My last tutorial before the holidays...

My Last Tutorial before the Holidays

I had three concerns before going into tutorial these were:

1.  I needed to find other method/techniques that would allow me to transfer my digital drawings onto a surface.

2.  When working bigger, what materials would I use? Acetate works for small-scale samples but larger acetate would not be long lasting and currently I want a single piece of material that can be etched to create folds to create 3-d net shapes but finding one thin enough yet strong is difficult, it also has to be transparent.

3.  Scale is currently a major issue, I want to create something large scale that aims towards a gallery space so it has to be large but I am unsure of how to achieve this, to work in multiples or work with separate pieces and then join them together to create one piece.

All of these concerns are holding me back from developing my visual samples further. I know I want to include my digital designs based on natural forms and connect them to geometric forms but finding the best combination is difficult but exciting to experiment. After tutorial and discussing these issues with my tutor and other students, I came up with starting solutions that would give me something to work from and develop:

1.  The new method of transferring my digital drawings onto a translucent material will be print medium. My specialism is print and I have been considering applying print from the start so now seems a good of place as any to begin integrating this within my final project. As I will be using clear materials it is incredibly important that my prints be created with a good quality finish so I have decided to use pigment binder, this will give my work a clean and clear finish with hopefully no watermarks.

2.  I gave material choice a lot of thought and without laser cutting them and working with the materials specifically it is hard to distinguish what would work. I decided to select materials that have the following qualities within them, they have to be thin, clear, and strong enough to hold shape and they have to be able to fold once certain lines are engraved. I have decided to start experimental work with thicker acetate and Perspex.

3.  Scale is something that needs to be explored, over the Christmas holidays I will experiment with multiples and working larger in singular areas that will be put together upon construction.

Other aspects to continue and be aware off:

1.  Decide and prepare digital drawings that I will want to print with, print twice on acetate, and do this process for four designs.

2.  Explore different formats and shapes.

3.  Prepare illustrator with net shapes that will be used on new materials for testing.

4.  If I am using multiples, consider how they would all attach together.

5.  Decide on a Live Brief, Humpties or Bradford.

6.  Re-look over my Learning Agreement.

7.  Make sure my blog and sketchbook are up to date.

Composition...

I found out about Soo Sunny Park through our PE presentations when someone else used her as part of their inspiration. I think Park's work was of particular interest to me because her work dominates a space, it fills a space with a striking presence and this is what I want my piece to entail, I want my work to dominate the space it is situated in. Park's work also seems geometrically motivated; her work contains many geometric forms that have detail precision within its structure, structures that are to a very large scale. I have been working with precision, structure and geometric shapes from the beginning of this project in small scale and now I have figured out where my context will work towards (gallery situated), I want to proceed with experimental work on a larger scale, whether working in multiples or singular (to be joined later on in construction). I have also been working from one sheet of acetate, to create and work on a larger scale, each side of a geometric shape could be created from one sheet, then attached together on construction to form a certain structure.

 

Park's work has inspired me to work much more loosely when forming a structure. I played around with some hexagon laser cut shapes that I then attached my drawings of natural forms onto; they produced looser structures that did not resemble any geometric form previously created. The images below show changes within precision and composition as there is not any specifics, this experimental work does not seem fitting with my theme of 'order and chaos', but taking this direction into consideration has made me aware of working bigger on construction with technical precisions being deeply thought about beforehand.
  

 

My Presentation...

My Presentation Review

When it comes to presentations and speaking out load in front of a group of people, I immediately begin to panic and this PE presentation was no different. As I was extremely nervous, I wanted to go in as confident as I possibly could so I rehearsed what I was going to discuss frequently the week before hand. I recorded myself a couple of times and listened to it back, it did help me to realise where I was lacking confidence and where I had little to talk about in reference to the images I had selected for the PowerPoint, I made all relevant changes. I also created trigger cards for self-reassurance in case I began to stutter or lose track of where I was up to. However, I think as I had major notes on the back of my trigger cards they became a distraction when delivering my presentation. I became more focused on reading what I had previously written rather than speaking to the audience directly, I noticed this negative a third way through the presentation, after I had noticed this I put the cards to the side and began focusing on what was on the screen and what I was discussing began to flow easier. Looking directly at the audience made me nervous so I did focus my attention more onto the screen than the audience, this is where my presentation could greatly be improved. At the end of my presentation, I felt as though I had literally ran back to my seat instead of standing firm and answering the questions put forward for me at the front. I was asked a couple of questions once I had sat down, I became more confident in answering them because I was sat down and it felt less formal. Presentations are my weakest area but preparing for them in more depth did help in general. I have been given good feedback from the presentation, I was told that I am able to clearly outline what has been going wrong in my practice, I spoke clearly and that I had good visuals which I was really impressed with.

Selecting the appropriate material...

I have begun working on how to incorporate the geometric shapes that I have been creating with my digital drawings of natural forms. The natural forms represent the 'nature' within my theme with the shapes created using laser cutting representing the 'man made'. I want to find a method of combining the two that would give me a professional finish. Laser cutting is an option but material choice would need to be taken into consideration as the thickness of a material can affect the result majorly, as seen below. I opted to use plastic because it was a transparent material, that was static and therefore strong enough to hold on a larger scale but with no flexibility available, the plastic had to be cut then attached together using glue, which resulted in a messier and raw outcome. I want my outcome in Unit X to be created from perfectly conjoined geometric shapes that have a clear professional finish, not a raw and unfinished-looking result.

 

However, I did experiment with these pieces with my natural form drawings printed on top, to allow me to visualise whether they would work bigger or not. I added small holes to the plastic, big enough to allow thread to pass through so that I could suspend the shapes in a similar style to that of Tomas Saraceno's work. I do not think this is a positive result, the triangles created look unfinished and cheap. By doing this experimenting, it has confirmed that for my final design samples and result, I would work with a flexible material so that perfectly combined geometric shapes are achieved to a professional quality.
  

Forming Ideas...

As my work has begun to develop, I have decided to aim my work in the direction that will aim towards a gallery-situated outcome. I decided to work towards a gallery-situated outcome because it allows me with the space needed to work on a much larger scale, it would also be the right setting for my work to be admired and appreciated by a variety of people.

I would like to produce an installation that will be consistently made up from the geometric forms that I have been working on. The geometric 3-d shapes will include my natural forms through the method of either laser cutting or print, as this is my specialism.

I want my installation to represent 'man made harnessing nature' instead of what is perceived as the human kind causing damage resulting in climate change. As the climate shifts, damage is being create upon the natural environment and through my method of laser cutting or print, I want to capture aspects of nature that are being damaged or overlooked and present them in a manmade setting that is consistent and would always be protected.

I know that my final piece that my Unit X will work towards creating an area that could possibly be walked under, it will consist of my geometric shapes, made from a transparent material combined with my digital drawings of natural forms. The shape and presentation of the outcome that I should be working towards is so far difficult to achieve, I began looking for inspiration through other artists work and their presentation of it as a way of generating ideas that I could then interpret myself.

Cerith Wyn Evans work is the inspiration for this idea. From the use of the bright light appears an uplifting, angelic and beautiful presence however, the glowing columns create presence by the sheer heat they project across the room, creating an unbearable heated atmosphere that can be 'deeply unpleasant'. Evans uses heat to portray the 'rage of desire', in opposition to the cool embrace given from upstairs, giving me a representation of heaven and hell. The simple presentation of columns is what I admire about this work; I wanted to visit the idea of using columns in my work through this drawing. I like the combination of columns alongside individually stacking my geometric cubes. I chosen to work with cubes for this design because of the simplicity they offer in being a even 6-sided shape, the natural forms would provide the detail.

Even though the stacked columns would provide me with a simple and elegant presentation, I want to produce a presentation that has more to offer within its construction. Jim Campbell in his work 'Exploded View (Commuters)', 2001 offers an idea on how to do this. I have kept the idea of using multiples in the back of my mind and this is where it came through, I like the concept of using multiples of one geometric shape all brought together to form the same shape but on a much larger scale, similar to that of Campbell's work presented below. The construction of a piece like this is difficult but the result would be worthwhile, the precision needed for this construction is what would represent the 'order' within my theme. For ideas like this to visualise, I need to work on the technical side of my shapes and how I would incorporate my natural from drawings on them i.e. print.  
   

 

Experimentation- Laser Engraving...

Firstly, I wanted to experiment with engraving my designs of natural forms onto acetate because it so far had proved to be a positive and prospective material to use. However, my first attempt failed, I finished with a pile of burnt acetate because the laser did not engrave, it laser cut straight through the material because of the measurements I had applied to the setting. From this, I reset the settings, which resulted in a successful outcome, I did manage to engrave one of my natural form designs onto acetate, however the result was not as good as expected. The engraved design in some light is barely visible which was extremely disappointing as using acetate these were the either two ways the result was going to result in, both not promising outcomes.

As engraving onto acetate was unsuccessful, I decided to experiment with transparent plastics once again. The strength and thickness of the plastic worked better when engraving into it but the material itself lacks the fluidity that made acetate successful for working towards and creating 3-dimensional forms. Presently, material choice needs further consideration.

 I want my material to hold the specific elements of transparency, slight fluidity for bending and can be engraved or printed on.
  

A New Technique...

After going into tutorial with ideas of visualisations and prospective outcome ideas, it was suggested that I look at other sources of materials that could work better on a larger scale. Acetate works on a small scale and in multiples as a way of sampling but now, my visualisations are on a much larger scale than originally thought, material choice is becoming a prominent issue to consider. As my theme is of 'Order and Chaos', I decided to experiment with using the laser cutter in order to create specific measured shapes that I could then experiment with and represent the 'order' within my theme. 

I also wanted to use the laser cutter as another form of method to apply my drawings onto a material. Using the laser cutter also allows me to experiment broadly with material choice because the laser cutter can cut through most materials; it gives me extra room to explore. I find using computer applications difficult so using Illustrator to put my designs through to the laser cutter was a time-consuming process. After playing around with Illustrator, I created files that were successfully used on the laser cutter, these files produced simple cut shapes that were all sized consistently, and I even engraved into wood and plastic.

I did chose to work mainly with transparent materials such as Perspex and plastic because I wanted to carry on with the aspect of looking through what is created. I began experimenting with creating different forms and shapes from the laser cut pieces, working without a specific precision

or outcome is hard for me. I created some small-scale triangle pieces that do not fit precisely together but this works for the outcome, they are raw and interesting; I love the pieces when light flickers of them, and they remind me of diamonds. On a large scale, I would prefer these triangles to perfectly slot together to portray the 'Order' within my theme, I also would like my drawings to be placed on the material through the technique choice of laser engraving which would need testing and this is where my next step will begin.

            

Integrating the spider web form into my 3-d geometric shapes...

After looking at Tomas Saraceno's work and deciding that I want to integrate the spider web form into my 3-d geometric shapes that I have been creating, I started to experiment with this idea by sewing the spider web form directly onto them. The sample created is sewn on a clear acetate box that does not have any of my drawings printed on them so it does work well, however, if I did this web onto a 3-d container that has my drawing already printed on them, I do not think the combination of the two would work. The combination of the two may be too chaotic and distracting to one another that I would maybe consider using the spider web form differently.

I have been making individual containers that differ in size, shape and pattern but have always kept the vision of working with them in multiples in the back of my mind because I think near to the end; this is where my ideas will lean towards. I began to consider using the spider web form as a way of connecting a collection of these containers together to form an installation or maybe a gallery situated piece. I used the spider web form previously created and hung one singular container from it, this itself pulled the web heavily down, making me consider whether the idea of multiples being presented the same way would work. For this to be a reasonable outcome, I would have to put major reconsideration into material choice and scale.

I did begin to look at other alternative sources of materials that could make an interesting web but the outcome was not as expected. As I have said I wanted to become more free and loose with the web form, I decided that hot glue draping into the form of a spider web could create an interesting outcome. The decision to use hot glue to drape came from the work created and produced by Yasuaki Onishi. Titled, 'Vertical Emptiness', the outcome is purely beautiful. However, my outcome failed, the glue did not drape as intended, nor connect together, and I just ended up with clumps of glue sporadically positioned. I did find that the glue reflected shadows that could easily portray clear visible imagery around a room.
 

          

Natural form- Spiderwebbs/ Tomas Saraceno's Inspiration...

The spider web form was explored at the beginning of the research stage but it was overlooked during the sampling stage because I quickly moved on towards shells. I wanted to begin exploring the spider web form again but in more depth because after being recommended to look at Tomas Saraceno's work, I thought I had dismissed it too quickly. Digitally drawing spider webs are visually pleasing, they hold pattern and fits perfectly in my theme of 'Order and Chaos' as my digital drawings portray chaotic designs that holds the aspect of order within the spider webs construction, each web is connected together.

Using my drawings, I wanted to create a tactile version of a spider web, I decided to use black cotton thread as my only source of material for this sample because it is a flexible material to work with, it is thin and most resembles the qualities found in spider webs, the cotton also allows room for manipulation and control. I hand tied strings of thread to reach to this sample below. It was time-consuming but the photographs are worthwhile, they demonstrate a clear with my theme of 'Nature vs. Manmade'. Some of my photographs are exciting to look at because I do think they resemble what they were clearly inspired by.
 

Improving this sample and taking the spider web form further, I would experiment with the idea of threads alongside vanishing film in order to create larger samples; I predict that it would also give the spider web form created more depth and detail. Using the thread on a loose stitch on a sewing machine would also give me room to become free with what was being designed; I could become more chaotic and free.

Tomas Saraceno's work (above and below) with the spider web form has been a major influence in my working with spider webs; his work is fascinating, beautiful and incredibly detailed. Saraceno derives inspiration for his pieces from all sorts of things such as; soap bubbles, air dust particles and natural forms. Spider webs inspired Saraceno’s work at ‘The Venice Art Biennale, 09’, the scale is colossal and the presentation is simple and elegant, nothing takes away from his work. I admire how Saraceno uses the web to suspend and present his pieces, this inspired me to want to include the spider web form in my work as way of suspending my 3-d geometric forms.

    

Julia and Mark's Tutorial Notes...

After seeing Julie and her advising me that I need to become more decisive on my context, I began to consider where I actually want to see my work. As I am interested in installations, 3-dimensionality and light, these are the concepts my pieces will involve and work towards. To be decisive, I have decided that my work will be produced with a focused contemporary installation in mind. Maybe a type of light installation that; could become a positioned piece in a gallery space or functionally used as a chandelier of some nature. My theme of ‘Order vs. Chaos’, alongside ‘Nature and Manmade’ will still apply as some of my ideas already produced; inspire aspects that could work on a larger scale to become my intended outcome. After taking a week out of my project because of my essay, looking back through my project after this break gave me prospective on where I want my work to aim.

I was slightly nervous at the prospect of today’s tutorial with Mark. After taking some time away from my project, to complete my first draft of my dissertation, I felt lost with what I was going to continue experimenting with. As seen from my blog and sketchbook, I stopped working with acetate as I felt like I had exhausted all avenues and began working with paper. Using paper is where my original experimentation work started to inspired me to work with acetate, by going back to the start by using paper again; I was hoping it would supply further inspiration as to where my project will continue. I created a few samples from paper but using paper did not supply me with any further ideas, I felt like my work was going backwards instead of improving. I began to go through my sketchbook again to pick out samples that made the most impact and this seemed to help but going into tutorial, I still felt unsure of what my next steps were going to be.

After optional tutors and a dentist appointment, it has been 4 weeks that Mark had not seen my work, so getting his feedback was beneficial. Mark suggests to me that I should read and examine my drawings further as this was where all my experiments were at its highest point, they informed my structural work. As I want to begin working with materials, Mark suggested I experiment with the laser cutting but directly cutting out and engraving into a variety of materials. This is something that has interested me, I have been aware of the laser cutter for a while but I did not feel ready, until now, I am going to begin using some of my existing drawings and experiment with them on the laser cutter and engraver, experimenting with a variety of materials.

As I like the transparency that the acetate has provided, I am going to continue using acetate along with other transparent materials such as plastics and Perspex. I also want to experiment with fabrics but not in as much depth, I just want to experiment with material qualities to find the one that is appropriate for me. I visited Aidan, the laser cutter technician and he was incredibly helpful on where I need to begin with illustrator, time scale for each piece and material sizes for testers. By Monday or Tuesday, I am hoping to have a selective range of illustrator designs, taken from my drawings, which I will then go on to the laser cutter with. From here, I think it will provide me with a lot more ideas on materials, patterns, scale and structure, to experiment with and maybe help produce some visualisations that all lead the correct way.

Paper Light Shade inspired by Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz...

After deciding to work with paper again, for further inspiration, I re-looked over my project so far, to gather old inspiration that could be explored in more depth. I began experimenting with the pattern that I had come across during research into 'architecture design patterns’; the pattern was constructed and hand carved to add extra detail to the architectural space that it was positioned in.

I wanted to combine this pattern with light and shadow, the two continual themes that have been running throughout my project. I created this sample from paper and as I anticipated, it held structure and the shape aimed for well, the light extracted through the cut pattern clearly, allowing shadows to be portrayed, this pattern did project around a room but not on the scale that I wanted. The nearer the light source and shade is to a surface the clearer the pattern is portrayed, the further it becomes from a surface the more indistinctive and blurry the pattern becomes.
 

The pattern being projected around a room clear is an important aspect of where this sample was aiming towards and because it does not appear clear enough, I am going to have to re-think on how it can be. I think using a thicker material or changing the scale may improve on the projection. I want a clear projection that would be on the same par as that of Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz’s mystical forest inspired light shade is.