An Unfinished World

In an attempt to define the title of our research projects, we were tasked with choosing a book from the library related to - but not reflecting - our original title. The title for my research project was originally "how do artists create immersive worlds?" but this needed to be expanded upon because it didn't accurately present how the language or communication of a narrative is portrayed through world-building. I felt as if it was important for the title to convey the differences in the motivation or purpose of the creation of specific worlds by artists. Through looking at and understanding my chosen book, I was able to better define the title for my project - "The language and communication of narrative through the creation of immersive worlds." 

My chosen book was 'An Unfinished World' by Graham Sutherland. It is a publication that accompanied the artist's exhibition of the same name, which compiled almost one hundred pieces of art featuring the devastating landscapes of Britain during and after World War II. I chose this book because I felt that the destroyed and broken landscapes not only offered a sense of realism and immersion, but also provided a narrative to the dark effects the Second World War had on buildings and environments, and the aftermath of war.

One possible interpretation of the works showed in this book is that the destroyed landscapes could communicate the evil of life, or the decaying of nature in a response to the world being at war. For the first of my experiments, I hope to create and respond to environments that communicate a narrative, or create context for a story, in a similar way to how the various artists managed to in 'An Unfinished World.'

This task was helpful in defining the title and direction of my research project. By looking at a book from an area of my original title that I would not usually focus on, I was able to see my project from a different perspective. It also helped me to start thinking about my experiments and what I could potentially do for them.