Retrospective

I did enjoy this project this whole semester. On personal growth, I have acquired all of my goals I have set up in the beginning of the project. I have wanted to do something music related ever since  I learned about the FAT project. Concept wise, I am happy we managed to set all the team members on the same page in the end.

I have worked on my communication skills, creative thinking and building skills during the project. I tried my best to be more outstanding when participating in brainstorming ideas regarding the concept. I found the project challenging and I wanted to make use of my drawing skills as much as possible, sketching the look of the installation and coming with the 3D model of it. Even though the first sketch and prototype failed, mainly because it will be impossible to build it, I received praise from AKI school members on the designs I drew, which we asked for help on materials and possible ways to make it feasible. I have also learned to “kill my darlings”, when having to be realist about the design and admit we won’t be able to construct it. I had conducted a lot of research regarding music installation, possible materials and building sketches, making sure to provide the team with proper information.I tried my best to help out even when looking for sponsors or bands, having found 2 bands which could give us song samples, however by the time they responded the guys said it was too late to focus on it. We have also been sponsored by a laser cutting company which gave us discounts in exchange for promoting them, which we did.

I have also become a builder during the project.For me it was something new, as I have never touched an instrument and build something from scratch. To be honest, I was quite anxious about it. I am not the most craftiest person, thus I was afraid I would get in the way of my building partner (Nata). But the moment we started building the actual installation, I decided not to worry much and try my best. I enjoyed it a lot. Not only I learned to use different tools, which look scary at first glance, but turns out I am not that bad building-wise, as not once Nata mentioned I did a good job. I tried to take as many tasks as possible in order to get better at such stuff as driving screws, making sure to feel confident about it. However, I can say I had a bit of hard time trying to feel more independent. I was always worried I might end up screwing up something, and always seeked approval from my building partner, leaving most of the decision making to her. I would give my opinion, remarks and ideas , however I would frequently ask what is needed to do, rather than being more confident to start on my own. I understand this is something I have to work on and improve about myself, which I will do, but for now I don’t feel that pressured as this has never been my area and I would rather follow my partner then end up screwing the installation.

As about the team workflow, I would say we had quite some wins and downhills. Communication-wise  I tried my best to express myself during the project, not to feel shy, give ideas and justified feedback, however not all members turned out to be able to take it, which caused some issues between us. One of the problems was separating the 6 of us in 3 teams: promotion, building and technical team, which was a mistake as we had issues intruding each other’s work, as not onceI tried to give feedback on th promotion stuff the girls were doing, but they were rejected and after I did not bother myself much with it. Perhaps this is not the best attitude, but I decided to focus on the building part as at some point we were a bit behind and not to stress myself over it.

In the last weeks we got along with the technical team, since the electronics had to be implemented in the whole installation and not once we had to adjust the installation according to their work, which was quite interesting as it helped develop a builder thinking and attitude, trying to come up with solutions and small tricks.

Overall, I did enjoy the project, and try to keep a good working atmosphere within the group. Not once we found ourselves taking dinner breaks together and discussing our problems instead of keeping them to ourselves. Of course there  is room for improvement, for all team members from many aspects, but as we managed to finish our product in time, I believe this team did quite a good job.