Location, location, location

Location, location, location - 29/10/09

As a follow up to the session at the Aberdeen beach, we went to visit three different locations which were this time chosen by the class, divided into three groups. We were going to visit The Tunnel, the tunnel under Union Street's venue, and loading bay for Marks & Spencers, the St. Nicholas Kirk graveyard, and the old train station next to the university. We were to express why we took the group to the locations chosen and what these places made us feel. This could be expressed through our own words or through the art of others.

The choice of our group was the Tunnels, which is just the kind of location which makes me excited. Although speaking about the industrial looking abandoned hole which cannot stop but looking out of place especially compared to Union Street. The tunnel is a monument to the steam-punk genre, home of so much of great comic books, and inspiration to quite a few comic books by the comic book duo of Ian Edginton and D'Israeli. Steam-punk it a genre of storytelling generally based in the Victorian times, where technology has greatly advanced but the only source of energy is still steam. The place is also the local gallery for many street artists which have painted on the walls. I even took the occasion of our visit to put my mark there.

The most interesting element about our visit to the tunnels was to see how others reacted to the location. Most hated it and imagined a series of awful things happening in this alley, and many reasons why they would never come here at night. This did set me apart from most of the group as I have spent many a nights in that alley being the person everyone else would dread to meet there. Different views, different opinions and different fears met in this alley during our seminar. Location, stories, inspirations do not affect everyone in the same way.

By each finding different locations we expressed our likes and dislikes about the environments chosen. Everyone had different feelings about different places, even quite a lot of culture clashes about such subjects as how to behave and what was appropriate to do in a grave yard. Everyone has a different story, and everyone tells their story differently.

Being able to see how people tell their own stories and the difference about how one same location/event impacts them was incredibly useful. Most important to me was how the other artists in the class narrated their feelings, emotions, and anecdotes about the locations they had chosen. The art of narration is all that comic book design is about, and hearing how others told their tales gave me greater perspective on how designers decide to lay out a story.

As well, I have been able to see what subjects and what emotions appeal to different kind of artists. The session over the different locations was like a focus group with everyone showing their preferred types of story.