Nikki de Ruijter

BUS110

11449576

Nikki de Ruijter 11449576 BUS110 Assignment Three Vision Board Value: 10% Due date: 12-­‐Aug-­‐2013

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Nikki de Ruijter

BUS110

11449576

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Nikki de Ruijter

BUS110

11449576

When viewed up close, my vision board is made up of a collection of images of goals synonymous to someone of my age and educational pursuits. Pictures of overseas travel, small business, family, hippy art installations, orphanages I one day wish to donate my time, and overly artistic shots of coffee. Upon reflection of this collection, all of these images represent the end goal and have little to do with the work done in the interim. ‘How very Generation Y of me’, I thought. Then we pan out into a larger image. The larger image was taken on my gap year at the Tate Modern in London. It is of artist, Ai Weiwei’s, ‘Sunflower Seeds’ exhibition. Over 100 million individually hand crafted porcelain sunflower seed husks were poured into the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall industrial space to create this vast landscape. Ai Weiwei did so to create “a commentary on the relationship between the individual and the masses” (Bingham, 2010). Conversely, when used in the context of this vision board, it may be used to represent the relationship between smaller short-­‐term goals and the attainment of the end result. This larger image is the most significant in representing my future goals. It encompasses all of these smaller end goals into one metaphorical image of the process it takes to achieve them. Firstly, I took this image blindly. I had broken my camera within the first week of the trip so I had no way of seeing the photos I was taking before or after I took them, I merely had to point, shoot and hope. A process I am more than familiar with in my life in general. Going out on a whim, with little or no planning, putting in a hundred per cent and hoping for the best outcome – perhaps another characteristic synonymous with my generation. Secondly, each figure in the image can also be attributed to the attainment of the goals represented by the smaller images. The process of moving through this maze of smaller challenges (represented by the seeds) alone or with support, to

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Nikki de Ruijter

BUS110

11449576

either find what you’re looking for in life (represented by the two men on the left who dug to the bottom) or merely to fumble through the challenges, enjoying them and learning, like the children in red on the bottom left. I can also sometimes let myself be buried by the challenges altogether like the boy in the top right hand corner. And sometimes, on very rare occasions, I may find myself on top of everything like the many figures that are lying on top of the seeds. Or perhaps stand back from everything and reflect, represented by the figures to the left who stand away from the installation. This last point is much like this assignment. Whilst initially the themes highlighted were that of greater pursuits, such as family, travel, giving back and living comfortably, the bigger picture should be that of the process, the smaller goals and obstacles that first must be attained in order to succeed in the greater ones. This assignment has made me reflect on this as well as my need to sometimes slow down, reflect and plan in order to realise these aspirations instead of merely pointing and hoping.

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Nikki de Ruijter

BUS110

11449576

References Bingham, J. (2010, October 22). The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds. Tate Modern. Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-­‐on/tate-­‐ modern/exhibition/unilever-­‐series-­‐ai-­‐weiwei-­‐sunflower-­‐seeds

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