T4 WEEK 1 - PROJECT, RESEARCH, REFLECTION

Week 1 established the conceptual and methodological framework for the subject through a practical exploration of narrative construction and research development.

Andy began by demonstrating how objects can generate meaning through grouping and arrangement. Referencing the idea that objects do not inherently tell stories but that relationships between them do, he showed how selection, placement, and proximity function as narrative devices.

Shoe

Departure

Threshold

Trace

Journey paused

Presence recently gone

Movement

Unopened letter

Anticipation

Avoidance

Unspoken truth

Waiting

Hesitation

Unresolved message

Upside-down photograph

Denial

Memory withheld

Disorientation

Reversal

Emotional distancing

Past obscured

Chair

Waiting

Stillness

Absence made visible

Witness

Space held

Expectation

Narrative Possibility

Together, the arrangement becomes quieter and more psychological. This is a scene of waiting. Someone has left or is about to leave.

Smashed plate

Rupture

Conflict

Irreversibility

Domestic fracture

Impact

Moment of breaking

Torn letter

Communication destroyed

Words withdrawn

Argument

Evidence

Emotional overflow

Refusal to listen

Two cups

Relationship

Two people

Separation

Parallel presence

Distance

Shared space now divided

Knife

Sharpness

Threat

Cutting words

Escalation

Intent

Agency

Narrative Possibility

The smashed plate in the centre establishes a decisive moment. The torn letter on the left implies that communication has already fractured. The two cups, placed far apart on opposing diagonals, signify a relationship split into separate positions within the same space. The knife in the lower right corner introduces the suggestion of escalation — whether literal or symbolic.

Because the cups are diagonally opposed, the composition feels divided into emotional territories. The centre becomes the site of impact. The periphery holds the actors.

This arrangement reads as a domestic confrontation that has already occurred.

Dead pot plant

Neglect

Decay

Failed care

Loss of growth

Time passed

Withering

Crushed plastic bottle

Consumption

Waste

Depletion

Pressure

After use

Disposability

Plastic knife

Imitation

Artificiality

Superficial function

Bluntness

Temporary solution

Paper cup with straws

Shared consumption

Aftermath of gathering

Extraction

Absence of liquid

Temporary connection

Narrative Possibility

The dead plant anchors the scene in ecological collapse. It represents failed ecosystems and the consequences of environmental stress. The crushed plastic bottle and plastic knife signal mass production, single use culture, and extractive consumption. The paper cup with multiple straws implies collective participation in systems of waste. The narrative becomes one of climate crisis: depletion of living systems alongside proliferation of disposable materials.

Photograph

Memory

Evidence

Captured moment

Past event

Witness

Nostalgia

Love Letter

Intimacy

Confession

Vulnerability

Emotion articulated

Private communication

Attachment

Cassette tapes

Recorded memory

Voice

Sound archive

Repetition

Time stored

Personal history

Decorative jar

Containment

Preservation

Keepsake

Holding

Sentiment

Objectified memory

Narrative Possibility

The photograph introduces a moment. The love letter expands that moment into articulated emotion. The cassette tapes extend it further into recorded experience. The jar suggests preservation. The arrangement reads as an archive of a relationship.

Andy shares his personal objects and his narrative.