Juteopolis: Group Work FTW!

Evidently Norman had not looked after
mothers raw jute wig as well as she
would of liked. Useless boy.

Firstly, I shall get the basics over with, and quickly get you folks up to speed on the first project of the semester. Initially we were introduced to Louise Ritchie, who would later be our mock client for the project. Her aforementioned exhibition, aptly entitled "Juteopolis", was an installation of a series of wooden cubes, which had been designed based upon artists interpretations of the jute industry that had once been thriving in the Dundee area.


The brief which we had been issued, was essentially to design an exhibition space within a predefined space in Dundee's Contemporary Arts centre (that's the DCA to you, me, and anybody else who likes a tipple in their appropriately named bar, "Jute"), which was inspired by Juteopolis. It could display and/or promote the history of Dundee's jute era, question the future of jute in Dundee or exhibit an installation that had been created upon researching into the area. It also had to have several key elements, such as being sustainable, and transportable, as hypothetically it would be a potential travelling exhibition.


After deciding upon our groups in which we would be working in over the course of the project, we had to obviously map out our strengths within our groups. As we got into talking amongst ourselves, it became apparent we had a wide range of strength that we would be able to play to, which is, quite frankly, not only rare, but extremely lucky! The group as a whole did not get off to a fantastic start for one reason or another as various absences amongst us caused us to fall temporarily behind. This however, did not phase us, and soon we picked up the pace, if anything overtaking those other tortoises. However, as the story goes, haring it to the finish does not always bode well. Slow and steady after all, wins the race.


Currently the research has increased tenfold, and after deliberating over several ideas we have come to an outcome that has gone down well amongst tutors and clients alike. Most of the groups are reasonably hush hush about their ideas and designs, so in fear of being outcast from my group, I shall refrain from detailing our final designs until after deadline. Then all shall be revealed. Oh how exciting!


On a general note; I think working in groups is a lesson in itself, as nobody will work in industry in a one man band practise, it just aint gonna happen. Therefore, regardless of anybody's outcomes after the next week or so, the lessons learned in terms of compromise within teamwork will be invaluable.

As I said, group work ftw!