Reflections on the Mediascape Essay

I approached the different stages of the mediascape essay with mixed attitudes, thoroughly enjoying the research and greatly fearing the pressure of writing something I could be happy with. At first torn between Eva Hesse and Katie Paterson, I chose Paterson because her practice is more contemporary, which I thought might make a more exciting investigation.

As Paterson is yet to have a book written about her work, my research was mainly based online, in newspaper articles and journals referencing her ideas but not necessarily her practice. I enjoyed the challenge this posed, of using my own ideas and interpretations of her work instead of relying on other people's. I really love learning about artists, I find researching them always makes me appreciate their art more, as I understand it better. The main thing that I took from learning about Paterson's practice was how her works evolve, they exist in different states, sometimes all at once. Her use of technology and processes is varied, individual to the work and prescribed by the concept. Bourriaud's idea of the 'Altermodern' has really made me question how my own work might operate, perhaps online or viewed in unconventional ways that could add more layers of meaning.

I really, really struggled writing the main body of the essay. Even though I had planned it out in paragraphs with quotes and objectives, I found it impossible to write. It took me an unusually long time to find words and make sentences, and required a great deal of effort. I was finding that it could take me hours to write a few sentences, as I was focusing so much on how it was worded. I think maybe I will ask for some help on the next writing task, perhaps there are some techniques that can help with my word recollection and speed. I also felt a great deal of pressure to word the essay in an 'academic' way, which caused me to write and rewrite (and rewrite again) each passage.

I was largely happy with the final essay overall, considering how hard I found it. Although, since handing it in I have thought of things that I should have mentioned that I think would have improved it.