stephen Shore, Alec Soth, Garry Winogrand, Izis Bidermanas, Piergiorgio Branzi, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boubat, Daido Moriyama, Alexander Gronsky etc)
I would also like to question whether the drift should be exclusively a practice, theorized, planned and consciously executed or if, as the works of some authors suggest, it is the result of a personal drive, which did not require joining any artistic movement or deepening theories and statements.
Why have you chosen these practice and research projects?
Think about the connections between your practice and research
In previous Levels, I was fascinated by Guy Debord's so-called “drift theory”. Starting from these experiences, I reflected on which path of artistic development inspires me and which I would like to follow in the future: I truly love urban and street photography, and I do love “to make a drift”.
As I said, I am lucky enough to be able to reach the Venice lagoon with ease. I thought that this conjunction between the themes I want to explore, the amount of literature available, my personal interest and the opportunity to immerse myself in a context that has contributed to the creation of a lot of textual and visual narratives, is a unique opportunity to make Practice And Research.
I have many expectations about the outcomes of this project because I would like these themes to become the artistic thread I will follow in the future.
How will you schedule your project within the unit structure?
Set out the start and end dates of your projects. Identify whether you are doing more than one practical project. Add suggested submission dates.
Project 1 – Project Planning, mind mapping, structuring of the blog layout, collect resources, start readings, submit to Tutor (June 2022).
Project 3 – Rework, reflections and blog entries on readings; second summer drift, submit to Tutor (2nd half July 22)
Project 6 – Rework, third autumn drift, reflections and blog entries on readings, submit to Tutor, photo blog publishing (1st half October 2022)
Project 8 – Rework, (fourth winter drift, photo blog publishing?), reflections and blog entries on readings, submit to Tutor (November 2022)
Project 9 – Rework, Photo Book, submit to Tutor (December 2023)
Project 10 – rework, assessment preparation and submission
(Within 10/01/2022)
Who else will be involved in your project?
List any collaborators, audiences, clients, or others you will be working with?
If you are working with others, how can the project be accessible to others?
The patience and understanding of my wife.
Is the project safe and ethical?
Please few the appropriate OCA policies.
Are there any health and safety risks to you or others? How will you mitigate against these issues?
The Giudecca island is a contradiction, a contrast between rich and prestigious areas and poor and socially problematic areas. In particular, the area of Sacca Fisola, in the western part of the island, is inhabited by workers from the factories in the industrial area of Marghera, which have been in crisis for years.
Every day it's easy to meet young and old who just got bad news from work and who might get nervous seeing a photographer.
I will have to try to be discreet and empathetic at the same time, and I will have to speak the dialect to make it clear that I am not a tourist looking for social emotions.
After all, one of the aims of this project is to bring out the contrast between the city beyond the canal, dedicated to tourists, and the one on the other side, where people struggle to make it to the end of the month, or where the houses are empty.
The island itself is a chessboard of contradictions and juxtapositions between the homes of the rich and famous (eg. Elton John) and the poor.
As for research and reading activities, I have collected books and documents that are freely available on the internet or for purchase (amazon, kindle) or for consultation and/or saving (www.scribd.com).
Are there any ethical issues you need to take into consideration? How will you mitigate against these issues.
For the reasons I highlighted earlier, I will have to respect everyone's reality and have the sensitivity to insert myself in various situations without being intrusive.
As for the citations of other practitioners’ works, I will always enclose the references and the notation will be according to academic standards, in order to avoid the risk of plagiarism.
All hardware and software tools used are my property or subscribed, or freely available for personal use.
I have carried out appropriate Health and Safety checks and have a copy of the relevant documentation. (please tick)
YES
I have the necessary insurance to carry out my project. (please tick)
YES
I have familiarised myself with the OCA safeguarding policy and checked my project meets the criteria. (please tick)
YES
Resources and budget
What do you need to make the project a success?
I thought that the best photographic equipment for my missions (drifts) consists of a medium format digital camera (6x7) and a tripod, which allows me to work better on urban composition and dynamic rendering (there are several stops between dark and light that undermine digital sensors).
I will use one tilt & shift lens and focal lengths from 40 to 120mm (FF eq). Some of these medium format lenses come from a 6x7 analog gear (Pentax 67) that I inherited from my uncle. It was a pleasure to adapt them to the digital camera and verify that, although they were not designed for digital, they have excellent performances on large-sized medium format pixels.
I will bring a bridge camera too, with a one-inch sensor and lenses ranging from 24 to 600 mm (FF eq), in order to isolate particular points of view, have fast autofocus, and capture “decisive moments". This long-range equipment will allow me to avoid invading the subjects' personal space.
All the equipment is my property: I gradually acquired it on the professional 2nd hand market for less than 50% of the price or having exchanged my old camera and lenses for other equipment.
UCA library, www.scribd.com, amazon books, kindle and internet search are my main resources.
For mind mapping I have a SAAS subscription to gitmind.com, for image editing and archiving I have a SAAS subscription with the Adobe Creator on the Apple suite. Of this suite, I preferably use Lightroom, which is more than enough for minimal post-editing interventions.
There will be approximately four trips to the Giudecca island, with expenses for the car, parking, the boat called "vaporetto" and the mid-day meal.