Category: Part five-Synthesis

Refinement and further developments following final feedback ex 3.3 – bicycle chain

In ex 3.3 I came up the the idea of using crochet which is essentially a chain stitch into a bicycle chain. I’ve used the chain here with tea, to rust stain the shape of the hills I see from my garden. While reviewing my work for assessment, I felt that I would like to take this further as I hadn’t time to develop it while refining work at exercise 5.

This found object has layers of meaning for me. The impact of bicycle tracks eroding the landscape (a bike path runs across this hill), the chains of the industrial past in the area, many metaphors like chained down, chained to the past etc.

I used the rust drawing as a rough guide and crochet chains of varying lengths to make the bike chain drape in a hill top route. The wire it hangs off is a little soft but the flexibility aided the process. I’m really excited by the form of this, it’s as if the sky is holding up the hills! Many of my photos for the gathered drawing exercise focussed on edges and this fractal is patern can be found from skyline and cloud shapes to the edges of lichen or water fall ripples.

Refinement and further developments following final feedback – ex 5.1

This piece didn’t stand the test of time, the fabric pods had held really sharp forms that got a bit bashed in the post and gently relaxed over time. I cut them away from the base form , you can see that the sub frame for the pods is quite corset like and it hadn’t given a strong enough support. I replaced it with covered wire that actually gives more of a rib cage. The pods didn’t hang well so I experimented with little strips of weathered cloth, like you see hanging on trees near natural springs, representative of lost souls , t

I quite like this effect but experimented further by stitching some of the pods in different ways to make them hold the shape more, I felt that the seed pod / fortune cookie held more of the idea of the lyrics from crow on the cradle of ‘somebody’s baby is not coming back’ . Tying one of the pods inside the cage like rib structure felt intrinsically right. I think that a little pool of the dishevelled pods in a pool underneath the hanging form like dropped leaves could be quite powerful.

Refinement and further developments following final feedback – ex 1.2

It’s obvious that having to work so quickly through the assignments that some areas would be rushed so I knew that I would be wanting to revisit some projects when preparing for final assessment.

I started by reviewing the complete course and rereading all my assignment feedbacks.

I had considered that I would go back and ‘patch things up’ however looking at my work as a whole I realised that this seemed like hoop jumping, so what I chose to develop some of my pieces further, to build on my learning rather than going backwards.

This exercise from assignment one based on place. I mapped a journey walking from my home up into the hills. The twig that I found mirrored the shape of the route and is wrapped with the colours of my observations from the brown brick houses, Tudor black and white buildings then past the green valley through the rocks following a narrowing path to the waterfall. The journey from modern society , moving back in time.

My thoughts on the organdie fabric was to portrait the growing feeling of lightness as I rose in elevation and left the depression of the modern world behind. I saw the square sections as a disassembled map – moving from ordered grid to volcanically up heaved hills. From feedback at the textiles Meetup in Bristol and from my tutor this was quite tenuous and difficult to read.

The map under the twig shows my route with a cross at the start and end.

The fabric has a black cross at the starting point in the moody dark fabric and a white cross to represent the lighter, relaxed joy of being in the wildness on the white top square, this has been distressed to represent the dissolving of my worries. The map squares are stitched with ordinance survey orange and have been cut and stitched just off square to emulate the uneven ground. It’s convenient but very non representative to draw a rigid grid over a rolling landscape.

Assessment 5 feedback

Summary of tutorial discussion

Demonstration of technical and visual skills, quality of outcome, demonstration of creativity –

You have a very interesting body if work here Linda. Well done for this, you have been focused in your approach and yet produced some exciting experimental pieces. 

You have analysed your previous assignments and considered a new idea to move your sampling forward. The ideas are held together by music ( something you found hard to respond to in an earlier assignment) and some of your samples reflect your responses to the track. 

Your large fabric rust piece is very interesting, the scale is exciting and the way you have drawn with found objects , leaving a ghost of an image.

Please consider how you show your samples for assessment. We discussed labels or small tags to identify the sample or to explain how the sample should be viewed. 

Consider why you have left some sample with threads, ribbon, cord unfinished and hanging. Please explain your reasons or rectify this. 

You have documented your sampling well with drawings, rubbing, collages. Make sure that these observations are helpful for you. Please consider how you can use them to move your ideas forward rather than them being a “tick box” exercise. Are they helping you to understand the scale/ composition/ texture of the sample …… Can you do more to trail out your ideas before going into 3d.

I feel there is a part of the assignment missing where you are developing your trials working towards your final piece/ trial. We discussed doing more work on the fabric pieces on the iron work. Can you try different shapes, colours, materials….. Could they be attached in different ways. Should they be white against the hard metal? Could you use a distressed fabric or do you prefer the sharp clean white ?  If so why……. They feel a little too decorative for me , maybe a little too unconsidered and controlled in application? What if each link of the chain had a module/ shape how could each one be attached thoughtfully? These are just ideas and questions it is for you to really work this out, you have time for this and you might come up with a better result, or maybe not …. But it would be interesting to see your journey.

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis – 

You are reflecting on your work much better well done. Do still keep asking questions though (I have suggest some above)

Please add a link to the music track if you have not already done.

Add an image of the crochet chain.

Decide how we should view the orange ties on the wire, maybe suggest this in a photograph with the piece.

You have explained your work well in 5.2

Rejig the part where you are responding to the criteria, things could be placed under better headings. 

I have really enjoyed working with you. All the best for your assessment.

 

Tutor name

Jenny Udale

Date

24 august 2019

Next assignment due

 

Assignment 5 final reflection projects 5 and 6

Part Five of the course gives you the opportunity to review all your work from the previous four parts and to produce in response a new portfolio of textile samples together with a written statement. Together, these will represent the summation and refinement of your study so far.

The body of work you produce in this part of the course should:

  • articulate your growing awareness of the areas of textile practice that you feel are your strengths and have potential for further development

I’m confident that my work in project 5 has built on my strengths. It was really valuable to look at my work as a whole, interesting that it hung together well as a body of work, however it was very evident to me that the strongest area of my work is responding to and experimenting with materials to create 3D forms. I think my enjoyment of the investigative process give this work a freshness and feeling of playfulness.

  • identify how you’ll tackle any weaknesses

I’m comfortable that I have developed a much stronger process in developing my work and although it looks to me to follow a very clear development process , I could be more detailed and eloquent in my self critique. This is something that has been clarified in this module that I can act on in subsequent projects. Planning written work will help with the overwhelming feeling of having to say so much and feeling the need to write everything at once. I need more clarity in my written responses.

  • evidence a growing ability to articulate in writing the concerns of your work and the areas of research and practice you wish to pursue at your next level of study
  • demonstrate your growing understanding of how critical reflection supports making as part of the creative process.

…perfectly illustrated here – I seem to have addressed part of this response as part of the previous response… At my next level of study I am keen to develop further the exploration of context, I have a need to work in a logical fashion , making decisions based on clear reasoning. I initially found the process of responding to different themes such as music, words quite restrictive and it stopped me thinking creatively. Having reflected on the results I now understand how starting points can inform my creative process.

    • We want you to go for quality over quantity in your final portfolio submission, i.e. toproduce a succinct body of work that evidences and clearly articulates your learning.

It was only after experiencing all the assignments that any of them fell into place. Reflecting wholistically I can see how patterns and connections started forming in my brain and when working on project 5 these threads wove together into a very coherent piece.

Tales from the landscape. This is how I now understand the work of Polly bins, Barbara Hepworth, et al. Informed by the place they have chosen in the world, landscape as muse?

Work based on a poem or song lyrics in ass2 had me completely floored, however a particular refrain ‘said the crow on the cradle’ added context to the found rusted military buckle. My response, was to the found object, and the landscape – I could not have taken the refrain and decided to find those objects to work with.(this would seem more like shopping than making art)

The completed piece may not induce an observer to think ‘crow on a cradle’ yet it was an inherent part of the journey.

Does it answer what is being asked of you? Crow was a clear development of earlier samples. Also a culmination of the other sample developments in project 5 that worked to lead me into the development process. Although visually different the orange murmuration/wing was of the landscape – I’d quite like to do some drawing with it – perhaps using black ink on huge paper to create abstract flight images. The rust drawings also led me towards flight and all pieces alluded to tension in someway, physically within the shapes but also the tension in the balance of human v nature.

Demonstration of technical and visual skills: Materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills.

I have demonstrated a range of visual skills, a range of drawings in different media, good understanding and use of colour, clear photography , interesting collage techniques.

Quality of outcome: Content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts and communication of ideas.

I feel that I’ve really started to understand my own creative process and towards the end of this course was able to apply new ideas to the development of an interesting body of work that clearly built on the learning of earlier tasks. My realisation of ideas is stronger than my communication of the underlying thought processes.

Demonstration of creativity: Imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice.

I have taken risks with materials enabling the production of an interesting body of work. I took on board the production of quality rather than quantity allowing time for reflection of specific details .

Context: Reflection, research and critical thinking.

I feel that actually my critical thinking skills are growing stronger, ability to analyse, and synthesis of information is clear in the way my work is developing. Communicating this less so. It was interesting been directed to use mind maps, this suits my way of thinking perfectly, it is a struggle to transcribe this wider thinking into a linear form.

Review and refine – ex5.2 written statement

500 words About my work

My body of work for ass5 shows the story of of the piece I find myself calling ‘crow’.

Looking back, I visualise the process as a gathering of metaphorical threads, strands of ideas woven into a solid object. I have previously been very material led. In response to an exercise I will select materials from my collection and go on a gathering mission to reclaim and reuse materials from my local environment. In this case the gathering seemed complete and the reassembling of concepts played through my mind like the solving of an equation. I am as a detective solving the mystery of my mind. Like grasping for words , only visually.

Linda Baker

‘Crow’ 2019 – iron, cotton, linen

This work is a response to ‘Crow in the cradle’ a folk song that can be traced back to the 16thCentury, that has been rewritten and performed across the years as the message questions the tipping point between personal liberty and what government might dictate as being for the common good. Pertinent. I hadn’t found myself able in a previous task to interpret the words as images, never one to give up my subconscious has been processing it and combined with elements learned from subsequent tasks, the idea came to fruition.

The iron skeleton had a military function.Discarded, it has rusted and would eventually return to earth. The flaccid strap brittle and worn hangs in a slight curve, showing slightly less tension than the heavy chain that has been drawn in slightly to form a waist.

The textile element of vintage cotton, a functional stiffener for lighter fabrics is folded ,creased and stitched with linen thread into elements that could be translated as feathers, seed pods or souls, or represent people or creatures, are different in scale but have the same form. Hanging collectively.

Crow is of the hills of my home yet reflective of the wider world. It is strongly of this place in time and yet unequivocally has come from the past.

Review and refine ex5.1 – further development

Using examples from my samples in ass3 was an interesting and really useful exercise in developing new iterations of a concept. I had gathered a number of rusted artefacts and became quite intrigued by a particular piece.

I picked it up fascinated, hefted the weight of it and enjoyed the jangle, I then discovered that it is probably a military strap for holding a gun shell and was repulsed. A challenging object, clearly full of story, it sang a refrain from an ear worm that keeps returning – The Crow on the Cradle A version by Karine Polwart, a sad lament that can be traced to the 16th century.

The song questions the balance between personal liberty and what the Government might dictate as being for the common good – ultimately the people that must decide what is true, fair and right. First voiced four hundred years ago – and so it goes on today.

I had tried to work with it in ass2 but really struggled with the amount of imagery. Perhaps I could use music as an inspiration?

I took some time to investigate the artefact with drawings and photos.

A detailed drawing made me really observe the construction, a frottage was more a representation of the history and texture.

Using rust to draw the artefact I got a little carried away with objects and a bird appeared, Phoenix rising?the crow on the cradle?

When rust dying previously I have wrapped object quite tightly to get good contact with the fabric. The mossy lawn has a lot of spring so I layed down the much washed sheet and placed objects on the surface. I then used a ladle to add a vinegar solution for a few hours, followed by strong tea, left overnight for the dew and a rainfall gave marks time to develop.

Fascinatingly I observed texture that seems to be from the individual grass blades.

It feels macabre, but then guns are a dark subject matter. It is totally out of my comfort zone working with this subject matter but it feels compelling to follow it through.

taking photos of the object it was immediately evident that hanging would be obvious to use the tension in the chains and to control the form, slumped could be interesting however in ass 4 I observed a new awareness of hoe a piece of work can be viewed and for this exercise hanging seems right.

adding a rib cage ?

make love not war!

it was difficult not to anthromorphisize the object, however I was keen not to make this too obvious.

I also spent some time combining the artefact with various combinations of elements from earlier samples through photos and drawings.

The final iteration was a result of then experimenting with size and layers of the little – pods/shrouds . I needed to remove a restring a couple of times, adding a structure of tape to hang the pods and also hanging them in groups rather than singly helped to create fullness at the top and a taper towards the bottom, as did stitching pods of a range of sizes.During my development work they resonated most and came to represent the thousands of souls affected by war. Empty shells, missed opportunities, unpatched dreams… I think that the simplicity of the forms enables a wider interpretation by a viewer, it is a little shrine like , a piece for reflection.

It could be named Crow on the cradle. An abstract reference to the song that I found so difficult to represent in ass 2.

Review and refine – ex5.1 samples

further exploring the properties and qualities of binding twine and wire, inspired by observing knotted twine on a fence mesh I manipulated a fringe of twine, it has the feel of a starling murmeration , birds in flight, movement of wings.

Some interesting images, dynamic and fluid. Similar to the issue with the woven spring that I chose to refine in ass4 , this piece is very flexible so difficult to ensure a defined form and placement of strands. This is an interesting observation, not previously considered befor the placement exercise in ass4.

It will be interesting to observe the fluidity of artworks and how the issue is dealt with in future exhibition visits.

The woven cylindrical form naturally sits flat, To refine I approached with an intent to make a stable 3d structure.

The mesh can easily be twisted into a tetrahedron, however more difficult to line up the mesh to create a grid that lines up.

I think that the mesh may be created as a spiral rather than a grid. I stitched it in place with orange telephone wire that may be removed later.

I needed to unwavering the tape a couple of times before I was happy with the effect

Although I achieved the objective of creating a stable shape, I am less interested with the result than the original weave.the patterning happened naturally in the first sampl, in the new iteration I had to fight it into shape and it looks clumsy, this could perhaps be developed further with more of the mesh to play with. I believe that it is from rolls of carpet. It could be interesting to cut. Sections to rejoin into different structural forms.

I have been interested in edges, I revisited a book called nature n design by Alan powers whilst investigating the Fibonacci spiral , I gather ‘found drawings of edges’ in ass 1

I laid some calico on the ground, doused in a vinegar solution and drew the hills on the horizon using the bicycle chain as a drawing tool, the iron in the chain transferred to the cloth.

Using crochet I intended to investigate tension , one of the points I found particularly interesting in ass4.

I have crocheted a chain of white tape into the bike chain, it feels like a really interesting juxtaposition of materials. Industrial v craft, hard v soft. I started with four chain stitches between links, then swapped to three, interestingly the three chain created enough tension to start curving the chain. Soft resilient material affecting the hard strong steel. I started to work crochet chains to suspend the bicycle chain in the form of the rust drawing – needs some more thought into the technical aspect of this.

Project 8 – review and refine ex5.1 – Review

I laid out work in two parts in the garden on a huge linen sheet.

Flat artwork – mostly in sketch books so I spent a good a of time reviewing and then laid out a selection to consider further.

Although I have come to embrace drawing more as an idea generator and development tool it was immediately obvious that The 3D works proved more of a focus for refinement.

I could see a range of options for groupings

Circular forms

Linear forms

Warm colours

Cool colours

Neutral colours

Found materials

I can also group according to the themes I have been investigating- inspired by Place, identity, music, writing, personal experience.

The final edit of my review of the body of work, combining an evaluation of what I found most interesting with my refined piece for ass4 and a selection of pieces from my body of work that I feel we’re most interesting and are cohesive as a collection.