Whole>Sum of Its Parts
It all started with the first assignment sheet. I have not yet been in a studio with as many boundaries as put forth here, so I was already eager to partake. Shortly after came the second, the third and the fourth sheet. We all had our suspicions of what might come next after we began to notice a pattern. First, we were asked to work individually in two parts. Next, merge with two other people to form a three person group with a united concept and finally, merge our three persons with another three to form six. Six is where we stand as of now. Group work, never being my preference, was on our plates at this time. The more people who become involved, the more complicated and different the situation turned out to be.
When it was just me by myself, my own personal identity was able to shine through. Once I received my concept word “revolve” the job was mine to interpret the word the way I saw fit. Majority of the class took their concept words and turned them into three sub concept definitions to put forth within their designs. I wasn’t much different. With my kit of parts it was my job as a designer to designate moments of hierarchy, ascending and descending instances, constraint and freedom connotations and moments of admittance and rejection. If I could choose a portion of this first part to look back on and further develop I would put more time and thought into materiality. Color palette decisions, architectural details, furnishings, floor and built-ins materials and lighting were areas I, not necessarily neglected, but didn’t have the time to consider or realize fully. In addition I would revisit my model. I like to pride myself on model construction and craft but I can also admit that there is a lot more to be learned and developed.
With the addition of two other designers the situation became, interesting. Again, I have never been a huge fan of group work and these circumstances did not make me want to familiarize myself with it any further. You begin to learn more and more about people when you work as close to them as we were asked to. The proposal came easy. We found it quite unproblematic to unite our three designs and concepts. What came a bit more complicated was producing the technical work. Here is where our individual personalities began to clash. One might not have worked as fast as some, one might not have paid as much attention to detail and the extra stress of one caused the extra stress onto the others. Communication was a struggle for us within this group. The fear of hurting someone’s feelings or misinterpretation held us back from achieving as much as we wanted to in the end. I believe that the pinch for time and amount of work presented caused an “every [wo] man for themselves” type of mentality instead of us opening the flows of communication between the three of us. However, one thing I can say is our model was amazing!
Then there were six. If I thought three was a problem, I could only imagine what six would be like. My absence from the first third of this portion was a major concern for me but I knew that the five talented designers holding down the fort had it all under control. Within this more substantial group we were asked to select a team leader. I think that was an excellent suggestion because with all the different personality styles and opinions there was no way we could have made it anywhere without some delegation. At times I found that mine, as well as others, design voices were overlooked or not heard. I assume you cannot fault anyone for this occurring only because it’s a larger group and some ideas may be better liked or articulated than others. I feel that we need to work on a better approach for everyone to be able to express their design ideas and design identities. One approach we did take that I feel was successful was working closer with individuals that were not in our original group of three to avoid those same issues previously experienced.
Thinking back so far at this experience, I realize that it’s not group work in particular that I have an issue with. I recognize that’s it more the people I end up in a group with. I’m definitely not saying that there is anything wrong with the people that are presently in my group, more like I have yet to come across anyone I mesh well with. Group work to me is a gift and a curse. A gift in the sense that ideas I have that I cannot seem to expand to the next level can easily be picked up by a partner. If I have issues finding the words to explain or articulate my thoughts I have someone there to assist me in making it clearer for the recipient. My doubts can be distinguished by someone working close to me who has faith in my creativity and visions. A curse in that at times I feel my identity being lost and I’m just along for the ride. My thoughts and ideas get disregarded or unnoticed and the difficulty of getting along with some people. Of course this is something that needs to be worked on now while I’m still in school because I doubt there will be many opportunities to work alone in the real world. All things considered, the real excitement is what may or may not be coming up next.
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