INITIAL THOUGHTS:
METAL SKIP: Geometric patterns were a common theme within this waste, I found it interesting to see how different materials created unique patterns just because of their similar qualities.
18/10/19
My process for our current project 'Multiples' began by sourcing materials, which as shown above included me visiting the dump, searching my cupboards and visiting the supermarket. I think my choices Today I brought it some of the objects I had sourced, one being loads of shoe innards (found at the dump), teabags (as I thought they could be manipulated in a very interesting way), and lastly flowers with interesting stalks and petals.
The session began with the VAK quiz, I scored the most 'C's' within the quiz which means I learn through being tactile and physically being in contact with the topic.
We did a variety of observational drawings focusing on pattern, texture and shape. I really enjoyed this process of unpicking the materials through drawing and I was happy with my outcomes. I felt I experimented with techniques such as using multiple pens at once, using tape, and exploring the use of colour/thickness of my mark making, I would like to explore inventive techniques further through secondary research from artists such as 'PAUL JACKSON' as I don't want my approach to become too repetitive.
I began by exploring the teabag as it was the most interesting shape/ textural object I had, I soon realised the teabag lacked slightly which is when I went out to the supermarket to buy some flowers, (Intended on doing so In the morning but ran out of time). I skinned a flowers stem as I thought the pattern work was really visually aesthetic, through drawing techniques and placing the petals together I soon realised tis was a medium that excited me and that I want to take further by manipulating throughout the week.
My initial thoughts of manipulating are:
-Stitching/embroidery between/on petals, (bit boring but could be effective).
- Covering petals with resin/ hardening them for different reasons, the glossy ones could reflect those with life, and the withered ones could be the transformation. Looking at CYCLES.
- Dying petals or using their natural colouring to dye other things/ looking at smells too.
Some of the ways I connected my materials:
LILIES COATED IN PVA THEN RESIN- Overtime the lilies did start to discolour, however the shape did not wither. Initially I was counting on the various colours amongst the lilies to be the exciting element of the samples, but now I think their shapes working together could be the focal point.
After this weeks sessions I concluded some of my materials couldn't be pushed enough, for example, the petals/stems. Only being able to preserve natural objects is quite limiting so I feel I need to go for a more simplistic, smaller and cheaper choice. Patricia made a good point whereby it's very difficult to take away the conventional aesthetic of a flower or stem, so when trying to reinvent them there could be issues as an audience would immediately guess the material used.
I took a trip to POUNDLAND, and picked up a large amount of EARPLUGS in bright orange. I felt their shape and texture could be interesting to mould, sew into, and burn - hence why I bought a significant amount.
22/11/2019
Today In the morning I looked over my resin lily pods and started creating some patterns out of them which I wanted to then collage to see where it could take me. In amongst this pattern making I envisioned them within latex, as I felt the shapes/colour could look really interesting within something rubbery. I coated some simple patterns in latex as tasters- two different methods: layer of latex before the lily pods and no layer before. I then left these to dry and visited Tate Modern in the afternoon to hopefully gain some inspiration from artists and their methods.
I began to explore ways of arranging the lily stamen in small samples; after seeing how they look in their individual samples I thought it would be interesting to at some point merge the small patterns into a larger more complex one. To do so, I need to find a medium which will submerge and hold the lilies in place: either latex or resin.
LILIES WITH LATEX
PROCESS:
LEFT: Lilies first, no layer of latex before .
MIDDLE: One layer of latex before so the lilies sunk in slightly.
RIGHT: Two layers of latex before so the lilies were firmly stuck initially.
23/11/2019
I decided to play around with the scale of these tests, I think the larger ones work really well as they begin to allow the ear plugs conventional function to be taken out of context.
25/11/19
Today we were allocated various tasks to explore different textiles techniques, I chose the weaving choice as I wanted to develop my pen led weave from yesterday. The technique we were exposed to was very simple and unique, using chair/table legs as the frame for the loom. I was happy with my sample, however did feel that my one completed on a wooden loom was more intricate so therefore more successful.
After completing my two weaves and really coming to terms the flexibility of pen led, I decided there was not really much more I could do with it so felt using another material may be more conceptually and visually exciting. The research behind ball point pens was dull compared to my other materials so using them seems like the best option.
(INSERT PIC OF CHAIR LOOM)
QUICK VISUALISATION
26/11/2019
I then began to really focus on the history behind my materials and seeing how they could link in some ways, I really liked my earplug samples and the way they looked quite graphical so I wanted to see if I could find any links to this.
I came across some really interesting research into the historical relevance of earplugs within WW2. Auditory issues were extremely common within wars due to the effect gun shots had on veterans, earplugs have been vital part to the development into keeping veterans healthy and safe throughout their hardship. I analysed some text from both these articles:
https://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.2024272
https://www.nap.edu/read/11443/chapter/2
which emphasise both statistics and relevant context regarding the effects of gun shots on soldiers.
(MORE DETAILED RESEARCH ON OTHER PAGE)
25/11/19
From finding out the extent to which so many suffered I delved deeper into the topic and looked at graphs which present statistics focusing on the ways in which hearing can be affected by sounds within war, and focusing on the types of people it effects worse.
When doing so, I figured the linear structure of these graphs could be really interesting as a pattern, or in collage. If I merged a vast amount of these I could come up with my own pattern which could be further used in my samples.
26/11/19
TRIALLING THE COMBINATION OF TEABAGS AND EAR PLUGS
As I found a conceptual link which I think works really well I started making some physical trials/samples of how I could link teabags and earplugs together to show the PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL comforts of the war.
Primary images taken at the dump on the weekend as I was keen to use recycled materials/objects due to the outcry for sustainable living within society at the moment. I was searching for repetition within the surroundings and repetition within the skips made my similar materials.
I really feel like this repeated structure of mattresses looks like slices of bread sagging on top of each other, I think re constructing this image with bread could be a very interesting sculpture that I may look at over christmas.
The stack of mattresses really reminded me of slices of bread: ANTONY GORMLEY'S 'BED' sculpture at Tate Britain is something which I could imagine when drawing comparisons between the photo and my vision.
19/11/19
Today the focused shifted quite drastically towards making/combining/ and generally really analysing our materials. I brought in the flowers/stems, the shoe horns, some forks, and some teabags. As we started making I soon realised that my materials were quite limiting and that they weren't malleable enough to work with each other or on their own, Patricia made a good point by saying that if the materials were interesting to work with then the making would come naturally.
19/11/19
Despite this, I completed some of the tasks but knew that in my mind I would go out tomorrow to get some new objects and repeat this day. In amongst these tasks, I did discover a part to the flower which was significantly more interesting than the petals/stem. By discovering the lily pollen, I realised that petals are visually quite uninteresting, and that I think I should opt for something more unique and exciting.
21/11/2019
Today we focused on drawing excersises in the morning which I really enjoy as a class as I’m introduced into new ways of expressing actions and experiences through mark making. After this, I focused on coating my lily pods in PVA as I plan to resin them later in order for them to preserve, they did start to darken however the shape was retained.
After researching into the lily pods I figured they’re actually quite an important element to the environment due to sourcing bees food. I think the fact humans cut them off as soon as they place their lilies in their home just to retain aesthetic solidifies humans selfish and ignorant nature when it comes to small things which can help the environment. I wanted to see if there was a way I could preserve the lilies- in resin/latex or just plain PVA glue.
When I got home I did some trialling with all of my materials, looking at the lily pods in resin, the teabags stuffed to make contrasting shapes and adding the ear plugs to them to create more depth. I think the testing was successful, I pushed my materials which gave me a clearer insight into where they could develop too.
In terms of concept, I think there are some clear directions for the lily pods but I’m a little stuck with the teabags/earplugs. I will go to the library tomorrow to do some research into the materials and how their qualities may link together.
TATE MODERN
The materials and objects room at the Tate was the most applicable to my work and really gave me ideas of what I could achieve as an end result. The artwork that I have found has been most successful in this area of ‘multiples’ is the ones that are simple but effective. Not over complicated, this is why I’m leaning more towards the earplugs potentially intertwined with teabags.
Keith Sonnier and El Anatsui were the artists that inspired me most, the idea of adding pigment to latex was something I really want to try, or generally using latex for a function that does not adhere to its normal use could be interesting to experiment with alongside my materials.
At the library in the afternoon my aim was to delve deeper into my materials that I’m exploring, looking at this history, qualities and potentially artists who use them. Generally trying to formulate concepts for each that I may want to explore.
(The research into each is in my research section). I found some really interesting history about my materials, particularly earplugs - their role has changed drastically over the years, changing from a necessity to a comfort choice in the modern era. I would like to delve deeper into the use of earplugs in the war and how not using them effected to many, maybe looking into data and statistics across maps etc. And seeing how I could represent this through shape, texture and size of the earplugs.
23/11/201
Today I focused on trialling, and experimenting with my materials as I still feel unsure of which I want to focus on.
I looked at the earplugs and discovered a simple effective way of connecting them through clear acetate and hot glue. I wanted to trial them being placed together in various patterns to see if it was effective before exploring the map idea. I looked at different ways I could create pattern, so my samples differ in terms of shape and progression of height
⁃ by doing this I realised that using different heights of the earplugs to potentially mirror data could be really interesting and visually successful.
PROCESS:
-Play around with pattern work, looking at combinations that are effective
-Draw the outline
-Trace with acetate
-Glue individual ear plug pieces on the acetate in the desired pattern
Things to develop within the week:
After looking at my latex and doing some sketches of how I think these samples could develop I decided to coat some more lily pods in resin so I have to ability to explore this idea further despite the process being quite time consuming. I want to explore my vision of combining small samples together in latex during the week.
The ball point pens were something I felt I left behind a bit over the weekend due to the research being a little more interesting within the other materials. Despite this I do feel the led part of the pen is really interesting due to its ability to be bent/twisted so I thought I could intertwine them within some weaving.
24/11/2019
I wanted to push the idea of weaving pen led today as I felt its malleable and slim finish could be interesting intertwined with wool and other materials. As well as using the structure of the pen led I also wanted to transfer some of the ink onto material in various ways, e.g. splatting, dripping, and weave that too in order to heighten the pen focus within the weave.
25/11/2019
I then decided to shift my focus on creating some more lily stamen patterns in latex, but this time slightly bigger than my initial experiments. I decided that the initial experiment which consisted of two layers to begin with turned out the best so I embodied this in these samples.
I began to visualise where these samples could be applied to in terms of fashion, interior, sculpture etc. I did a visualisation of the samples in a patchwork format in a cami top, I may develop this idea over christmas as I think a garment could be really interesting. However, Victoria did make an interesting observation on these swatches - she thought that they seemed like something which should be achieved as an end product, not as the beginning to experimenting. I also believe that I could've experimented with the use of pollen as dye, or cutting up the lily stamens. Because of this I concluded the lily stamens may be something I come back to either in another project or at christmas due to the vast amount of difficult experimentation that needs to be done. They are quite a fiddly material - hence why I think they could work well for another project - maybe on sustainability or focusing on the natural world?
COLLAGING AND DERIVING PATTERN
26/11/2019
As earplugs played such a prominent role in WW2 I decided to look into how teabags were such a vital part to soldiers lives.
(RESEARCH ON OTHER PAGE).
I began to draw links between the two - the main being their source of comfort to veterans in a time which was physically and emotionally draining.
EARPLUGS= Physical comfort
TEA= Emotional comfort
I did the same process with tea in terms of finding graphical displays which emphasised peoples general love for tea and how tea drinking massively increased in the 1940's during the war.