1. GSA Archives:
2. My thoughts at the point:
3. More Media:
4. Chat with Neil:
5. Chat with Cat:
6. Development Sketches:
7. Mitchell Library:
8. Reflection – 8th May 2026:

At the end of last week, I spent some time working on the design aspects of the project within my new framing: more abstract, less like a real exhibition in a museum, and trying to do everything myself, whereas usually it would be a team of people for each section.

Sadly, the quest for finding unknown stories of Clydebank and Glasgow might have been too much of an ask, so, along with being less literal with the outcome, I’ll be less laser-focused on one aspect when considering my focus for the exhibition, which I think might allow me to be more artistically open than before.

At this moment, I want to select a couple of objects from the GSA archives. Katie at the archives has suggested a few great works to include, some not digitised yet, but I would love to have digital, physical, or even the originals displayed in my collection. Katie has also put me in contact with one of her colleagues, Jennifer, who works at the West Dunbartonshire archives, so that might provide me with even more material.

GSA Archives:

Katie in the archives has already suggested the photography work of Robert Trotter, who was a street photographer from Dumbarton (which I have also spent most of my life, as my mother’s family is from there), who has one digitised work (seen below) and a collection in the archives that I’d like to see properly and integrate into my project.

My thoughts at the point:

At this point in the project, as my focus shifts and the project shifts, so do my feelings towards it. I was feeling stressed and under a lot of pressure to produce meaningful work or do something that had never been done before. But as the shift focuses more on artistic curation and displaying and engaging in work as well as helping others engage with it, I can’t stop thinking about the C.S. Lewis quote :

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it”

I also think the meaning of this exhibition has shifted, and not just in a literal sense as the outcome will be different as I imagined it, but for myself, I’m not really sure I even know what it was before but now its a subtle celebration of where I grew up, Clydebank, Dumbarton and Glasgow, after trying to distance myself for so long, those who shaped me, my family and my friends who would encourage my creative spirit as I would try and see myself as a one man army doing it all myself and my creative interests and endeavours that have been with me from a young age, encouraged by those around me and what I aim to continue into my life.

More Media:

As well as photography displayed from the GSA archives, I’d also like to get some archival footage of Glasgow, Clydebank and Dumbarton, so I’ve had a look at the National Library of Scotlands video archives and would either like to stabilise some footage and have it playing through to add to the overall theme and aid in the story of the project or to use them for a piece of my own work that I can display alongside the archival work.

https://www.nls.uk/

Chat with Neil:

Chat with Cat:

Development Sketches:

Mitchell Library:

During my appointment at the Mitchell Library, I was told, first, that any pictures I took had to be documented and that anything from their archive was not allowed for exhibition or display of any kind, so anything I found or found interesting could only be shown here in my research.

That being said, even though it’s not for my exhibition, this was still eye-opening and moving to see real stories of the people of Glasgow, and it really put into perspective that, if I am using these photographs from the past, I know it might seem obvious, but they are real people.

Reflection – 8th May 2026:

Before handing in, I want to look back at the whole project and reflect on each step of the process now with the hindsight that I have at the hand in date:

Considering what I saw in the previous post and this one, I can see my direction taking greater stability in this post, while still being open to new avenues and inspirations, after being quite closed off earlier in the process.