During this year, I have been involved in 6
outward facing projects which are: Bruntwood, Burnage Academy for Boys, Girls
Guiding, Vertical Gallery, Uskees Dungarees and Digitex.
Bruntwood:
This project consisted of presenting
ideas of how myself and my peers can fill empty gallery spaces in an office
building. Around 25 people applied and only 12 people were selected. The theme
set for this project was anything. So, what I chose to work from was the bad
news that we have been hearing all this year so far. Most news has been
negative news about people all over the world losing their lives in the hands
of evil people.
The techniques used in my sampling
was mostly due to not having control in certain areas in how the pieces would
come out. This represented the themes I chose to go with so I feel it worked
well. The image below show what I had pitched in front of the audience. In the
end, I did not get the commission space as they felt it was not strong enough
to fit in their building. However, I decided to carry it on further because I
felt it was a strong piece. I believe that the project that I chose to work
with would have been very effective and would have had the essence of all the
innocent lives that have been lost.
Above are the items that were to be included in the space and below is the commision space that I pitched for.
Burnage Academy
for Boys:
In this placement I participated once a week for the duration
of three months.
This gave
me the opportunity to experience and practice my skills in a secondary school
environment as I am preparing to do a PGCE in the year 2018. My tutor had approached me with this opportunity as it was commissioned to create a piece to
engage with the school. Therefore, this encouraged me to take maximum advantage
of this platform and explore the different means of teaching. The theme we
discussed was ‘threads of identity,’ which consisted of the boys collecting
signatures from friends and family. They then hand stitched them using the
school house colours in remembrance of a young student named Ahmed 1972-1986.
This project allowed both staff
and students, including me, to recognise the importance of hand stitch and
whether it is still appreciated to this day with technology being so advanced.
I gained a deeper understanding with topics like the significance of hand stitch
throughout this experience which opened my mind and created further interest in
the use of traditional techniques. This experience also allowed all of who were
involved, appreciate diverse backgrounds of individuals and what is appreciated
in different cultures all around the world.
In the end, the student’s guardians were invited to a coffee
morning so that they could see what the boys had been up to. During a coffee
Morning at the school, I gifted my very own handmade handkerchiefs as a token
of my appreciation for this experience ad also in remembrance of Ahmed. I gained
many contacts from local authorities that were connected to art and craft
activities, this will allow me to gain further information and also more opportunities
within my practice in the future.
A pre planned cloth by a student before he hand stitches the signatures.
Students hand stitching their family and friends signatures
The handkerchief that i gifted to the boys as a remembrance for this experience.
A coffee morning for guardians listening and watching what the boys have been doing in these sessions,
Girls Guiding:
As I have the intention of applying
for a PGCE this year, I planned ahead and I decided that I would gain more
knowledge if I did work experience. So, I applied for a volunteering position
as primary schools were not allowing placements. the volunteering role that I
had come across was called Girls Guiding.
I arranged to meet up with a
commissioner who is Kathryn and we discussed which unit would be best for me. I
explained to her my intentions for becoming a teacher that would teach KS2. After
the meeting, Kathryn mentioned that most girls at the unit enjoy arts and
crafts. From this I suggested that if I could participate in any way by in
cooperating textiles into the activities. After discussion, I was made aware
that if I was to do this on a regular basis then I would be paid to do these
sessions. This experience has given me the opportunity to gain experience
before going onto doing a PGCE and also have another hobby so that I have a
balance of different things going on as well as my practice.
Uskees Dungarees:
This project was asked of students to create
prints that were appropriate for a family. The theme was Manchester bees. I
feel that this fitted in well with where I was in my unit x project as I could
tie them in both together as I was working with earth colour in unit x, I was
able to gain an understanding of what Uskees were asking from us. From this
project, I gather more research in how I can co-operate that into my unit X
project as it looked at Kantha stitching which has geometrical shapes.
Vertical Gallery:
the vertical gallery space was introduced as
a way of contacting companies if they were to see our work in the degree show.
The theme I used for this project was the same one I had used for Bruntwood.
This project is something that I would love to try out because people would
notice my work and see that I offer a range of artwork with it being large or
small scale. I also believe that the concept behind my work links and speaks
clearly. I felt having an Installation in my chosen big space would
make the impact of my piece much more dramatic when the public pass the stairs.
My piece was designed to be in a black coloured thread so that would be placed
on the walls and floor with a 3d appeal. This was so you could touch and feel
the handmade thread balls which were rough and soft which is a direct reflection
of the pain and sudden loss of lives that year.
In the
presentation, I feel I presented well enough to the panel to get my point
across as we were all able to communicate well and see what each of us could
consider. In the presentation, I gave the influence of having my work scattered
out like Susan MacMurray’s work called ‘Here come the girls’. Suggestion were
made such as having the pieces scattered across the board with some on the
floor so that would then represent the lost lives this year.
Digitex:
Digitex is an interior company that supplied
four themes to work from and create pieces for walls, cushions and bed spreads.
For this project, I decided to work on aerial shots taken from all over the
world. A book was suggested which is called ‘the earth from the air 365 days’
by Thames & Hudson. This book includes beautiful images across the globe
and has inspired me to use colour in Unit X. Now, I am heading towards samples
of textured pieces as texture has been a specialty of mine since starting
university.
A last-minute
decision was made to go London for three days as I lacked in research and
inspiration for my practice. During my time in London, I attended workshops
with artists that were from different back grounds in Art. Two artists that I
had a great interest in attending their workshop was Sarah King (a textile
specialist) and Gilles Miller (interior textural architecture). Both artists
are very diverse in their work and lifestyle choices to where they are in life
now. Personal stories were shared amongst the group about how life decisions
had affected their work.
Sarah King’s Work:
Kings work is a mixture of both print and
embroidery and her kitchen is her studio space. As we were welcomed into her
personal space, it was amazing to see how dedication can develop your practice
even more. By seeing King’s studio space, it has made me more interested in
having a space of my own so I can create work whether it be for a hobby or to
sell my work in the future. Most of King’s work has been published in books and
magazines but what I feel she lacks in is recognition in the arts world therefore,
this is the reason that her work is not being noticed by potential employer
even though the quality of her work is precise with it being done by hand.
King specialises in cushion making and this is just one of the cushions she made for a commision.
one of her costumes has been published in a magazine which I one day would like to see of my work being in.
An intricate detailed hand stitched piece by King, the colours and detail used here is fascinating as i can appreciate the time and effort that went into it.
King hand dyes all her fabrics and this is one of them. she then attaches the fabrics by hand to create an edgy look for the borders.
Giles Miller’s Work:
Another
inspirational artist that I came across during my time in London was Giles
Miller. He’s studio was filled with samples which shows in the image below.
Miller had given a talk before in 2015 at MMU which I intended so this was a
reason to why I chose to go and visit his studio in London.
After looking through his work I came across his very
first suit case project. In the talk, Miller mentioned that he had never had
the intention to go onto what he is doing now, also how that project was looked
down on as it wasn’t appealing to the people he was trying to receive a
commission from. Miller began his cardboard maquettes out of
paper which was small and detailed. These textures were very creative and his
shape formation were different and original that it was soon recognised. So, the moral of his experience was
that; whatever your work is that if you don’t believe in it or push it further,
no one else will. From his developed samples, he has developed ideas and gained
a larger audience from abroad for both interior and outdoor projects.
These were the samples that were on display for us to view while touring. the samples are huge but to get a taste of what it would look like on a bigger scale is clearly shown in each sample.
These are smaller samples but taken up close. The simplicity of how the shapes are used really enhance the piece all in one.
This is a development of a project that they were currently working on.
In a practice unit tutorial with a tutor and
my peers we discussed each other’s work and how supporting each other can
develop our work. When discussing my work everyone was interested in how I was
imitating pavements with paper and plasticine and I was suggested to stick to
taking aerial shots of my work, this unit could possibly have a collection of
photographs.
Alongside
the Practice unit, I planned beforehand and began working on my portfolio for
when I apply for a PGCE. I made sure that I had a varied portfolio enhancing
the quantity of work that I have produced in my time at MMU. From this I gained
information in what clients or potential employers would be looking for in
teaching or freelance work; my work would need to speak for itself and key
images are vital for presenting work as it implies professionalism.
All in all, this year so far has been packed
with vital information which is necessary to be aware of as well as place into
my own practice and life. I appreciate that staff have understood what information
undergraduates need before going into the real world and how to gain access to
potential employers. Staff have also provided us with help and advice while we
are students at MMU and given us many opportunities to have a taste of what it
could be like for us once we graduate and continue with our practice.
