Locating- Urban Outfitters

After doing some quick initial drawings and sketches from images of melting ice caps, a pattern was soon emerging within my drawings, the repeating of shapes. I followed this theme through and decided to make the shapes 7 sided in reference to the world population standing at 7 billion currently. The more I sampled the more graphic the samples were becoming less organic and more graphic. I preferred this style as I felt that it would suit the look of the shop more as well as being a different way to work but still keeping the idea of working with wood and thread the same.

Initially I wanted to try and change the colour palette and experiment more with colour, however I found myself reverting back to similar colours that I used for the Geoffrey Manton commission. Although this was not intentional I have been drawn back to the striking difference being the blue and the splash of orange and pink. If I had more time, I would try and develop my colour palette and develop further interesting and contrasting combinations of colour.

Furthermore If I had more time and was not as restricted on space, I would like to develop these ideas further and really experiment with the scale and colour as well as making the components more 3 dimensional by adding extra layers. I have enjoyed working in a more graphic and pattern based way and I think that this is something that I will take through to the next project. I will also explore the further possibilities of mixing organic styles and linear designs together.

Locating- Work Experience

Over the Christmas holidays and up until the beginning of February I was working in the pop up Anthropologie concession in the Trafford Centre. I loved working here and it give me an insight into working within retail. From working here it has made me want to try out working in other creative retail roles, such as visual merchandising or window dressing. I particular enjoyed having the oppurtunity to re-merchandise the concession when needed and show off the products to the full potential. I also think that working here reinforced how striking colour can be, working within such a colourful environment reminded just how much I enjoy being surrounded by colour and I think this has come through in this project.  I am currently in the process of trying to gain some further work experience within this field in the near future.

Locating- Urban Outfitters Commision

For the second project within the Locating unit, I have decided to do the Urban Outfitters commission  We have been asked to created a wall based piece for the area outside the women's changing rooms in their shop on Market Street in Manchester.  Urban Outfitters is an American lifestyle brand aimed at the 16-30 year old market, with a large emphasis on creativity as well as delivering a compelling and distinct experience within the shop for the customer. I wanted to create a wall based piece that reflected this and would be in keeping with the style of the shop. 

I am going to take my sampling and ideas from the Geoffrey Manton project and push these further playing with scale, shape and colour to produce a new style of design, whilst still working with wood and thread. 

The wall outside of the ladies

The shop has a contemporary and graphic feel in regards to the design of the shop. 

Locating- Lasercutting Ply Wood

After my initial wood samples in MDF, I decided to cut similar shapes in ply wood as it is a far more environmentally friendly material. The detail of the grain of the wood complements the organic outline of the components and the lighter shade of the wood enables more colours and threads to used alongside the ply wood. I also added small holes to be able to sew into and add embellishment to the surface.

Once the pieces of ply wood were cut I experimented with different methods of protecting the wood and giving the wood a more finished and professional look. I applied varying amount of layers of a clear sating vanish, which enhances the colour and brings out the grain line of the wood further. I also tested out samples with beeswax which was not as successful  when applied to the surface it became slightly greasy and rough. with my samples from now on I will apply a few layers of varnish to protect the wood.

Below are my samples once they have been stitch into with varying threads. I like how the embellishment on the edges softens the feel of the wood as well as giving the wood a interesting texture and surface.  I also painted the wood with watered down acrylic which changes the look of the wood completely and takes away the grain and detail of the wood. I am not sure which one I prefer, but will experiment with different methods of displaying the components and see which layout works best.

Locating- Displaying My Work

Although I initially anticipated my piece to be a hanging installation, after a discussion in a tutorial it became apparent that perhaps this was not the most suitable method of displaying my work. From my drawings and sampling there was nothing that was indicating at the piece being a hung piece of work. I decided that perhaps the most suitable method would be to install the piece as a wall based installation, in which there are many possibilities for it to be hung in the building.  Furthermore, I have also moved on from the idea of taking the thread off the surface. Although this was originally an idea, my sampling has proved more successful where I have used a surface that is not always associated with embroidery, such as paper, wood and plastic. I have enjoyed experimenting with these materials and there is a strong connection with the hard and the soft.
Below is a visualisation of how I originally envisaged the piece to look when hung in the atrium. 

Locating- Coralie Bonnet

I have been looking at artists who combine textiles and wood and I discovered the work of Coralie Bonnet. She stitches into a variety of surfaces including ceramic and wood using a range of stitches. I like how she transforms a flat surface into something that is far more textural and tactile. I also like the repetition used as it brings the piece together.

 

Locating- Lasercutting

From my drawings the edges were standing out to me and it was suggested to me in a tutorial that I  lasercut my designs onto a surface. After working out how to transfer my design onto Illustrator and then Corel Draw I cut the designs into wood, acrylic and  fabric. The acrylic and fabric designs were not as succesful, the cotton fabric did not give enough definition of the outer edge and appeared like a camouflage design. The acrylic was more successful but still did not achieve the look I was after, it was too clean and flat. However the wood was more successful,  I particular liked the burnt effect produced on the edge, which starts to give the impression of a softer finish to the edges as seen in my drawings. I also like the weight and the thickness as it was light enough to be able to hang well. I used MDF as it was the cheapest wood based material to sample with, but I would like to experiment with Ply wood as this is more environmentally friendly as well as having a interesting grain to it. I would also like to add colour to my samples, either in the form of staining the wood or adding embellishment to the surface. By layering the components more depth and interest is created as well as starting to resemble contours of a map.

I started to wrap pieces in thread, I would like to take this idea further of mixing the soft and the hard and adding to the surface. This idea responds to the Geoffrey Manton brief and the ideas I'm following in that I'm impacting on the surface through my actions, just as we as humans are impacting on the earth through our own control and action.  

After lasercutting the wood, I decided to sample with some acrylic and I thought that a combination of the hard and soft materials could work well. However I did not like the results that came out. The acrylic look too clean cut and there was so hint of softening at the edges as on the wood with the slight burn. It would need a very strong and striking backdrop to sit against too when hung, which is not provided in Gerofrey Manton in terms of pattern or colour.  I also cut some samples in felt, but the felt was not thick enough and therefore the components were not as sturdy. The line in the felt was also not as defined as the acrylic or the wood and this is an element that I am keen to maintain for the final piece. 

Locating- Drawings

My samples were not going the way I hoped so I decided to do some more research into the devastating effect the planet is currently suffering. The population currently stands at 7 billion and this has grown at a staggeringly fast paced over the past 40 years. In 1960 the population stood at just 3 billion and currently 82 million babies are born every year. As a result of this rapid population growth the planet and its natural environment are suffering. Oil spills are happening more frequently and affecting the surrounding coastline and sea life. In 2010 there was a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that caused great controversy as it was thought that the actual effects were covered up by the oil companies and the press.

I went back to Daniel Beltras images of humans effect on the planet to do some more drawings. Here are the results, I particular like the edges of the drawings, the layering of the lines and the dark colours mixed with a splash of orange/yellow. 

Locating- Taking the thread off the surface

I have started to experiment with the idea of taking the thread off the surface. Inspired by Christo and Jean Claude’s work involving wrapping, I have wrapped a variety of wires and wooden poles as a basis for the work. Although I like the effect on a small scale, I think that when put in the large open space of Geoffrey Manton it would become lost as it is too thin and delicate. 

 The wrapped wooden sticks are too straight and allow no flexibilty or movement.

By wrapping aluminium more flexibility is created, but still the wire is too thin for the building

I created a grid using pins to wrap thread around, but the pins were too delicate with the design being too structured and the thread easily became loose