Sunday 11 April 2010

THE AWAKENED MIND


'.......Zen Masters teach that to realize the emptiness and interconnectedness of all things, not just with the mind but with one's whole being, is to achieve enlightenment......................'      

'In Zen, enlightenment, or profound inner peace, is not understood as something that we have to work hard to attain. Rather, it is seen as the true character of the awakened mind that is already fully present in each of us.'

'Zen' Selections by Miriam Levering. Duncan Baird Publishers, London. 2000

Tuesday 6 April 2010

DISK HANGING RESEARCH

I love the geometry of the back of the tanker. Somehow it connects with my extensive study of 'Zen' and Eastern philosophy. Japanese design, simplicity, space, balance of the asymetric, the journey - where we stay still and the world moves around us. I decided to research the creation of large disk hangings, so similar to the backs of tankers.

Firstly, I contacted a boron drum maker called Danny McCormack in County Cork, Ireland. He was very helpful suggesting that I use thin beech ply, in two or three laminates. He suggested creating a disk template out of chipboard or similar, bending the thin ply around this, glueing each layer, at a different fixing place to give the disk strength and stability. He imagined that the disk size I wanted, i.e. 5 ft. or 6 ft. diameter would need cross struts for hanging and support.

In my studio, Mel made a disk template and I helped him hold, glue and clamp the ply, the disks being 5 inches deep.

Firstly, he created the disk, glueing blocks to make an upright to keep the ply vertical. He then clamped the first piece of ply to the blocks.

Large clamps were used to hold the ply in place round the template.


Layers of ply were glued together and held in place with tiny clamps at regular intervals. The disk would be in three pieces to allow transportation. The lengths of ply were staggered, creating a slot at one end and a 'tongue' at the other for joining. One of the problems was that he used my ancient pva which meant the laminates came apart. Such a shame because of all of the suggestions I have had since, these disks are the most professional.

These two disks will be for wall pieces.

I liked the idea of displaying five or six disk hangings, 5 ft diameter to represent the length of a tanker. (I would have liked a tanker body to hang them in and have just discovered today that panel beater, John, who repaired my car, has just scrapped one. Arrhh!) Researching the creation of free hanging disks which will be seen from both sides has been a nightmare.

Alkathine drainage pipe was suggested. It could be easily joined by inserts of smaller pipe. It twists and will not hang square.

Round metal pipe comes in various thicknesses. Again, it is unstable at that size. Also, it would have to be bent around a template and thus would not be absolutely round.

Also there is copper piping. Bending this is a problem. It needs a spring insert to stop it collapsing.

My favourite is mild steel bar, which I would like to rust and then seal. These would be very heavy and may 'droop' I am told. That wouldn't worry me and I love the idea that these would be made on rollers in the same way as a tanker is made. My worry would be that a child may walk into one or knocked they may spin. It would need two hanging points.

There is square box section. This would be difficult to turn.
a) A piece of aluminium which I put through the rollers.
b) A length of mild steel which I bent in the rollers at college.
c) Metal tube sample.
FIXING THE SILK TO THE DISK.
My main problem for these disks is that they will have to be transportable, which means that they will have to be in sections. Two sections would be sufficient. This means that the fabric will need to be removable. My original wish was they they would be 8 ft. diameter but I realised that, for my show, they will have to be smaller. Silk is 54 inches wide, 4 ft. 6 inches, therefore anything over that size would have a join.
Fixing has been a nightmare, screwing, glueing, etc. The only two I like are, a piece of elastic threaded through the seam and stretched over. (Only suitable for wall pieces) and tiny clamps - similar to hair grips I suppose.
After spending so much time on disk technology, I am finding that I actually love my fabric to drape and flow and am considering hangings, which will allow me to do what I do best, fabric design and it will give me much more freedom with the drape of the fabric.
My research will not be wasted but I must now create the designs for my show.

Sunday 4 April 2010

"THE JOY OF MAKING"


‘Hobby versus Professional, - The Joy of Making’.

It was fortuitous that on Tuesday 23rd March, we had a workshop with Emma Shercliffe. Emma is currently doing a Ph.D in which she is researching “What it means to make today. The Experience of a Maker in the Making”. She also teaches.
Her passion for the tactile qualities of textiles enhanced her sensitivity to the quality of the cloth, the touch and feel of the textures. She also learnt the art of calligraphy which, she felt, related to stitch.
After working with a bespoke tailor and finding it restrictive, she did a degree in Fashion and Textiles in Paris.
Later, she worked selecting the fabric trends for Premier Vision which required a deep understanding of colour, cloth and its qualities.
Realising that her roots were in patchwork and embroidery, she embarked on a mission to discover what had driven her passion, her pleasure in the instinctive and intuitive joys of making.
She worked with various groups, the women of a fishing village who made fishing nets, extending their repertoire into craft pieces and noting that when they worked, they had little connection with outside influences but worked simply to enjoy the pleasure of making, relaxed in the laughter and conversation of the group
At another workshop, she provided strips of fabric which she encouraged the group to write their wishes on and hang the pieces on a ‘Wishing Tree’. Later, the pieces were stitched together as a ‘quilt’.
Working with various Craft Study Groups, she ascertained that their satisfaction came from a multi-sensory experience of the making along with the interaction enjoyed with the rest of the group.

WHY DO WE DESIGN?
This brings us to the question, who are we? Why do we design? Is it just for our own pleasure, i.e. a hobby or is making part of our professional practice, part of producing work for others to enjoy, be it wearable, art for art’s sake, furnishing, etc. items to be sold. Does quality matter? To me quality is everything.

By the very nature of what we do, many of us work in isolation thus missing the interaction with others. In my research, I have found that whilst many artists or designers would enjoy company, they must work alone, as I must.

I had not been enjoying my process of creation on my M.A. feeling so stressed about the whole thing that I just couldn’t function. The previous Saturday, I had decided to go to a mosaic workshop. I left my sketchbook with drawings at home and when I arrived, began to draw sketches for my ‘piece’. I suddenly threw it aside. I wanted no structure, no restriction in my first mosaic.
My utter joy in plunging my hands into drawers of coloured ceramics, boxes of bright tiles, beads etc. selecting my colours to work with, was childlike, eyes wide in wonder. Armed with my clippers, I chopped my brilliant blue tile into tiny fragments, then my scarlet tile, the black, white cut into strips and then the turquoise to be added wherever it felt right. Then, like a child, my fingers sticky with pva, I stuck my pieces down on a ply board, working totally from my intuition. The top brilliant blue area which cascaded down the right side, was to me, healing energy. Dotted with blue glass beads, I began to insert tiny chips of scarlet for physical energy and love. In the centre I created my tree of life, a candle like structure in black and white. Surrounding this with white chips interspersed with turquoise for spiritual energy, I was happy. Each student was immersed in their own piece, but we chatted and laughed together. They were obviously delighted with the results too
Then came the sand, cement and pva mix to rub gently into the crevices – and voila, a mosaic, my first – a joy to behold and the pleasure in the making will stay with the piece.

My love is for printed textiles so why am I not enjoying the challenge? Why did I enjoy the mosaic day so much? There was something childlike in the creation, a huge element of ‘play’ and no pressure to create something of any standard. It was free, joyous, wonderful dotted with fun conversation. I released considerable stress that day.

Does anxiety show in our finished professional work? How important is shared knowledge? Emma also suggests that we must 'do' in order to 'invent' (i.e. the M.A.) We must sample, sample, sample and explore our way of working to achieve the best results.

I have enjoyed my tanker project so much and want my final show to reflect that pleasure, to reflect the extensive research I have put into the 'journey' of the tanker, the drivers, the contents. Much of my stress is in the technical difficulty of making huge disk hangings and in the creation of the disks. How do I attach the fabric to the disks? Should I give up and just do hangings? Some of my pieces are hangings anyway, my proposal at the beginning of my course being to create and explore the creation of large art pieces so I am on target. I am working in flat pattern, on disks where the contents are poured from the centre. For this, I am researching the molecules of the contents to create a flat pattern which trails to the floor.

What is the journey of digital printing? Is there a pleasure in creating, using such a technical process? Of course there is. There is a huge army of textile designers whose pleasure is in creating some sort of digital image which will be transferred to cloth. It would be difficult to create the multi coloured prints with a screen.

I am intending to create my designs by using both traditional screen printing and digital print together. Some disks will represent the tanker body, a row of six but I am worried about these and may revert to the original idea of doing hangings.

However, during a tutorial last week with Gary Alson, he suggested using metal for my disks and I am attempting to source the metal the tanker is made from to create them. i.e. mild steel (I love the rust), or stainless steel (may be too costly for my meagre budget.) Ultimately, it may come down to cost. But these will be heavy too. I am excited that these will be made in the same way as the tanker, on three large rollers which will bend the metal bar into a disk.

So, it’s back to the stress and the determination to solve the problems and create a meaningful show.