Today we put together our final product, through integrating different media such as text, videos, photos and a Prezi presentation, which came from our research, onto the Exeter Arts and Cultures website. We used Google Drive to enable each group to share their files and upload them to the internet, whilst others formatted the website to make a clear layout. Our final website can be seen here:

http://www.artsandcultureexeter.co.uk/j-m-w-turner

We then discussed the presentation, organising the order and content and agreeing on the media used, which also allowed us to reflect on the successes and limitations of the project.

We then wrote blog posts to link in with the Tate website’s blog and amended our comment on the Tate ArtMaps website (http://artmaps.tate.org.uk/artmaps/tate/), which we had looked at when we started the week.

Today has largely been about bringing all the information gathered from the past few days together and deciding how to present our ideas and works. The Colleton Crescent group have finished our gathering and have just started to put everything on Prezi. We have also had some great ideas about the mock up of the page on the Arts and Culture website. Namuun has been researching the past of Colleton Crescent and the adventures it has had since its creation.  As a group we have decided to have a timeline for the whole etching instead of just the Quay.

The Cathedral group, ran a fractured session today, with one of our members being unable to attend. The rest of our time was divided, between two tasks, one was to compile the data which we gathered yesterday into a coherent format, and secondly, one member of the group divided his time into editing the footage of yesterday’s interview with Professor Smiles. These tasks, were time-consuming and difficult, but did not prevent us from taking an active part in the decision-making process.

In the morning the Quay Group created a timeline about the history of the quay. Then we continued with making a comparison between Exeter Quay at Joseph Turner’s time and today by focusing on a few of he key spots on he Quayside . In the afternoon we went to the quay again to gather more information and make some interviews. This turned out to be very productive as we managed to find out what the economic and cultural circumstances were when Turner created is famous painting.

Day 2 has kicked off with three new members: Brad, Namuun and Racheal, completing the Turner Challenge Team. We had a short morning briefing and split into three groups, tasked with visiting and exploring the composite locations in Turner’s engraving.

Cathedral Team! We headed down to the Cathedral Green and visited the Devon and Exeter Institution (http://www.devonandexeterinstitution.org/): a new find for all of us! There we were able to look at newspapers dated 1811-1829 and from a large selection of specialist books on the history of Exeter. The newspapers were less helpful than we had hoped as many were printed in London, simply advertising sales and merchandise.  It was a lovely old building with many interesting features – including a secret door! Then we went to the Cathedral and spoke with a specialist guide. He was very informative and we learnt a lot about the condition of the Cathedral at the time of Turner’s visit in 1810s. We briefly inquired about Turner in a local art gallery and were able to find information on other artists who had also painted the Cathedral. Colleton Crescent Group! We started the day off by visiting Colleton Crescent, where we began taking photos of the houses included in Turners painting. After taking the photos we needed including a 360 degree panorama of the houses and their view, we turned and simultaneously identified an elderly lady staring at us through the curtains of one of the houses, we then decided to ring the bell and see if someone would speak to us about the history of Turners painting. Fortunately the people inhabiting the house were more than willing to walk us through the peculiarities of the individual houses such as the different width of each house or the modern build of the walls and history of the owners. Also kindly allowed us to take several pictures.We are planning to digest the information given to us and produce relevant and verified content for the final product of the project. Most importantly we have new member of our team young talented Mathematician Namuun. The Quay Group! We went to the cellars at the Quayside which were previously used as woollen storages and now store small businesses such as antique shops and coffee shops. We talked to some of their owners and tried to find the link between Turner and the Quayside as well as the history and development of the Quay. We went to the Quay Hose Visitor Centre and we interviewed the owners who helped us understand how the Quay has transformed from an industrial centre to a place for leisure throughout time. We took pictures and we tried to capture the Quay, the Colleton Crescent and the Cathedral from Turner’s point of view. In that way we managed to see how the environment has evolved.

In the afternoon, the three groups gathered together. We met Professor Sam Smiles, an expert on Turner and his work, and we had the chance to ask him questions related to our project and his years of work and research. Later we shared the discoveries we made in the morning and we created a plan for the output.

Hello! We are the Tate Arts and Culture group, part of the Digital Futures Grand Challenge.

Josef, Doroteya, Chloe, Beth, Shim and Thurstan

This morning we started the day listening to Gabriella introducing the challenge and telling us about archiving. We then gathered in our enquiry group and ‘broke the ice’ before trying out the Tate’s Art Maps platform, taking the time to discuss the purpose of the project and the Tate’s aim in creating it.

We attended interesting presentations by Naome from Arts and Culture at the University of Exeter, who took us through the theories of archiving, and Dr Matt Hayler, who discussed blogging and digital media. In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to look at Turner sketches close up and learn a little more about Turner.

Looking at the University’s Turner engravings

Equipped with the background information necessary for our challenge, we started thinking about the final outcome of our project. We created a plan for the week, dividing the tasks among the group. We’ve chosen to focus on one particular engraving of Turner’s work, which depicts the Quay here in Exeter. Tomorrow we will be visiting the locations depicted and interviewing Exeter locals and Professor Sam Smiles, an expert at the University on Turner and his work.