FMP

FMP

Evaluation

22/06/16

Over the course of this unit, my field of interest has changed drastically through research and experimentation. The work that I have created at the end of this unit is completely different to what I was making at the beginning of it.

Originally, I was interested in fashion illustration, plants and fashion design, but through actually making these things and trying them out, I realised that it wasn't something I wanted to continue on experimenting with because I wasn't happy with the work I was making, and therefore wouldn't progress.

While continuing on with illustration from the previous unit, (Unit 86)  and from during the time that the Sewhat! fashion show was taking place, I realised that I wanted to try to make a garment for the show. This started when I was putting together old material around a mannequin, and when I was making my own outfit for the show.

The fashion illustration I did was simple, and was taken from images out of Vogue Magazines. I tried varying styles by looking at different artists, I also started experimenting with different media, such as water colours and inks

An aim for this project for me was to start using water colour more, so as to develop my control using it, so I tried really quick illustrations, using an artist on instagram called blairz as inspiration:

Blair Instagram

I also tried painting simple flowers in watercolour, which I found a lot easier to do than painting a profile.

I tried re-doing the first illustration but with less colour and with the pansy painting I done previously.

I also thought about textile printing, and started to look at how I could draw one thing (a bird) in different ways using watercolour

I tried looking at minimalist illustration, using another artist off of instagram called jessillustrator as inspiration:

jessillustrator Instagram

The design for Sewhat! was somewhat elaborate for the material that I had at hand, but I tried getting the basic shape using an old shower curtain.

The dress had a different neckline as I was making use of the small holes on the edge of the shower curtain. 

I only ever pinned the dress into place.

After this, I started looking more at different materials and how they would go together, and with small scraps came up with a basic design for another dress.

Originally, the dress was going to be short, much like a pinafore, however, I liked the idea of making the skirt longer, since it isn't common to see a long pinafore dress made out of denim. Only the skirt was to be made out of denim, while the top half was going to be made out of a plaid material that I had found, since it would be easier to work with and added a but of contrast. Adding this material in also made it into a dress rather than just a skirt.

I decided that because non of the material I was using had any stretch to it, that I would bring the 'sleeves' down to the top of the skirt at the bottom, but have them attached to the top of the plaid material so that it could be put of easily.

At the top of the skirt there would be a zip to make it easier to put on.

The only part of the dress that I had actually started putting together after pinning it was the shoulder straps, because at that point, I realised it was going to be a lot more difficult to make, considering that I had hardly any skill in using a sewing machine.

I did get a sewing machine and practice making small things, such as pockets and pleats, but at this point, my interest in making the dress was starting to waver.

Alongside of making the dress is when I was trying to grow plants that I would making into a short video that showed how they grew every day throughout the year. I had a lot of issues with the small seedlings wilting over the time that I wasn't at college (during the easter holidays) and after putting them outside, most of them died. Only now have they just started to grow again.

After this I didn't really have any idea of what to do, so it was suggested to all of us that we took two weeks to experiment with different things to expand on what we could possibly look further in to. During this period, I experimented more with flowers and material, as well as illustration, but I was pulled more towards paint, and back towards the work I had been doing for my metamorphosis unit earlier in the year (unit 82) 

The one illustration I had done was based off of a small sketch I had done at home.

I liked the style of the drawing I had done at home so I tried to draw something similar, which I then washed over with watered down in of different colours, and put a black outline around everything. I then started to fill in the gaps I had left (the hair) with small flowers that I had found around the building.

The idea behind this piece was to leave the flowers to slowly wilt, much like how Anya Galleccio did with her work, however I realised that I didn't really like the drawing after looking at it.

I started experimenting with paints at this point, and how I could apply different colours in different patters and layer them up. This work was based off of Jackson Pollock, who worked in similar way to how I was working.

I really liked what I was doing and the colours I was using, and started to apply them to many other things, in particular objects that I had found lying around, such as a miniature picnic table, and a pinecone. This is when I had started using found object but didn't think much about it, because I was more interested in the colour aspect.

I realised that if I were to continue doing this, I would get stuck again and wouldn't be able to progress with what I was doing, so I left this behind.

I was still looking at ways to apply paint when I started actually thinking about the objects I was applying the paint to, and started to develop my idea of using found objects more. While doing this, I also started to develop a new theme that I wanted to follow, and had the idea to somehow make a visual piece that showed the conflict between two countries, in particular, North Korea and South Korea, however I am glad I didn't continue with this idea.

 The idea was too ambiguous for me to come to a conclusion, so I left this idea behind as well, and focused more on the found objects aspect. 

From this I started developing another idea based off of the items hat I had collected over time, like train tickets, which I had been wanting to put into a piece for a long time, and pennies. I also started looking at more artists that used found items in their work.

Another theme I thought about was to develop colourful pieces using different cultures as a base, and by using the colour and found objects to convey the culture across, but I wasn't set on this theme.

That theme then developed into using the found items to represent experiences, in particular, my experience at college, or in education.

I started looking into more artists who used found objects and into depth for the artists I already had. 

I also thought about how the sculptures I made would interact with the environment they were put in.

Because I was thinking about how a sculpture would interact with the environment I put it in, I thought back to the flower bombs I had looked at when I was doing the Mock FMP, (unit 86) and how I could maybe incorporate some of the plants I had attempted to grow into it, but quickly passed the idea off.

At this point, I had collected a lot of random objects, ranging from small logs and plastic cups to table  frames and wheelbarrows, and started thinking about how I could effectively use each of them without wasting them, and how I could incorporate new objects into any planned sculptures I already had. 

During the time that I was thinking more into the theme I had decided on and how to develop it, I experimented a lot with plaster, mainly to make sculptures to see how they would look in the environment that I had chosen as my exhibition space, which was just behind the building. My experimentation mainly com sited of using plaster and mod rock during this time.

I had experimented with dying things, like corks and gloves, and so started to use them more

With the dyes, I also experimented with making 2D pieces using wet paper and pouring dyes on it to see how they would spread and what colours worked best together. This idea came from when I was during paint over a mod rock sculpture I had made.

I also experimented with putting the dyes into water.

Because of this experimentation with colour, I started looking at how I could make a sculpture with colours bright enough to stand out against the exhibition area. But I preferred the plain coloured plaster sculptures that I had been making.

The purpose of making these small plaster sculptures was to lead people around the back of the building towards the exhibition space, and by adding colour, they became less obvious.

I also thought about using old work that I had used for other projects, such as some wood that I had used during a unit (unit 45) to see how colours blended on different textures, and a sheet that I had used in a final piece for a different unit (unit 82)

My collection of found objects was going bigger and bigger and in particular, I wanted to use the rusty nails I had found, and some plastic sheeting that I found behind the back of college

Eventually, for the plastic sheeting, I covered them in different paints and was going to put them in a small area behind college

Because the plastic sheeting didn't properly fill the area I had put them in, and because I had decided to move my exhibition inside, I left them outside and started to focus on getting ready for the exhibition, however during the exhibition I was switching a lot of pieces and changing them for others, and I really wanted to use the table frame that I had found. After bringing that inside it was suggested to me to add a softer material to the sculpture, and I also didn't like how empty it looked, so I decided to use the plastic sheeting.

This piece became one of my final pieces, and even though it was something I put together last minute, I still feel as though it is one of the stronger pieces I have on display out of four pieces in total.

I was determined to use the wheelbarrow I had found behind the building nd already had a solid idea for what I wanted to do with it. I stuck to everything I wanted to do, only added an extra part (the chain) just before the plaster had set.

The last piece and wha6 I consider to be the weakest was in a different room against a piece of artwork the year 2's had done in preparation for something else, which I thought would be good to use as a backdrop to the piece I had created considering the colour of the sculpture.

I felt this scum;pure was weaker because rather than having the focus be the found object, I incorporated the found object into the sculpture. While I liked the piece at first, I liked it less and less after the exhibition started because the presentation and execution didn't seem as clean and professional as the other two pieces.

Because I really wanted to use the train tickets I had collected over time, I decided to put them onto string and hang them from the doorways of both exhibition spaces, so that they were in the way and so that people had to interact with them.

Because of the train tickets and the need to fill some space in the exhibition room, a sculpture I had made that had some train tickets in it also went into the exhibition to make it more coherent.

Finally, the last two pieces that I made that didn't go into the exhibition as planned were two laster sculptures I had made that incorporated the rusty nails I had wanted to.