Recycling Workshop

As part of the induction week, we had the opportunity to split off into difference specialised areas such as photography, fine art, sculpture/3D and textiles too do a recycling workshop. I chose textiles as this is where I felt most comfortable. The task was too group together and make a garment or accessory using only scrap materials. This was a experimental task and it tested our team work skills and bravery as along the way we were bound to come across problems that needed solving. We all thought of ideas along the way an as a team decided how we wanted the garment to look. The components of the first design we made were a plain fabric as the base, wrapped around the body of the mannequin, then to give shape and contour, we added black elastic, this also broke up the white and gave a geometric style. We focused on adding yellow net like felt, we tried this in a number of ways such as draped over the top so it hung like a poncho, and also we tried scrunching it onto the shoulders to create a pad like effect. Once we had experimented all outcomes we decided to dismantle what we had done and start a new challenge.

Corporation Park

The whole FAD group visited Corporation park in Blackburn. In the park we split off into small groups too work collaboratively on a rolled out sheet of wallpaper. The purpose was to do some observant drawings using marker pens in a style that suited us best. Due to everyone’s style being different, the challenge was to make the piece flow so any gaps had to filled in. The location was visually interesting, however it was cold and uncomfortable to work, but with this in mind we still worked well in a new environment. My section was poorly done and I feel a lot of improvement could be made. I could start by assessing my chosen spot in more detail and thinking what marks would work best, instead I delve straight in and put pen to paper without much thought. Also drawing  with a composition in mind would help to bring my piece together. I also feel that our piece as a group would of been more successful if we had worked on a small section together and worked along the piece rather than there being a divide and them looking completely different. This would have also helped the weaker drawers not feel so open to criticism. 
The next step from the park was too bring the pieces back to college and pin them up along side each other on the wall. The reason for this was so we could analyse the outcome and chose elements to isolate and talk about the potential. 

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

The purpose of the visit to The Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery was for us to identify pieces of work within there that we found interesting/appealing in some way.

Pieces below by Elkington & Co

A Victorian style of decorative art produced around 1870.
A technique named ‘electroplating’ was used to create these collection of pieces. The process is when a thin coating of metal is applied to a object, back in the 1840’s when this first came about it was a innovative rare process which was sought for by the rich.

I was attracted to these pieces due to the decorative style. The use of elephants and the jungle would have been a rare sight back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. I like the idea that the inspiration would of come from travelling and exploring to bring back something new and out of the ordinary.

‘The end of the butterfly chase’ – 1912

By E.A.Hornel

This painting is beautiful. The use of texture attracted me, the use of fat brush strokes with thick layers of paint is used so well. The flowers all around the girls look delicate and real to touch as the paint brings depth. I feel the painting makes me feel happy, as I could imagine the girls running around the landscape chasing this butterfly, and they are being so gentle with it.  I also find that the colour pallet works well as it is so girly and calming.

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Scratch Film

For our very first project, the whole FAD group was too collaborate together to create a scratch film. The inspirations we had for this was Len Lye and the creator of ‘Moth Light’ Stan Brakhage (artist research in contextual studies). Both of these artists were pioneers for direct animation and revolutionised motion pictures.
Scratch film is a cameraless technique of making a motion picture. We each worked on 16mm film with a 5 second running time, this equates too around 125 sections, divided by the tiny perforations.

We were limited to using permanent marker pens too work onto the film with as any other media would have rubbed off on to the projector. The activity was simply mark making in a way where we felt the outcome onto the film would look successful.

The starting point – blank 16mm film with perforated holes which divide the squares.

The media – permanent marker pens. Limited due to other media being easily rubbed off by the projector and as the film could of got caught and go off course.

 

 The process –  When I watched the Len Lye film I was fascinated by how each section was fast paced. I had the idea of creating the effect of growth and mutation as when watching the film made by Lye, that’s what I thought of some of the clips. I wanted to use a bright colour that would stand out in the film, so I chose pink, this reminded me of cells in the human body as their purpose is to grow and develop. To do this I blotted my marker in small dots working their way into larger blobs using the same colour. I did this from both ends and worked my way into the middle so that it showed the blob growing larger and then shrinking again. My design was abstract as there are no intricate marks.

The film was the first time I had collaborated with such an array of different people who come from different backgrounds within art. It was a successful project and the film turned out great. We watched the finished piece twice, the first in silence and the second time with added music. On the first occasion the projector was loud and it felt mechanical, it gave away the media and took away the magic. When the music was added it appeared to give the film energy and fluidity. There was a real rhythm which I felt more wowed by, some parts where more successful than others as they fit so well into the beats, but this was too chance as it depended where the music started. Together, the music and film paired well to give a purpose and made me feel more emotions.

Here is the finished film: 

Too progress my mark makings from the film, I could take them into Photoshop to edit and manipulate them further. I feel that the designs might suit an interior market and could be used for wall canvases or soft furnishings as they have a contempory style. Some skills I could add into the designs would be embroidery to give texture and possibly screen printing for depth.