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.

Possible explanation of piece...

I was thinking about having this for my description.

I thought it would be nice to explain so people could understand the concept. But I don't want it to be too long...

Any thoughts?

Telephone Exchanges

Non places
Communications
Excess.

'This need to give a meaning to the present if not the past, is the price we pay for over abundance of events corresponding to a situation we could call supermodern to express its essential quality: EXCESS'

Marc Auge sees the world in terms of supermodernity, the world being filled with an abundance of events demanding that each of us individually INTERPRET it all.

My work has come to represents MASS and EXCESS regarding Telephone Exchanges with the mass of systems,data,telephone calls 

and 'non-places' and spaces around us. 

Telephone exchanges developed and changed with the increasing 'abundance ' of  telecommunications, which could be describes as excessive; an excess of machinery, which links to the ideas about 'non-places'' and how I have also come to see them in an excessive nature.

Change from hand to machine; hand operated connections to machine: 'strowgers' and 'crossbar systems'.

Laser cut fabric and perspex- Hundreds of circles and squares representative of the telephone exchanges and non-places .
Hand stitch and plaster pieces- Reflecting the hand and the condensed nature of the telephone equipment...A mathematical concept has been explored- each piece represents information from the first telephone exchanges of Manchester, reinforcing the history and meaning to their regimented structures.

The piece reflects the simple and repetitive visuals of the telephone exchanges and generic non-places that we see today.

Super(modern) Summary.

A few conclusive thoughts...

'Telephone Exchanges

Non-places

Communications

Excess'

(written by me, not so long ago)

These have been key themes to the development of my work.

I have been working towards representing things in MASS, regarding Mark Auge's concepts on 'supermodernity' with the mass of equipment and systems,data,telephone calls in Telephone exchanges and 'non-places' and spaces around us (specific to manchester).

Telephone exchanges, developed and changed with the increasing abundance of phone calls and telecommunications, it is an excessive increase; an absolute excess of machinery (though very visually interesting) also links to the ideas about 'non-places' and 'super-modernity' and how I have also come to see them in an excessive nature. Through development I have come to represent this idea visually, keeping things simple and repetitive.

What was most interesting was the jump from hand to machine, which I have reflected through machine laser cut fabric and perspex, and hand made plaster pieces and hand stitch.It has taken a lot of time to get things right and experiment, it takes time to stitch and time to include a mathematical aspect, but I think this has reinforced the history and meaning to the pieces and their regimented structures.

Working in a group has been great, the whole researching and discovering at the beginning really helped us all work in a collaborative environment, and we got to hear about loads of artists and different  practices that push the boundaries of art and design, and which have encouraged us all to think a bit differently. It had been really interesting to see our work develop from similar (scientific) inspirations and we all got to know how we worked and helped each other along the way. I am looking forward to pulling it all together at the exhibition at blank space that we have been organising, which has really been one of the highlights. 

For now, a little bit more work to be done...On with the stitch! 

Evaluation- Before exhibition

My initial expectations of Unit X weren't great to start with, i thought it was going to be a struggle to work with people across different units and get involved in the 'imagining it' group which is more instillation and embroidery based. My feelings have completely changed now. I have loved getting involved in working with new people learning and sharing skills. Being involved in organising and curating our own exhibition has been a great insight into the real art world and the different jobs involved in putting together a great exhibition.

I would love more time to experiment with growing and using non traditional materials, however i have had to focus on getting objects and images finished for exhibition in this last week on unit x. I will defiantly be experimenting more with materials and techniques in the next project.

Our group work within this project has been amazing, we all work similarly anyway and get along, so organising trips and meetings has been really easy. We organised full days of visiting and researching manchester within the first few weeks this really helped us all to understand how each individual works. Throughout the process we had meetings every time we got together to analyse and support each others  work and discuss what our next steps were. The next week is going to be long and busy but we all work together and will successfully pull of our own exhibition.

Display And Equipment

I have been looking for ideas to display my work within the gallery, as i am having three A2 sized images displayed on the wall i also want a space for some samples to be displayed. I have been looking into how to shelf the objects or hang them. I need to look as different floating shelving, how i can make or hire them and attach them to the walls. Maybe a trip to the plinth store is in order tomorrow to hire out things we may need.

 By the side or our displays were going to have a name and a short description, describing our influences and meaning behind the work. This is a example from the Alice In Wonderland exhibition at Tate Liverpool. The paragraphs will be printed, mounted onto foam board and nailed to the wall.

Blank Space Meeting.

Yesterday was one of our final meetings at our exhibition location, Blank Media Collective, before the set up day. We were joined by 15 photography students that will also be displaying there work with us, however even though we will all be together we have decided to take up three separate rooms and title and name our exhibition separately so you know that its Textiles In Practice.  We will be putting up our work on the 24th next week, we will be bring as many DIY tools and materials as possible to help everybody put there work up in time. Team Work!

 One of the four separate rooms within Blank media, we will be displaying our work within. There is sufficient spot lighting, plugs and possibilities for hanging from the walls and ceiling. 

we will decide who will be put with who next week, there will be two of us in each room and we are going to pair up so that our displays compliment each other and have sufficient room. For example two hanging pieces wont be put together, there will be one hanging instilation and one wall piece so that they wont look like one piece of work.

 The three rooms we will be exhibiting in.

The main rooms will be taken up by photography students that need vast amounts of wall space and spotlighting for there images. 

Postcard/ Business card idea

I think i'm going to use this image for the postcard. It pretty sums up my project and its simple. We will be having a meeting tomorrow to sort out any written work for the exhibition, postcards, and names all ready for next week. This is the information for the cards.

Jessica Beardmore

Textiles In Practice- Manchester School Of Art

jb-studioblogger.blogspot.co.uk

Jb0011@hotmail.co.uk

Image- Organic Transmission 

Unit X reflection

Reflecting on how Unit X has been over the past few months, I have so much appreciation for having the opportunity to work in such a fantastic environment as Hotspur House. It helped me generate so many ideas by just looking around the workspace, there was always some visual inspiration.

 Also I have furthered my knowledge about the Manchester Music Scene, in particular about Joy Division and Ian Curtis. I didn't think that that was the way my project was going to go, but I went with it and I'm really pleased that I did. During this project I have experimented with many different types of materials such as magnets. I have found that the link between textiles and science is very interesting and it is something that I would like to explore more in future projects. 

I look forward to our exhibition, we have a lovely space and hopefully it will generate a lot of people visiting the gallery at blank space. I think we have pushed the boundaries of Textiles and the outcome of our work from this project has been created from quite industrial materials.

It has been the best project for me so far in terms of pushing me to really explore what I want from my work, and having time to think abut the processes.

Final Exhibition Progress

http://www.tactilityfactory.com/

This group of people produce textiles similar to Bethany Walker, combining concrete and materials, but these are for the use in homes, offices and public places, so much more commercial. It aims to create innovative ‘soft’ building surfaces. It challenges the perception of textiles as the ‘dressing’ to structure and instead integrates textile technologies into the production of building products. 

‘Tactility Factory expands the potential of concrete from a cold, grey, acoustically harsh and unappealing substance to something that is warm, colourful, acoustically soft and appealing.’

Crystal Concrete

Stitched Linen Concrete

I think i could combine my rusted materials and concrete samples together, to create a piece that preserves and protects yet is aesthetically pleasing.

Submission guidelines

• Update profile
• My areas
• Help
• Logout

You are here

• MMU
• / ►1B4Z1004_1112_9Z1F
• / ►Submission Guidelines

 

Unit X (Textiles in Practice) (1B4Z1004_1112_9Z1F)

Submission Deadline

At the end of Week 8 (18th May) you will submit the self-evaluation and assessment form to the Coursework Receipting Office at the student SIP in Geoffrey Manton Building. On this form is a space for you to include a link to your blog summary.

Submission Format

This will be in the form of a reflective blog.

You should use this individual blog as a means to deposit key things that have influenced your learning, direction and development as you journey through this unit. Any content from your group shared blog can be used to illustrate your own thinking and actions.

You should aim to reflect your achievements and also clearly evidence your response to the learning outcomes …make sure you are familiar with them as well as the level descriptions.

Your summary content may be in various forms from image, recording, text etc. It should communicate the things you feel are important and relevant, therefore there is no fixed number or word-count…however, do bear in mind that it would need to be viewable in a limited period of time, we have approximately 20 minutes per assessment, so if there are 50,000 words it would be too long!!! Or if there are 1,000 images it might be unclear…..

Support

To assist you in developing your group blogs and blog summary there will be a team of teaching assistants to help you to identify the model that works best for you and your group, the summary will also be the focus of seminar sessions with your own programme staff as the unit moves along……

So make the most of your group blog…post lots of content, discuss ideas and be generous with your contribution. Then, weekly if possible, take an hour to reflect, summarise and “make “ your submission!!

Assessment

Assessment will be based on a summary of your experience and outcomes from the unit. To assess your achievements we will look at your summary and complete the assessment form. We will also look at the work you produce as a final proposal.

The submission deadline is two weeks before the end of unit we will expect that for some of you the “final edit of your film” or the “installing of your show” in weeks 9/10 may come after the blog submission. This showcasing of the work from the unit will be reflected on as part of the assessment and feedback process, however your ambition and proposals for the final outcome communicated in your blog is what informs your assessment.

Feedback

To ensure that your work is assessed and you have clear feedback it is essential that not only do we have your blog link at submission deadline, but also an agreed Feedback session booking. You will need to make this with your tutor prior to submitting the form on 18th May

Last modified: Tuesday, 28 February 2012, 12:02 PM

Postcard

 I would like this image for my postcard.

Elnaz Yazdani

Unit X Final Exhibition

Textiles In Practice

http://1066397710.blogspot.co.uk/

elnaz_yazdani@hotmail.com

Never Ending Visual

My work has involved recording and collecting sounds from the city of Manchester. My work has been about noticing the unseen. Sound is often one of our senses that we forget about because we are often so distracted by the visuals.

In my work I have been exploring the way in which sound can be displayed as visuals looking into frequency and sound waves.

My never-ending sound wave piece is made up of filing cabinet hooks that were once used to hold visuals from the MMU slide collection.

I have reused over 1000 of these hooks; each hook would have held 20 slides this means that in total my piece embodies over 20,000 slides, visuals that no one would imagine when they look at this piece.  

The' Never Ending Visual' represents these objects on mass through the form of waves to document this idea of the unseen. 

(above is a short starting point for the kind of thing I want to have written in the exhibition.) 

Postcard Ideas

These are the results of wrapping cotton round my rusty objects. The quality of the colours, textures and patterns that have come from transferring the rust from object to material is just amazing. I think if i could do this on a larger scale, it could become a final piece for the exhibition

I can't decide what image to use for my postcard/business card. What does everyone else think? Maybe the first, maybe the third?

Info for postcard/business card...

Emily Shaw

Textiles In Practice (BA Hons) @ Manchester School of Art

www.emilymaryshaw.tumblr.com

bemilyem@ntlworld.com