Final write up

Magnetism Division

My work has come together to reflect Magnetism and Control in relation to the Manchester Music Scene of the 1970s and 1980s and the band Joy Division. The city became a 'magnet' drawing people in, a mass of people all attracted to places where they were sure to experience a vibrant and interesting time.

Ian Curtis from the band Joy Division has been a very influential part of my work. Listening to his lyrics filled with imagery of desolation and emptiness. Trying to portray his struggle with depression and epilepsy, he was as controlling as he was uncontrollable.

The idea of controlling the reaction through magnetism, and magnetic systems:
Resin entrapments containg iron filings, connected on the fabric using magnets, representative of the uncontrollable reaction of mass of people being attracted to the music scene and how the music controlled them.
Resin entrapped straws, representative of the electrmagnetic systems in the brain in relation to how Ian Curtis suffered from epilepsy and his fight to take control of it.

'Confusion in her eyes that says it all.

She's lost control.'

The piece is a delicate response to my reasearch about the Manchester Music Scene but thinking more about the scientific elements and creating a regimented controlled structure of a magnetic form.

NAME: Textile Innovation

Textile innovation is an exhibition of six Textiles in Practice students from Manchester School of Art, who have collaborated to produce work based around ‘Interrogating Manchester’, creating textiles in an unconventional way.

The exhibition explores themes of science, space and repetition.

How to Display...

Thinking of ways to display my work...



Here, Susan Hiller has displayed old museum pieces as collections together. This links back to looking in to preservation and my trip to MOSI. I still like the idea of displaying my work in the style a museum may preserve objects; so either in plasterzote or foam board. I would cut into this display material (10ish mm thick) the same shapes as my final pieces and about 3mm down. This way the objects can be placed in and kept still which they will need to anyway as they will be very fragile and delicate. I will need to think of a way of securing the pieces properly though, so the piece of foam board can be screwed to the wall for display purposes. 

Manchester; the Concrete Jungle

After reviewing my concrete samples and rust dyed material samples, as well as Bethany Walkers work and Tactility Factory, i have started to come up with some ideas for my exhibition piece.
I think i'd like to combine my rusty material with concrete but not in blocks like i have done before, instead in a thin sheet, similar to that of tactility factory.

My aim is to produce 3 pieces. I want to use my rusty material after embellishing it underneath the concrete, but creating gaps in the concrete so the material can come through and be seen underneath.



A problem i realise may be tricky to overcome is how to create the gaps so the material can be seen. I thought about silicon or rubber, but finding these materials i have found is hard. In previous samples i have used plastercine which has worked well, so i could potentially use this material to block out spaces, then pour the concrete over the material, wait to dry, then peel off the plastercine to hopefully reveal the stitched material underneath. Each piece would reveal more and more of the material.

The meanings behind these pieces come from several ideas.

Hidden Manchester, the bits of Manchester you can't see - the rusty material dyed by old found objects around Manchester. Collecting these objects together. Bringing unity to the objects people discard. My samples are hiding/trapping/preserving objects, memories, identity. The concrete is acting as a structure and wrapping around the objects, holding them in place, keeping them safe.

Final Exhibition Outcome/ Evaluation so Far.

My outcome will consist of a collection of photographs, the number depending upon the size of the photographs and amount of space.

The photographs will be manipulated on photoshop and with stitch. The photographs will represent a finished outcome from the processes that the 3D shapes have gone through.

This week i intend to experiment with photograph sizes and the order they will be presented in, as well as finishing touches for the exhibition such as a statement about my work, and mounting my photographs.


I feel that Unit X, overall has been a great success. At first i had difficulties deciding upon a theme for my project, and it took me a while before i started to produce anything, however since settling on an idea i became really excited by experimenting with new equipment and techniques, that were out of my comfort zone, such as the slide projector. Initially i was worried as the brief was so open and i had no idea where to start, which was possibly why i had so many starting points, however i learnt to narrow down my findings and almost create my own brief, which endedup working really well.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working as part of a group and having this support blog to get advice when it is needed. I also really enjoyed attending the talks, the Lauren Bowker one being my favourite, and reporting and discussing with my group about our thoughts. This was similar to the way we had the oppurtunity to explore techniques across programmes, including photograohy, and some students experimented with films and sound.

I also loved the independednce and the confidence we gained, when our group went to blank media to negociate having a space to work/exhibit in. I think it was agreed that we all gained something from this, and now i am really looking forward to having our Unit X exhibition here!

Postcard Ideas

Think this image work best, as a summary to what my project is about.



Helen Birchall
helenbirchall04@aol.com
1072041806.blogspot.com

Unit X Final Outcome
Systems

Final Exhibition Plans…

After seeing the space and testing out all my options I have finally come to a conclusion for a main idea for the exhibition. I want to use my filing cabinet hooks to create one long sound wave piece that will be mounted to the wall of my space in Blank Media.

To create even more of a visual impact I wanted to think of a way I could use light or reflection to multiply the objects and really represent them on mass.

I am no longer using video to do this as I have decided that it would draw attention away from my piece. So I have chosen to incorporate mirrors and work with reflections to create a never ending visual.