When beginning the project, I don't think any of us realised how ambitious it actually was for the four of us to accomplish. Creating an installation is something that none of us have had much experience with, if not at all. Therefore making an installation that was also interactive, was going to be very challenging. 

We had a hard time coming up with a meaning behind the piece, and initially after Rosie had suggested we revise and develop the idea a little more, we over complicated a lot of things. This therefore lead to us wasting time, as we spent a long part at the beginning just sitting together throwing ideas around each other, ending in the idea becoming way more complex than any of us wanted it or meant it to be. This stressed us out a little as well, because at times we would solve one problem, but another would be created as a result and this was very frustrating. At the end of each group meeting we would go away exhausted and with sore heads from thinking so hard! However after we pitched the idea to the entire class, Rosie called us out on just how complicated we had made things and we decided to revert back to the original, more simple idea. 

I found my part of looking into the visual side of the piece very enjoyable and doing research on other artists who have done scientific works of the brain was very interesting and definitely inspiration for future work as well as this piece. It was very fun working out how to film the POV video and we all had a lot of laughs, even through the many failed attempts at getting the style right. This taught me a lot more about the importance of team work, as we had to work very closely in order to achieve the look we wanted - Tom and I basically had to become one person to film and act out the activities seen throughout the video! However near the start, we were all a bit confused about what the visuals would actually be, at one point we looked into showing the  inside the brain itself through After Effects. However I found once we had established that the video had to be simple and general in order to be relatable to the audience, it was easier to develop from there. 

Things to Improve

If we were to do the project again, we should research into materials and creating the model brain a lot earlier than we did. Instead of spending so much time on trying to put a complicated meaning into the piece, we should be more prepared as to how we should carry it out. The fact this was not the case left us feeling very pressured and rushed to get it finished on time and put a lot of stress on Julia to make the brain model, which was not ideal, particularly for her. I think we could have also began doing tests sooner, both technically and visually, to ensure that the piece was definitely going to work like we wanted. I would have liked to have maybe put more tests on the blog as well, to show more development towards the final piece. I also think occasionally communication could have been better (only a few times though as we were generally very good!) as some people would contact each other through private messages instead of the group one and I found myself getting a bit confused at times! 

The Group

I feel we worked very well as a group. The project was very ambitious from the out set, but despite any problem that came up we worked hard to get over anything and come through to achieve the final result. Each of us were in charge of our own area, and while each of us lead their own part, everyone else would or be willing to if asked help out with anything if another pair of hands was required. 

Rosie reviewed the complete contents of the installation (the visuals and sounds controlled by the software and keyboard). This was without the model brain however, as this still requires to be vacuum formed and then assembled to show these contents. 

The photos and video seemed to work well, and I'm happy with this as I suggested to Tom that maybe in the first attempt with the software the randomness and style was too much. Now they are a lot more toned down, to allow the audience to focus on the meaning instead. Rosie suggested that the border (meant to look like an eye) around the completed video was still distracting, but this should be easily solved by retreating the edges of the border back more and quicker. 

Interactivity

Examples of what the MaKey MaKey kit can do

Plan of Action Until Assessment

After the tutorial, Tom and I found Harry as there had been a mix up with the room we wanted to book, and sorted this out so that we have it for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to set up and assemble everything physically.

Monday 

Tuesday and Wednesday

• General set up and tests to make sure everything is working.
• Move completed installation piece to assessment room
• Final test in assessment room