10/9/2020 Conferal of Master of Arts: Humanities and Media

 Still in Covid-19 lockdown so there was no formal graduation ceremony at Southern Cross University therefore the certificate was simply signed by the Chancellor and posted to me. That constituted the "Conferral of the MA degree". The irony was that 6 years (part-time study) ago I enrolled in Visual Arts but the reorganization of the SCU departments meant I graduated, MA "Humanities and Media". Not sure that was a win but if you drill down into the "Media" there is a sub category of Visual Arts.

12/7/2020 MA Awarded

Cairns 12/7/2020

Email from Dean of Graduate Studies, SCU, has recommended the award of degree of Masters by Thesis. Title of thesis (Exegesis) was:

Re-framing the Australian Coastline:

A contemporary reinterpretation of artwork from the parallel French (Baudin/Peron) and English (Matthew Flinders) 1801 voyages of exploration along the Australian tropical and sub-tropical Coast.

6/7/2020 Cairns: Table of corrections and revised Exegesis.

6/7/2020 Cairns

Supervisors approved the corrections to the Exegesis, recommended by the two examiners, and the Table of corrections and revised Exegesis were sent to SCU Graduate School as the final step in the examination process.

Cairns 14/5/2020 (Examiners reports)

The MA Visual Arts, external examiners reports are back and are positive, requiring the usual minor corrections to the satisfaction of the internal examination committee. One more re-write and subject to supervisors (and Examination committee) approval I can print off three copies for formal binding and submit them.

Cairns 11/4/2020 Winding up the project.

The MA story continues.

 1/1/2018 Contact Graduate Studies and supervisors Restart project

18/4/2018       Rebuild 3D computer models and 3D print prototypes at Cairns TAFE.  Contact NMA Canberra and confirm exhibition details.

1/5/2018, Travel to Canberra for "Art in Science" exhibition (French 1801 Artworks)

1/5/2018 located record of extra drawings at National Archive Paris.

5/6/2018 Contacted  Nadine Gastaldi, Conservateur général  du patrimoine, Chargée de mission Cartes et plans, Direction des fonds, Archives nationales. Paris
Reply: Scans are not possible, ? personal visit only.

12/6/2018 Progress report and request for 12 month interruption of candidature. "Forms" filled in and sent to Academic supervisors Interruption approved.

 18/6/2018 New BlackBelt 3D "conveyer-belt" style 3D printer available at Cairns TAFE,  plus large format Laser cutter, & CNC router to be delivered in 2018-2019. Start "Deferment" for 12 months Restart project in June 2019, use break to sort out Laser cutter and large format 3D printer

7/2/2019 Still on deferral, visit SCU Show/tell examples of TAFE 3D prints from BlackBelt  printer. Approved but need to explore the artists use of colour Problem - parallels work on colour by Mabbely = use 3D textures instead.

2/06/2019 Still on deferral, visit SCU Due to restart 18/6/2019 Establish progress reporting schedule

19/6/2019 Restart as per Graduate Studies timeline, due to submit exegesis Feb 2020

3/7/2019 Pack&Send Cairns TAFE to Lismore, SCU = $205+$87.5 All 3D prints and Laser etched Acrylic/LED artwork = 3 x installations of 3D prints, 2 x 90x60cm fractal art, 1 x 90x60cm 3D print composite.

1/9/2019 First working draft of Dissertation + Art installations = OK to proceed
[at least another 5,000 - 10,000 words required]

30/9/2019       Progress report accepted by SCU On Track for writing chapters and completing my Artwork for exhibition.

1/10/2019-1/1/2020 Purchase LED 60x60mm panels as backing for Lithophanes = $100 Bauer Lion fish,  image "Jelly fish" lithophanes,  Sandcrab lithophanes, Laser etch "Reef" fractals (rebuild Laser at TAFE first)

4/12/2019 Drop-box draft final version of dissertation to SCU Supervisors.

5/12/2018: redo abstract

12/12/2019: major rewrite required

16/12.2019 start rewrite, Pack&Send last artwork = $150

1/2/2020 travel to Lismore SCU: Multiple draft rewrite with direct advice from supervisors.

23/2/2020 Submit thesis/exegesis 

2/3/2020 Set up Art exhibition for examination at Southern Cross University (to be "up" for 2 weeks). A completely new experience and my first public "showing". Assembling the exhibition to try to showoff the artworks to their best advantage was an "artform" in itself and was surprisingly hard work. 

In the event the two weeks was in the middle of the Covid19 pandemic, with the SCU closed for three days in the second week due to an infection scare. Only one of the examiners could travel to Lismore, the other required a video of the exhibition.

I sat in attendance for the two weeks and explained the artworks to a sprinkling of students, lecturers and my friends who called by. An interesting but stressful experience; I felt emotionally exposed and defensive. It was completely different to exhibiting a scientific poster at a conference. It was my work being "judged" in both cases but it was my raw creativity not the application of accepted scientific methods.   

16/3/2020. Pull down exhibition, just before the University closed completely for the Pandemic with lectures only available online. I was extremely lucky to have got my exhibition/examination process done in time. A very tight window of opportunity. Note: I enclosed a copy of the Video of exhibition in the Library copy of the exegesis.

Locked-down over Easter due to Pandemic.

Wait for examiners reports - expected 2-3 months.