FMP Week 5

Development

This week I had a one-to-one tutorial with my tutor. He looked through my book and said it was very important that I had some contextual references. I know that I am a theorist, so I had to make sure the first stage of my project was complete before I added the next stage. However, it was definitely time , sketch book wise, to start considering some contextual resources. I had already researched Rachel Whiteread and had been very influenced by her work. Therefore, I added some images  had collected from the library into my sketch book.

In addition to this, my tutor also suggested to me some collections to look at. This suggestion actually influenced my work very much so. He suggested to research Rei Kawakubo's Lumps and Bumps collection for Comme Des Garcons. This was so inspiring as her designs completely engulfed the negative space surrounding the garments.

He also told me to look at Galliano's 05/06 show for Dior where he very much concentrated on construction. This also was very interesting to me and made me plan my action for next week. Due to my research on Galliono's construction collection, I would sketch the details of clothes.

Retrospectivly, I can see how I was inspired by this as I am a theorist and prefer to be intellectually stretched within my work, therefore, considering the construction of the garment heaped push my project forward.

These idea's by my tutor were unexpected but proved very very helpful in terms of inspiration. I applied them to much of my stand work and referred back to them many times in my designs.

FMP Week 4

Development

As a theorist, I prefer to evaluate the soundness of my idea before sharing them. Therefore, I produced a critical study of a potential digital print and experimented with it before I produced some designs. I demonstrated this by exploring the size of my image and also by repetition. I enlarged and minimised the image to create different compositions. I felt that this was successful as when I cut them up it allowed me to imagine how the different pieces would look on the garment.
However, the element that I didn't find so successful to this investigation was the illustrations. Although they were experimental and informative about the potential print ideas, they were not very informative about the details of the garment e.g pockets and linings and fastenings. I feel I need to work on this element in my designs in order to communicate better.

FMP Week 3 Day 1

Development

Today I made a real effort to transfer my research into my designs. I feel that it was not entirely successful. I hate the third page of designs as they look like a 10 year old could have done them. I am just about pleased with the first page as I managed to apply the shape of the compositions of my stand work into the designs. For the stand work, I printed large photos of my research in London and moved and positioned them around the body. I feel this worked well as it incorporated the idea of the unobserved into the silhouette of the body. To improve on developing my ideas,  I should have drawn more detailed designs exploring the imagery on the garments. However, I am still pleased with the development of the shapes around the body. Additionally for this work shop I misunderstood the brief.  Fortunately, it worked to my advantage as I got to do the workshop again and could still use my initial work.

I was really happy with the second page of designs, however, I feel that my final collection will concentrate more on a simple silhouette and will not have so many complications going on. I am a theorist so I prefer to consider all my options before making a decision. I feel that this is both a good thing and a bad thing as it is time consuming but my final decision is a carefully considered one.

FMP Week 2 Day 3

Research Week 2

Today I collated some research from when I visited Castello Sforzesco Museum of Ancient Art in Milan. When I was there, I took a tour of the ancient castle and visited the museum inside of it. I am glad that I included it in my research as there were many unique pieces that very much express an unobserved element. In addition, I came across something that was fascinating and heavily influenced  a concept I intend to involve in my final garment. In the 14th Century, some of the ceilings of the rooms had been delicately painted. However, as the trends changed, they were repainted and repainted. Many centuries later, there was an earthquake and the top layers of the ceiling crumbled away. Thus, the underneath painting was revealed to people who never knew it was there. This is a perfect example of my title as what is now a treasured piece of art and history was once completely unnoticed and unseen.

This concept has heavily influenced my thinking involving my final collection. I potentially want the lining of my designs to be full of intricate and detailed drawings. Therefore, an essential piece of the garments will be mostly unobserved. However, I also want part of the lining to be seen somehow. This is an unexpected theory as I only thought of it when I began to develop my research.

Retrospectively, once I had thought of this concept, I should have spent time developing the print for the lining and investigating potential designs and print. Due to my theorist style of working, I felt I had to finish exploring my research from the Serpentine Gallery.

I will attempt to show the process of my thinking later on in my sketch book. I am behind most of my peers in terms of development. Therefore, next I shall start developing my research into experiments and shall relate them to designing garments on the silhouette of the body.

FMP Week 2 Day 2

Research Week 2

I decided to visit the Tate Modern so that my research was reliable meaning that I have collected information from many different sources. Within the museum, I visited many exhibitions including Harry Callahan's. There were four rooms dedicated to Callahan's post-war photography.

The most successful aspect of this research was when I concentrated on the negative space of a conceptual sculpture. This influenced me to repeat the shapes I made and also layer them. I feel that now I need to use these shapes and incorporate them into potential garments.

However, I really feel that although this added to my research, my sketch book does seem some what repetitive. Thus, I feel stuck in a rut and feel that I am not moving forward in terms of getting closer to my realisation.

It is clear that this stems from my personality trait of possessing a theorist style of learning. A theorist needs to attain all the information he/she needs in the initial stage before being able to move on to the next stage. Nevertheless, I also feel that I am doing a good job of collecting high quality research and feel that I am nearly finished. I feel I have a good base to refer from and become influenced by.

I have unexpectedly been inspired by the linear shapes in one of Harry Callahan's photographs. I feel that I should photocopy that particular drawing of the photograph using the negative application on the photocopier.

Next, I am going to think about potential experiments and developments. I feel that I should begin designing much more and a major goal would be to start to introduce colour into my designs. However, I do find this really hard to do let alone succeed at.

FMP Week 2 Day 1

Research Week 2

In the Easter holidays, I visited Milan. I viewed this as an excellent opportunity to capture images describing 'the unobserved'. I used this day to gather and organise the information I collected from my trip.
A concept within my title is negative space. Particularly, I am interested in the removal of the positive space that we notice and concentrate on unconsciously. Not only am I interested in that but also the addition of the negative space which we, as humans, very rarely think about. I intend to bring this 'negative space' in to the forefront of our minds in my designs. Consequently, when observing Milan, I photographed many places and things which were common to photograph. However, within my development I have removed or deleted the positive space and highlighted the negative space.

This I have found this approach to my work to highlight my theorist style as I am exploring the associations and interrelationships between ideas, events and situations. I feel that my concept is a successful one as it is inspiring and motivating me to expand on my ideas. I have included references to Rachel Whiteread in my sketch book. Whiteread also aims to highlight the negative space in every day objects and activities. What's more, I feel heavily influenced by her use of materials to turn empty space into solid, physical sculptures. She uses unusual casting materials such as rubber and concrete.

I found it difficult to make the visible distinction between the negative space and the positive space obvious in my research from Milan. I feel that I need to rectify this in my future development pages as it is important that this concept comes across in my sketch book. I will do this by leaving more space to highlight these areas and by maybe adding more layers. 

In retrospect, I feel that I added a potential fabric sample too early in this stage of research. However, the surface of the buildings in Milan really inspired me and reminded me of foil. This was also a reference to much smaller areas of negative space.

Although my sketches are effective, I feel that a detailed drawing will allow me to focus in on particular features and characteristics of my photo references. Therefore, in my next pages I will produce a more detailed critical study.

FMP Week 1 Day 3

Research Week

I chose to visit the exhibitions in the Serpentine Galleries for the base of my gallery research. This was because when I was researching which galleries to visit, the exhibitions which they were displaying excited me the most. I was drawn to investigate sculpture in art as part of my research as I found this to be most relevant to the theory of negative space.
I am a theorist. Therefore when carrying out the tasks I set for myself I am methodical and structure my work with a clear purpose. I have organised my research into Haim Steinbach's compositions and Martino Gamper's compositions. Theorist's set clear objectives for themselves which I have done in terms of my approach towards my research. I have photographed the pieces which particularly inspire me and then I have begun to build these concepts in to garments. I feel that this was successful because my designs were both influenced heavily by my research and were very relevant to my title. However, when looking back over my sketchbook, I feel that I could have produced more garments inspired by my gallery visits and developed my designs further.
I included charcoal which was unexpected. I feel I need to enhance my skill using this sort of medium but I did feel that it gave the effect I wanted to achieve.
Additionally, I feel I have improved my sketchbooks from the last projects as I now am not too neat. This allows my thinking process to be much more visible and clear.
Next I am going to utilise this research into data that could potentially push my design ideas forward. I will do this through more sketches and I also want to introduce other materials in to my work for diversity.
One of my peers commented that she like the way I use the double page as one page. I do too because my ideas flow better but I also feel I should spread my work out more to allow for more development of individual references.