Blogs from Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands, Europe - page 3

This morning we watched the Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus for inspiration of the use of theatre space and optical illusional effects. I thought it was exciting to think that we could immitate similar effects of a fold up stage, walk in mirror, swings and slight of hand tricks with a live audience! Then the film followed through with too many digital effects and the beauty, simplicity and mystery of the visuals was lost in the mix up of happenings and special effects thrown in together. My strengths were finally coming through in the studio today when working with my partner on the communication plan, promotional ideas and interactivity for the attraction! This group project event will take place on the summer parade and we decided on promoting the event by handing out free food samples like ... read more

This week I've been going to several international house parties and finally met up with the lovely Spanish students again! Haven't had much of support for this project on maquette making in school. The tutors have been away or too busy and some technicians seem reluctant to help. I know university is about doing everything yourself, but I find it ironic how we pay for access to facilities and staff's support which is not always available to us. It can be challenging and I am learning a lot from this Erasmus experience! I don't get theory or contextual studies here for this minor so I lack in research but after a mental block I got very inspired by some images on my NUCA intranet page! I want to create a space for an interactive piece where ... read more

This morning I went to the market just round the corner and bought my fruit and veg, some cheese and fresh spelt bread! Then I cycled round in the cold, and found the Rudolf Steiner School in Breda! I went back to the second hand shop, Emmaus, which mum had recommended to me where I bought a massive ancient lampshade and struggled at first on how I was to transport it back home by bike! A kind couple gave me a hand with strapping it to the back of my bike. It wasn't so embarrasing as I would have felt if I was in this situation in England. Here it seems the norm to be casualy cycling with massive unusual objects hanging off the back of one's bike. As an art student, I'm going to turn ... read more

I went hunting for large fabrics, curtains, blankets etc that children would use to build a den. So first of all i went to uni to see if I could borrow anything from them- unsuccesful. So texted mum if she knew a good shop. She gave me a name and address of a large second hand shop passed the station. I'd cycled that way before so I found it in no time! So I now know where to get any cheap odd bits for uni! But I thought it was first worth asking about borrowing fabrics for Monday's presentation, and they gave me two of the most ugliest, rough and heavy sheets, which i to donate to uni if they accept them! Matt finally bought a retro bike for 100 euros, with dynamo lights, working brakes ... read more

Lessons started really late this morning!? What happened to Dutch punctuality? We were sat in the studio working on our projects so I finally got my chance to talk lots and lots with the other students! They are really lovely, and hardly shy or at least don't hold back to keep the conversations going; it felt rather comfortable. Met another tutor for tutorial and had to consider how we wanted him to receive our information, basicaly it was all about presentation. I now wish I had made him sit under a table whilst talking to him... I told him of my ideas and what was discussed in yesterdays tutorial and he asked me questions about my confidence in the language and differences and how I want people to receive my sound project, considering space or if ... read more