Contextual review

Roxana Andronache

I think overall the projects we have been working on in part 1 have shaped my view of who I am and gave me a different perspective on who I could become as an individual and as an artist. Researching different artists and their practice for each project has helped me gain a broader understanding of the world around me and  possibilities to develop my work further for each project. 

In part 1 I have explored a range of styles and experimented with materials and trying to develop skills like draping on the stand, drawing and research development. Because I come from a b-tec course I was being taught to work in a completely different way and so I wanted to be able to develop my ideas visually in my sketchbook to carry out my research and to show the progression of my ideas clearly. What I have learned in part one from each project was that I had to look at my work from new prospectives and to reflect on what specifically made me carry on with research down new paths in my project. In part two I have started with an open mind to develop my research more personal and to use my skills that I have devoted in part 1 like reflective drawing and writing to break down each idea and to take it to the next level. 

I think one of the most successful project in part  two is the one titled "Multiples". I wanted to challenge myself and so I chose a hard material to work with.I chose to work with  "stews" because they seem restrictive and limited in terms of doing things like bending, melting and breaking into pieces but I knew I had to work around it . This project was personal because it is about my father who used to be a real estate agent and now works in construction.  I wanted to combine these two jobs by using screws to represent construction and a suit to represent real estate. When developing my samples I have tried to find solutions like using string and glue to bring them together and then I started weaving and trying to work with scale. The next step was placing my samples on the body and trying to work with the idea of the suit. I think overall this project has been one of the most successful because I truly engaged with the material and have explored different skills and developed a better understanding of the world around me. 

Through the course I want to expand my research and keep an open mind. I have always been influenced by my family and my heritage. My grandmother (from my prospective) is an artist because she used to paint and weave rugs. Her rugs were very tactile and textural and full of color and her painting were expressive and experimental.  I love how inspired she is by the world around her and that made me want to be more diverse. I also have been inspired by Karl Heinz Weinberger who is a photographer from Switzerland who captures interesting garment details like usually jeans and denim jackets. He inspired me when I was doing my denim project because I started thinking about the small details like what kind of zipper should I use in my garment or what accessories to make to create a personality in my samples and design development. 

"Denim" was based on the 90s rock and roll and miners workwear and touch of 1910s western. The first idea I had was looking at the food I ate during the Christmas break as my primary research and then I started to look into the Lawrence textile strike where people were starving and in very poor conditions. But as the project progressed I found an artist called Andres Serrano who is a photographer that combines the sacred with the profane which made me think about the children that have not survived over the age of six due to the poor conditions. In my samples I wanted to explore the idea of the miners wiping their hands on the jeans, the stains from the rock powder to the blood stains etc. 

Jeans of the old West: A history Michael Allen Harris -denim project- Schiffer Publishing Ltd- 2016-10-28

Denim from cowboys to Catwalk- a visual history of the worlds most legendary fabric- Aurum Press Ltd- 2002-09-20

Lee friedlander artwork- menswear 03-Feb-2003

Roy strong- Feast (a history of grand eating)  2002

Worn 

Denim dudes-Street style- vintage workwear obsession- Amy Leverton-17 March 2015- 

A denim story-Emily Current, Merrit Elliott, Hilary Walsh 2014

Andres Serrano- early works 1984-1987, bodily fluids 1986-1990, the morgue 1992,  http://andresserrano.org

https://www.karlheinzweinberger.com rebels 3- Karlheinz Weinberger. Swiss Rebels
Steidl Verlag, 2017

https://www.spencertunick.com- NewcastleGateshead 5 (BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art) 2005

Ohio 4.1 (Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland) 2004

Ohio 3 (Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland) 2004

France 1 (Biennale de Lyon) 2005

https://www.sheilahicks.com

I then started to think about the key things that stood out to me when I went to Sheperd's bush like:

The community 

I love how the market brings people together and helps the community grow. It made me think about how food brings families/ people together 

and it made me think about the words:

unity, strength, love, human nature, progress, future, union, society, bunch 

 02/12/19

For this project, we all were given an area in London and I got Shepperd's bush. 

To be honest, when I got there nothing special stood out to me. But one of the ideas that I kept on thinking about was the community that makes this area and the people that make up the community. And so while I was walking around I started drawing people and I've soon discovered the diversity and how strong of a community this is. 

There were things like the market where everyone would come together from all the parts of the world and share a part of themselves with everyone which was special. 

But one thing that stood out to me more was the architectural sculptures around the area. Very victorian and delicate details on buildings and I started drawing them. Because I knew that we will work with lino printing I knew this will make such a nice print. 

I loved how busy the area was and all the things that were happening at the same time which made me thing rear Sheperd's bush is a very 

has a very interesting cultural background-

The shops inspired me to think that for this project I should use a lot of colors and textures I have found around to show how busy this area is. The supermarkets were also interesting because having llidl in this area said a lot about the kind of people that live there. I see llidl as a place where most middle eastern people shop (and so do I) and I have been observing the people in llidl and they have been surprisingly more polite and nice which made me completely change my ming about the kind of community I thought shopper's bush was all about. 

I had this interesting talk with this lady in the market and I have learned that from what she said is that shaperd's bush is a community interested in proving whats best for their families, she said that she works a lot to be able to pay the rent and provide for her son. 

After that I started thinking about how can I combine this sense of community with all the sculptural background around the area, and I thought drawing would be an interesting way of taking something 3d and turning it into a 2d idea that could then be translated again into 3d and how could that change my perspective on this area. 

The park was a good example of showing the sense of community but we have been told to only focus on manmade things ( no nature drawings) but then I found a really nice sculpture of an angel which made me question if maybe shepherd's bus has a more religious community and if so then what religions make up this community.

My next plan is to investigate how this area has changes over time and how the community has changed/

I want to look at more relief sculptors/ artists. 

Part 2

on the body

The last thing I wanted to do is to take my final samples and place them on the body to experiment to see how I can make up a garment out of them or what role they could they could play in that garment.

I then started looking at my samples as maybe a collar or a sleeve, or maybe it is a print. 

I then started drawing into them and extracting interesting shapes and drawing them out. 

I worked again on my final textile designs.

I wanted to use the sawing machine to stitch the yarn together to create a really interesting textured sample. I wanted the yarn to be the same color so it will be subtle when you touch it to feel the texture and softness.  

I wanted to only see what happens is I only use the soft objects and see how that could change my perspective in any way. I found it difficult to hold when sewing into it because the yarn would come undone and it didn't have the same effect as I wanted it to have. 

I really liked the idea of combining soft with hard and so I started stitching the wooden object because I really liked the texture and the overall creamy color palette it'll create for this sample.

I also used the weaving machine in the stitch workshop. My goal for Thursday is to start putting my samples on the body and see where that could take my project to the next level. 

After I finished making the small samples I began to put them together in groups and see what it will look like, and if it could inspire me to make any more samples combining the soft and the hard and different techniques like folding, stitching, wrapping, etc. 

This is where I started combining more than one material in my samples like metal and yarn. I really like the soft and the hard combined together like the metal and the yarn and I want to them start playing with scale and maybe try to make lots of little samples like the ones below and then stitch them all together to create a bigger sample. I then wanna start drawing into them and collage them with research. 

My thinking process for this was that because I have chosen to work with a hard material to work with I had to them bring in other objects that would be easy to manipulate. And so I started combining the yarn with the metal to create a soft/hard contrast because it will best make the screws stand out. 

The challenging part is that I had to work around the object as I couldn't stitch or fold the screws. One thing I did is to use the yarn as a base to hold the nails together so then I can stitch into them to create more texture and depth to the object and the space around it.

I thought that trying to weave the screws would be an interesting way of "gluing" them together to make a stronger base. What then was hard was that the screws have these nails on them that are meant to cut through the wall and so whoever I tried to weave into them the yarn would get stuck but I have found a way that if you spin them around it'l stuck them into the weave. I really liked the combination of the metal and how you can see only bits and parts of it in the weave. 

Tuesday 

I then started combining the soft and the hard by using the yarn to make these loops and then wrap them around or glue them on the screws. I then started thinking about scale bause I felt like the samples I made until now are pretty much the same scale and so I wanted to introduce a bigger scarp metal plate. And so I glued the loops of yarn on the metal and I really like the idea of choosing what parts of the metal you show. I wanted my samples to be simple so you can understand whats going on even though I like to work with really busy materials and to create really crowded samples. 

The glue also added a really interesting texture and so want to work more with the clue and the screws or smaller pieces of metal to make like a little sample where I place the metal on the glue very neatly and then one that is very busy.

Paulina R.

She was a more textiles/fashion designer which I am as well

BA is more about the ideas and your approach- not about the skills necessarily 

and experimentation

define what success means to you

BA is to take what you want from it and develop it  

Set goals and stick to them

Chet- foundation-

sell yourself a lot

make friends with a lot of people to be able to collaborate. 

learn how to join the conversation and try to get your ideas across- be loud

Collaboration- working with someone to produce and create something

you will never do anything by yourself- to have people that can develop your ideas

communicate- strong communication skills 

make a mini version 

tell the story in your development work and you bring it to life- in sketchbook

problem-solving - 

sit with your partner and write your strength and weaknesses

pros and cons in collaboration?

-narrow down ideas

-hard to not be in control

-arguments - if lack of communication

- limitations in terms of developing your vision

pros 

- use visuals to communicate your ideas

- manipulate paper- keep producing, working, problem-solving, do, keep generating ideas cause eventually something will click

Does collaboration weaken your independent design aesthetic? -

Find out what you like- discover yourself- 

On Wednesday we stayed after contextual practice and we worked on our banner. We finished the design on Tuesday and here is a picture of it. 

We had problems sticking the fabric with glue web that we bought from the shop and so it took a while to glue everything down. We chose to use the sticky web because it will glue the fabric flat and neat. We discovered that the iron wasn't working properly which is why the eb wasn't sticking properly. 

Also we had to think about how we place the cut outs on the banner so it could be most effective. We thought off placing one of the scales outside down to show that the plate could symbolise the opportunities and because it is upside down the "opportunities" aren't applicable for some people because of their background ethnicity etc. 

Today we came up with the idea of the weighting scale/ balance and how it perfectly represents what we want to talk about which is a balance in the world and creating opportunities for everyone to have a voice and speak their mind.  All of us coming from different backgrounds and ethnicities, we have been brought up believing that we should follow our dreams but the history says we can't. and so we want to protest against the idea of not being able to follow your dreams because the society thinks its absurd or odd. 

The history of Romania shows how Romanian were very hopeful, dreamy and free but then because of the communism era the people were being contained and people were being thought to keep their moth shut and follow the leader instead of having the freedom to speak their mind.

We began to design what we would like the scale to look like and how it'll be best to play with the layout. 

my key strengths are:

I can weave, do embroidery, draw, ...

But I feel like I have, usually, the overall view on the projects in which I have to work in a team. And I am organized to make plans about the next steps of the project. 

-I believe that we have translated our ideas, including mine, successfully. And that is because we have designed a very simple but effective design of a scale that represents justice and balance.  We have inverted the scale and created a more abstract design symbolizing that if the plate is turned upside down shows how people have been born without rights and opportunities equal to the other people in contrast with the normal plate that shows how people are treated nicely etc. 

-We have decided that today we want to finish the design today (Monday). And create the A3 flat design on paper

On Tuesday we will try to cut the fabric and if we have enough time to decide how we're going to put the banner together and actually do that. Also, decide on the 3d design/ garment we're going to create. 

On Wednesday we have contextual practice, but we could do the photoshoot after or before. 

Have the banner ready for Thursday and make the garment. 

--- we need glue, ruler, fabric sizers,

Damian P.

On Monday Damian P came and talked to us about his practice. He also mentioned how much of an impact a simple design can do and so I want to create a simple logo that people can remember easily. 

We had to write a manifesto and I put mine on the research page on my manifesto page. IN our groups we discussed things we are most passionate about and things that we would like to be able to change in the world. We read each of our manifestos and we decided that we will combine all of them together and to write about equality and opportunity.

The most important issues for me are climate change and equality for everyone. As a Mormon, I have been brought up learning about how to treat people with respect and equally because I believe that God loves us equally no matter what gender we are, what mistakes we have made in the past, height, wealth, health, etc.

Climate change is also linked to how I believe that God has blessed us with such a wonderful place to live like this earth, that we have a responsibility to take care of it. 

I want people to feel inspired to make the right change to help our planet and to help one another, and unite. 

I think Socrates' and his partner's project was successful because looking through his sketchbook you could definitely see how clear his idea was and he developed it really well. I loved the idea of the modern take on the raincoat and the textiles were so interesting. As a group project, they were not as successful because from talking to them, they told me, Socrates did most of the work (kinda like with our project).

On Thursday we had our crit for the pairs project. 

Stitch, yarn, collaging are 3 techniques I have constantly been using in this project because I thought it was the best way to bring two things together. 

The stitch kinda represents the strong bond my partner have developed during the week and it creates a nice mark making design because when you saw into something it can hold very strongly. 

Collaging was a visual way of representing the two cultures and the similarities and differences. The layering effect was very interesting because I used it for example in my sketchbook where I have cut into my face and then layered Derin's face with mine to show that no matter the cultural background or the color of our skin we are all the same. 

When I was using the yarn I have discovered that I could use it as a bigger scale stitch because I wanted to experiment with scale and mark making and it helped me go on the more textural direction. 

I have decided for the final textile outcomes to combine the yarn and the collages to create a sense of 2d yet 3d affect. The Yan adds texture to the overall design. I have decided to use a picture of myself and then stitch into it because I intuitively think about texture when it comes to creating samples because its a way for me to communicate emotion and it is the best way to truly feel the sample instead of having a 2d sample where you can feel anything and by doing that it allowed you too see the sample with you fingertips by necessarily  having to look at it. Kinda like how blind people have this amazing skill of touch and how they see with their fingertips, and like that idea because Derin and I are kinda like blindly trying to work together when we know nothing about each other. 

I was trying to create an attitude for my samples in the sense that they are supposed to combine two different cultures.

I think this project was both challenging and fun. I like the idea of collaborating with someone but there will always be the challenge of someone not doing their work or not being able to agree on things. I feel like my partner and I got on well at first but then I felt like we separated a bit when it came to making the final outcome. Not to throw my partner under the bus but we had a lack of communication as I made my final outcome and the presentation...

I think, on my side, the project was 75percent successful. And that is because I wanted to work more in developing my ideas in more of a fashiony way. I wanted to work more on the body but then decided to do textiles because I thought the ideas were better presented into textiles samples ( which I guess could easily be then put on the body). Also, I think one thing I have to do more is draw and experiment with different ways of drawing.  

Not to throw my partner under the buss but what I have learned from collaborating with people is that sometimes we are not on the same wave lengths, she might see things from a different prospective than mine which is okay but we also had very different personalities when it comes to work. She kinda expected me by the end of the project to do everything, and I was left alone to make the samples and the presentation which I didn't like. And also I felt like I was always pushing her to do better and to communicate her ideas with me when she was kinda keeping thing to herself. I think to have a successful collaboration you have to be open 100 percent with each other and to really dig deep and see the common thing that could bring the two together.  

Today we discussed how we are going to merge our ideas together and so we thought to make textiles samples that we will then use to drape on a mannequin. 

The exhibition by Ellsworth kelly and Anish Kapoor was a starting pot for us along with other individual pieces from other exhibitions like Carlos Cruz-Diez "physichromine no 113 1963". What we took fro. that is the idea of experimenting with 3d shapes, scale, textures, color, and shadows. We then decided to think about a theme that will work with the exhibition and we decided to look at illusions and identity. 

We haven't yet thought everything through for Thursday because we wanted to experiment until the end so we can see which direction the project will take us.   

On Tuesday we talked a lot about how we can combine the ideas and developments and collages we made , together.

 I tried to draw and experiment more in my sketchbook so I can create ideas to then be able to make textiles samples by using embroidery, stitch, weave, etc. By the end of the day, I really liked one of the collages I did and tomorrow I will develop it further. I kinda moved away from the idea of my identity but then thought how can I combine the two and I began by taking pictures of my face and Derin's and then play with scale etc. I then started cutting out the faces to look like an interesting illusion of our faces combined together. 

I really like the idea of combining two completely different things and see how it could change the idea that I first started out with and thats when I started thinking about new way I could combine my identity with Derin's based on the idea that I believe that we are al equal in God's eyes. And so I started collaging things that best describe us like symbols and places from where we were born, 

On Monday we both were really open-minded which made working with Derin so much easier. We discovered that we are really similar and so communicating our ideas was really easy. On Monday we talked again about our theme and we tried to decide on one. We decided that religion and identity were the best ones. Starting out with our sketchbook was hard because we still didn't have a clear idea and when we had our tutorial we have been told to narrow down the ideas to something very specific. We have been told that when we are stuck we should just start drawing, collaging etc and so the plan for Monday is to do a lot of research and then collage, draw and use different mediums. I found ideas really easily after and it was easier for us to think about our final outcome, even tho I know we should keep on experimenting until the end. 

Things we have both in common: we are both religious, we both like funny videos, we both like the colour blue, we are very close to our parents.

1) Make a realistic list of what you aim to achieve by thursday AM in your pairs, mini timetable schedule. 

By Monday we should have a clear idea of what the theme is that we're going to work is. We should also do a lot of research and develop our sketchbooks. 

create 10 samples from which we will develop 5 final samples.

drape on the body and then photograph 

collage samples on the body

photoshoot if needed with the samples 

2) How are you going to merge your ideas together as a collaborative project? Rather than individual responses.

We have really different ways in which we work but I want to create the samples and then she can drape and collage with them on the body.

3) Is your exhibition/ artist who you used as a starting point in your sketchbook? It should be!

Yes it is. I have first started to collage the research from the excision in my sketchbook.  The work that I have decided to focus on more is Pierre and how he used surface and colour. I want to see how we can both take the research and translate our ideas in different ways and see how far we can take it. I will focus more on surface and the 3d samples when Dering will be focus on the fashion side, but then we will swap and I will do fashion and she will do the textiles and then at the end we will combine all of them together. 

4) How are you going to visually communicate your ideas. 

I want to experiment and see where I can take my ideas by collaging 

also I want to do observational drawing

I want to experiment with my collages and take then from 2d to 3d form 

Our aims and objects for this project are to explore the differences and similarities between my partner and I. I want this project to be a conversation between the two of us about who we are as individuals.  I want this conversation to be visual and tactile by using the 2d sculptural approach by Piero Manzoni. And I like how he used china clay on canvas and Mayne Derin and I could do that and play with colour and specific shades of colour that would communicate key ideas like our perspective on religion or our favourite colour, or where we were born and brought up. 

And so I though of things to ask Derin, 

What is your view on religion, what religion are you?

What is you favourite colour?

Who's your favourite artist?

Memories from your childhood 

What is you family like

I want to be able to create textile designs that best describe us.

We also saw an exhibition "a view from Zagreb; Op and kinetic art" which was based on illusions and perspective and how when you move around an object it changes the way you look at it. This along with achrome gave me the idea of using colour and surface like achrome to make a 3d sculpture that when you walk around it will show either things related to me or to derin.  We also want to experiment with scale, shape, textures, and color to show our identity.

Derin and I thought about the theme of the project and we narrowed it down to: 

 technology

nature

identity

religion 

Illusion

When we went to the exhibitions at Tate modern, what stook out to be was a piece by Piero Manzoni "Achrome 1958" because of the texture. I really loved how simple yet how complicated the piece was.

In my research I found out that he wanted to banish narrative content from painting and even colour. In 1957 he began to produce achromes, which he describes as a "single uninterrupted and continuous surface from which anything superfluous and all interpretative possabilities are excluded"

What he did is he started by soaking his canvases in kaolin, a soft china clay used in making porcelain. The kaolin eliminated the color to the point of his desired "nothingness". The weight of the material caused it to sag creating folds across the surface of the canvas. The folds created these really interesting textures which led me to think that we should experiment with that more and with surface and not so much with the obvious like colour. And what if we can create interesting surfaces that when the light hits the sample, then the shadow creates different shades of that colour. There was also this 2D piece where it had these cubes coming out of it and the shapes made me want to experiment with 3D shapes and then textures. We had a hard time deciding on a theme because we really liked the ideas we came up with but we knew we wanted to experiment with 3D samples and textures, scale and shapes. 

We also decided to work with the idea of a distorted identity because of a piece that we saw by Carlos Cruz-Diez " Physichromine No. 113 1963" because as you move from one side to the other the color changed. We really liked the idea of illusions and how that combined with religion and identity could be a really good theme. 

I think the plan is to:

1) have really good research on the theme we have decided to do the project about

2) more research on Rebecca Horn as an artist, practice etc.

3)Gerhard richter