Weaving

My 2nd technical block was Weaving. I have been exposed to weaving before and I own a mini hand weaving loom which I actually have never used and several weave designers' books. I began this technical block feeling optimistic it seemed very therapeutic methodological.

We started by creating a wind of our 2 chosen base colours, derived from our research from rough guide.

3 days into Weaving I still hadn't begun to make an actual weave! The process threading and setting up your loom took forever. The steps were pretty straight forward, but you had to concentrate constantly or you'd mess up the pattern-it's all very specific. We were in partners so I'd imagine it would be a lot worse doing it alone.

We got given weave pattern sheets with 20 basic examples of the kind of patterns we could use, then we got experimenting. I followed the pattens with ease but the repetitive steps had me "zoning out" and I didn't feel completely engaged in what I was actually doing. Once I began experimenting with colour and exploring the effect colours have on one another I became more absorbed in creating my samples.

Below are my weave samples

This is my particular favourite sample, I love how the use of 2 threads at once completely alter the pattern and allow me to essentially create 2 separate patterns and colour combinations in one go. I tried to contrast the autumn tones found in my box clever with the greens captured from the surfaces of plants in Kew Gardens.

After my 2 weeks of experience I have come to the conclusion that weaving isn't for me. The various patterns and colours can create stunning pieces if given enough time but I feel that the process is too mundane.

Drawing Week 2

Above is an updated version of my Box Clever box

On the first day we were asked to draw our objects with colour, creating colour palettes and using colour as a way to communicate the texture of our objects alongside the colours.

The last day we were asked to bring in a roll of plain wallpaper and black drawing materials. We were then told to pick an object from our box and were given a certain amount of time to draw as much of it as possible starting from a small scale to a large scale. The final image was just focussing on one aspect of the object which we had 5 minutes.

We were then asked to get into partners and attach our pens using string and draw a portrait of our partner whilst the pens were joined. This resulted in a fairly unorthodox portrait.

Knitting

During our first year we have 4 technical blocks to complete before deciding our specialism.

1. Knit
2. Weave
3. Print
4. Stitch

These are my final samples created during my 2 weeks of knit.

I really enjoyed using the knitting machine. I could definitely see myself specialising in knit.

Drawing Week 1

A few weeks ago we had a drawing week, every day we were using different drawing techniques to draw certain objects from our Box Clever boxes.

The First day was all about the different techniques and how the way you hold or the movement you make determines the outcome of your drawings. We first had to draw just the outline of all the objects in our box.

Then we were told to draw in response to key words such as wet, smoky, dotty etc. I used one of the leaves from my box as I thought the silhouette would be a good way to show the different techniques.

The next day was focussing on Winding and Wapping. Winding is essentially winding different materials around an object to create a pattern of vertical stripes. Wapping is the same but with horizontal stripes. This is a common technique used by textile designers as it is a quick and easy way to determine how certain colours work alongside each other and if a particular pattern/design is feasible.

I used a colour palette from the items from my Box, which was Autumnal themed.

I found this technique really relaxing and enjoyed playing around with different colours and materials and finding out how different colours interact with one another.

The third day was focussed on details, we had 15 minutes to draw one of our objects in as much detail as possible. Then were told to hide the object and the image and draw it from memory.

 This is the first image

The image from memory

I'm very impressed with my memory skills.

The Last day we were concentrating on mark making, we had to isolate parts of our objects and just draw the details we see, picking up any patterns and markings. These are a couple of my swatches.

I really enjoyed the drawing week and I definitely feel a lot more confident in my drawing ability then I used too.

Comparing the National Army Museum and Imperial War Museum

As you enter the Holocaust exhibition in the Imperial War Museum you are greeted by a video depicting Jewish people reminiscing about what life was like before the Nazi’s. As you go through the rooms you are following a specific timeline of events which culminate in the mass murder in the concentration camps and the defeat of Hitler and the Nazis. It feels as though you are being told a story and the way the exhibition is displayed it has an impact, there isn't too much information and it’s in a wide range of media such as videos, posters and artefacts  I think the Museum is portraying Jews as “the ultimate victim.”

In Contrast, when you enter the World War I & World War II exhibition in the National Army Museum the layout has a less personal atmosphere, there doesn't seem to be a flow in the information given which makes it harder to decipher the story it is trying to tell. When walking through the exhibition you feel almost overwhelmed with the amount of information on offer, there doesn't seem to be a single angle or vested interest imposed on you.  However, it has a more interactive approach as they have remodelled many scenes from battle incorporating sound effects and realistic dummies.

Overall, I feel I engaged more with the Imperial War Museum. The general layout and display felt more personal and although there was less information you still got a wider picture of what happened as if you were being told the story first hand and thus evoking more emotion. However, although the exhibitions had a brief crossover through WWII and Germany I feel I can’t fully evaluate them against each other as they are predominantly for different purposes and are presenting different histories.

The Pathology of Collecting- Newborn baby Dolls.

This video depicts a woman who is obsessed with creating the most lifelike newborn baby dolls. She will easily spend 15 hours every day making and caring for these dolls. I find it really fascinating the way she can actually create something that looks so real, in the video it says that most doll makers take weeks to create lifelike effects such a drool but she can bake and finish a doll in a day. I believe this shows supreme creativity.

However, this compulsion to create the most lifelike newborn baby dolls which on the surface seems very strange but harmless underlies an almost psychopathic god complex; she wants to effectively create life. This is particularly unnerving. Baudrillard states that collecting can bring about a reactive satisfaction that is every bit as intense as sexual satisfaction.  “In which the object in question should undoubtedly be seen as a loved one... the passion for an object leads to its being construed as god’s special handiwork”. In this case, rather than god’s handiwork, it is her handiwork, which reaffirms my point that she is subconsciously trying to play god and gets an almost innate pure satisfaction from each newborn she creates.

Mining the British Museum

Masquerade Room as part of the Sainsburies African Galleries

The British Museum is organised by a series of galleries each containing artefacts from a certain culture, the separate rooms in these galleries are then used to group together similar objects from either the same region or time. This is how the curator tries to represent every culture, although every culture is analysed by an outsider. Therefore it can be argued that it isn’t an accurate representation of these cultures as the curators ideas are projected onto us through the displays.

The Masquerade Room tries to create a narrative of culture, they have a general synopsis of the tradition of Masquerade opposite a huge display cabinet filled with various masks that are used in traditional ceremonies across Africa. The masks are divided into 4 categories;

1. What is a Mask- A general introduction into the different kinds of masks and their purposes
2. Wild Beasts- Masks emulating wild animals, as a way for the wearer to channel their spirits
3.  Female Masks- Females aren’t generally allowed in Masquerade, therefore men wear female masks to portray women in the ceremonies.
4. The Dead- Masks used to channel spirits of the dead, or help relatives into the next life.

I think the room tries to tell a story, about the different masquerade traditions throughout Africa. However I feel that they leave out some key points in the labelling cards e.g. if a particular colour means certain individuals are more powerful. The more extravagant the mask = the more power the individuals or the village has? The Voice of the story is the Curator instead of a primary source, they choose which masks are on show and what labels each mask is given and by doing so project their own views and insights into the tradition on us. 

Rough Guide: Surfaces in Kensington

On our first week of term we were given a project where we were to create a rough guide to london. We got split up into 5 groups and were sent to location either;

• Shoreditch
• Brixton
• Kensington
• Soho
• Southbank

My area was Kensington.

Out of the 5 options, Kensington is the place I have the least interest in and know the least about. As an area it's pretty predictable, clean white/pastel houses which manicured lawns and designer clad inhabitants. I decided to focus on parts that they can't gloss over which are typical parts of London; decay and destruction from everyday use, I focussed on interesting colours and textures in Bricks from the houses as well as chipped paint and cracked or stained tarmac on the floor. I took over 100 pictures, here are some of my favourites.

I like the blue stain contradicting with the shrivelled petal. I think it shows a scruffy side of Kensington that would usually be swept under a coat of white paint or tiles or something. It also looks like a mistake an art student would make whilst documenting the area.

I particularly like the vibrancy of this image, this was taking along Portobello road, which is arguably the most interesting part of the area. I like how the crack creates such a strong contrast to the shocking red paint.

I arranged the images as thumbnails and places them in my sketchbook as colour swatches, using colour classification system. The sketches were done using Conte chalks.