Found Objects Brief

Last week I was given a new brief that focused on found objects. I was asked to go out and collect a range of materials to work with. These materials had to be discovered, I went around pound shops, skips, garages and streets to find my objects. I then had to create 3 mixed scale boards, using my objects and materials in unusual ways. I attatched them in a number of differnt ways. Tacking, clipping, pegging, glueing, stapleing, hanging. The artists that I am look at for inspiration are Rauschenberg, Tracy Krumm and El Anatsui. These are some examples of my boards in progress.

Now that I have completed the 3D boards, I have started to work from them and create 2D pieces. I have experimented with photocopying the boards, photographing the boards and drawing from the boards. Here are some of the photos I have taken and edited.

Cloth and Culture Exhibition

A few weeks ago i went to the Cloth and Culture exhibition at the Whitworth Art gallery. The exhibition includes work by textile artists from all over the world, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania and the UK. The aim of the work is to examine textiles as both a global language and as a medium that can express a local and regional identity. The work combines both traditional and more contemporary technical techniques. Tapestry, Knitting, and Embroidery is combined with Digital print, Photography and Fibre Optics.

The exhibition shows a wide range of materials, from more traditional fibres to Bamboo, Lead, paper, rusted metal and bin bags.

I found the exhibition quite exciting because i thought it was a really interesting idea to combine both traditional and contemporary techniques and materials, to create the pieces. These are some of my favourite pieces from the exhibition.

Tal Rosner

Last week I went to a lecture by Graphic artist Tal Rosner. He is a BAFTA winning Filmmaker who studied Graphics and received an MA from Central Saint Martins. He has produced a number of commissioned pieces including a visual exploration of Stravinsky and Debussy's two-piano music.

In 2008 he won a BAFTA for Best Title Sequence for his work on Channel 4's series Skins. Along with being nominated, in 2007, for a Royal Television Society Award.

One piece by Tal that really stood out to me was a piece called Doppelganger. This was the first film that he showed, and I found it really interesting. It was filmed whilst sat on a train, and it explores the process of personalising public spaces by de- and re- construction using different design/editing techniques. He introduced techno backing music to the film which gave it a modern and funky feel. The music that he used and how the shots were juxtapositioned within the film was really good.

His work is very much about special effects, and he taught himself how to use special effects software, as he knew he would get great benefit from this, which is very much apparent in the film Doppelganger.

Before going to this lecture I had never heard of Tal Rosner but unknowingly I had seen his work on the Channel 4's series Skins. Even though Film making is not my pathway I found this lecture very inspiring.

Print Tank Designs and Feedback

Following on from my previous post, I have now completed my ten designs for Print Tank. The theme that I chose to use was Psychedelic. I used mainly the screen printing technique to create my designs and then embellished them with beads and diamantes. Also I used the heat press on a few of my designs. I really liked this process as it gave really bold colours, and it will be a technique that I will definitely be using in the future. I did find the screen printing technique a bit challenging at first and I did have a few issues with marks and stains on my prints. As I practised however I learnt how to prevent marks being made, and I feel that I have learnt a lot about the process and how it works.

These are some of my final designs that I presented to print Tank.





Feedback
Once I had completed all of my designs I had to present all of them to Sian Evans from Print Tank, and my tutor Esther Freeman. The presentations took place at the Manchester Whitworth art gallery. I had 15 minutes to present all of my designs and talk about my inspirations which were

• David David design company
  

• Matthew Williamson


• The Lake District


• Camden Market


• Les Ballets Trockadero

I also had to mention my chosen market that my designs were made for which was young girls with a quirky and quite eccentric style.

Sian and Esther gave me both positive feedback on my designs and also how I could improve them. These were the main points that were mentioned,

• My colour blending techniques work well for the chosen group


• My layering approach is a good idea


• The construction of the designs works well, layers and combination of colours adds to the collection


• The backgrounds are successful - try to push this approach


• The use of space is good


• Where there are fine details using stitch works very well - push this further

Ways Forward

• Push the combination of hand techniques and screens to create your own style, continue to use textured backgrounds as a starting point

I found all the advice that Sian and Esther gave me very useful and I agreed with everything they said. It will definitely help me in future projects.

Camden Market

When I was in London I spent a whole day at Camden Market. This was the first time I had ever been there and I found it so inspirational and I've never visited anywhere like it before.

Some of the people that were there were just so unique and quirky. I definitely want to visit some of the other famous markets in London and I will most certainly be returning to Camden in the near future. These are some of the images that I have gathered that I am going to use for inspiration and also that I am going to keep to remember how much of a good time I had when I was there.

Print Tank

Whilst I was in London I also visited the fashion design studio Print Tank. Rose Barber and Sian Evans are two of the designers from the company and they have been working together for 4 years. Companies that they sell to include Miss Selfridge, Oasis, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, DKNY and Missoni. The company travels all over the work with trade shows including Indigo in Paris, New York and Japan.
I am currently in the middle of a fashion design brief for this company. I have been asked to create a collection of 10 designs based around the theme geometrics, flora and forna. The design company have given me four different themes to choose from,

• Smokey and neon
• Psychedelic
• Textured and Adorned
• Shibori and Tie Dye

I have chosen to go with the Psychedelic theme as I think this best suits my style. Once I have completed my collection I will have to present my designs to Sian Evans, one of the designers from Print Tank. This will be good experience for me and it will give me practice in how to present my own work.

Also whilst I was at the studio, I got a lot of information about how the company started and what backgrounds the designers came from before working together. I also got a chance to look and to feel some of the designs that they create and they were absolutely amazing. This now gives me an idea of the standard that I have to work towards with my collection.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Last week I visited London with my degree class. One of the highlights of the trip was going to see Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo. It was on at Sadlers Wells Peacock Theatre in the centre of London.

I really enjoyed going to see this as it had a comical twist. It was an all male ballet show and it included acts from Swan lake, Pas De Deux, La Trovatiara and Majisimas. All the dancers in the ballet were males and their outfits and make up were just fantastic. They were absolutely amazing dancers and I could tell that it must have taken a lot of hard work and effort to train their bodies.

To me the outfits and the colours worked really well with each other. Also the music and the way the dancers moved so elegantly was really inspirational to me.

There was one part in the show which really stood out to me and that I will never forget. It was of the dying swan in Swan Lake. The swan gracefully moved from one side of the stage to the other and at the same time feathers were just falling to the ground. The lighting and the way that the feathers were falling to the floor was just amazing to watch.

Matthew Williamson 10 years in Fashion

Last weekend I visited the Matthew Williamson exhibition at the Urbis in Manchester. The exhibition looks at the process and use of pattern, print and colour which Matthew Williamson is famous for. I chose to visit this exhibition because I absolutely love his work and I wanted to gather as much inspiration as I could for my fashion print brief. His psychedelic approach is very similar to my style , also his use of colour and print really inspires me.

These are examples of some of the prints that he used in his collections.

Visit to London

Next Tuesday I am travelling to London with my degree class to visit Print Tank studios. I am currently researching towards a brief to design a range of fashion prints based around the themes Flora, Fauna, Geometric, Stain and Erode. The brief has been given to us by print tank studio and we are travelling down there to take a look at the studio and to ask them questions about their work.

Whilst in London I am going to visit the Tate modern and also to watch Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo at the Peacock theatre. Also whilst I am down there I will hope to visit some of the famous markets, where I can gather inspiration and influences for my designs.

Jeanette Appleton Sow:Sew Exhibition

I recently visited the Jeanette Appleton exhibition, SOW:SEW, at the Farfield Mill Arts and Heritage Centre in the Lake District.

The exhibition explores mark making and the relationship of making by hand and machine. It features over twenty pieces of work in felt and in paper. I really enjoyed looking at her work because I found it quite inspirational at the time, towards some research that I was doing on floral, forna, marking, staining and eroding.