pages tagged portfolionoteshttp://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/tag/portfolio/notesikiwiki2014-03-13T12:20:55Zpostgraduate study and digital arthttp://christophe.rhodes.io/notes/blog/posts/2014/postgraduate_study_and_digital_art/2014-03-13T12:20:55Z2014-03-13T12:20:55Z
<p>For the first session after <s>half-term</s> reading week, I invited
our postgraduate course leaders to present their postgraduate
programmes, in the context of a general discussion about further study
as an option. As it happens, most of them were unable to make it;
Andy Thomason, from the
<a href="http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/msc-computer-games-entertainment/">MSc in Computer Games and Entertainment</a>,
was able to come, and he brought along some of the current students.
The message that he was delivering was clear (to me at least): if you
want to be hired as a games developer, it's the C++ and maths skills
that are in greatest demand.</p>
<p>The students have had plenty of chances to hear the message that they
should have a portfolio of work to be able to demonstrate to employers
what they can do. Andy's comments might have made it a bit clearer
that the portfolio isn't just a collection of work: it's a product in
itself, and it can be optimized for particular purposes just as any
other product. As a showcase to gain employment, it should put the
product of the in-demand skills front and centre: in particular, if
the skills in demand are technical, such as C++ and maths, then
construct examples that demonstrate those skills.
Procedurally-generated terrain and realistic fog trump pretty terrain
and artistic fog.</p>
<p>And of course I was there, wearing my MSc programme leader hat for our
<a href="http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/msc-computing/">MSc in Computing</a>, and very
neatly suffering from a conflict of interest. In the sessions so far,
I have been the voice of cynicism, trying to make the students think
critically about what they were hearing; now, I was selling further
study – worse, “more of the same” study – to the same audience. The
good news is that I could claim any outcome as a victory; for the
record, the number admitting to considering further study <em>decreased</em>
after the talks, though I hesitate to draw a causal link from anything
in particular anyone said.</p>
<p>To counterbalance the cynicism, and the sales pitch, I asked
<a href="http://theleadingzero.com/">Becky Stewart</a> from
<a href="http://codasign.com/">Codasign</a> and
<a href="http://antialiaslabs.com">Anti-Alias Labs</a> to talk about some of the
things she's been up to recently. She started by adding one possible
motivation for postgraduate study: as she put it, it is <em>way</em> easier
to go to a foreign country on a student visa than to be allowed to
stay for any length of time for work – and she spoke with the voice of
bitter experience. Although we in the UK have (at least for the
moment) the privilege of being allowed to move about freely within the
EU, it's not something that we can necessarily take for granted for
very long. Following its recent referendum on immigration,
Switzerland is finding that it is
<a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/switzerland-downgraded-by-eu-on-research-involvement/2011691.article">no longer benefiting</a>
from all the privileges previously afforded to it, and the possibility
that either the anti-immigration crowd or the broader anti-EU
campaigners get their way in the UK and take us out of associations is
unfortunately non-negligible – and travel elsewhere is tricky and can
involve significant paperwork.</p>
<p>Becky then showed some of her portfolio: projects she's worked on,
complete with well-produced videos; for example, the
<a href="http://dominicwilcox.com/portfolio/gpsshoe/">GPS Shoe</a>. This was
particularly apposite, given Andy's talk about portfolios: the video
is high-quality, clearly documents the project – and some distance
from the “truth” of the matter, because the video was made before the
electronics were complete, adding extra meaning to
“<a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FixItInPost">fixing it in post-production</a>”.</p>
<p>And, analogously, after presenting her other work, participating in
art projects and leading workshops in creative electronics (including
sewing workshops at technology conferences) Becky calmly told the
students that although the art projects are what she talks about, and
they're how she markets herself at least some of the time, they're not
the projects that pay the bills: she earns money from freelancing in
the creative undustries, so that she can work on high-profile art.
And so we come full circle: portfolios as showcases. I don't know if
Becky will thank me or not to draw attention to the
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pertelote/3176735036">hyperbolic trousers</a>
she made for my daughter some years back; maybe the next version needs
more LEDs?</p>