Exploration and Play Act 2

Wheels in Motion

Part two of the ‘Experimentation and Play’ project was entitled Act 2: Wheels in Motion. The outcome for this section was to research different methods to break habits and develop an ‘experimentation envelope’ for an unknown one of your peers. The prospect of designing for someone both excited and worried me… As I felt more pressure to create something amazing for whoever recieved it, I don’t want to let them down but I also revelled in the opportunity to have a ‘client’ that would actually interact with and use my outcome.

When creating this outcome I now needed to not only think for myself but also someone else. I needed to make something that’s interesting, fun and easy to understand. Something that specifically allows them to experiment but not overcomplicate and make it impossible to finish within the time constraints.

My personal aims for this part of the project were:

• Create something that I am proud to give and would be happy to receive.

• Create something that is personal to me in some way.

• Effectively and independently manage my time.

Act 2: Idea Development

My outcome for Act 2 developed from this knitted piece inspired by the word ‘dreams’. I have always loved knitting since I was very young but only recently have I been able to get back into it.

Knitting for me is something I not only find therapeutic but also very rewarding and a great way to break my habits when it comes to image making. I love to experiment with different textures and materials when I knit. This can create a really unique and personal piece.

I then thought how I could develop from this idea of knitting to create a theme for my envelope. That is when I thought about the amazing lady who taught me how to knit in the first place – my Grandma.

My Grandma was a child during WW2 and lived in the countryside. She had to make do with what she had and find creative ways to get around problems. This was the basis for my envelope and the inspiration behind the different tasks I set.

The second thing I thought of after this came from a method I used during the mark making workshop. The process of making a stamp using a potato. Even though it may seem childish I think potato stamps are such a clever idea! Taking something from nature, carving into it and using it to create art is a concept I think is so simple yet so beautiful. It is also very cheap (which my Grandma would appreciate!).

Act 2: Materials/Technique Research

Typography painted using homemade flower petal ink

The third and final idea I decided to include in my envelope was inspired by the fact that during WW2 clothes were cherished and were constantly repaired or altered to fit different occasions. I wanted to include another aspect from nature so the idea of creating your own ink/paint/dye from flower petals seemed perfect! As during the war if one wanted to dye clothes they would have to make use of the natural pigments around them. Having grown up in the countryside my Grandma would have been surrounded by many different kind of natural stains and dyes. Out of all the processes I decided to include this was the only one I hadn’t tired before so I was really excited to find out the results.

After Testing out the technique there were a few things I decided to make a note of that would be important to whoever received my pack:

• At least 24 hours must be left to complete this task as the flower petals must be left to sit for that long before the ink is ready

• Fresh flowers work better than dried ones.

• Expect the colour of the ink to change a little after it dries

• Don’t use too much water otherwise the ink is too light – only use enough just to cover them after crushing them.

Trying out this Technique beforehand was really essential. If I had not tried this technique out beforehand I would not have been able to warn the person receiving the pack about the long time the ink must sit or that using too much water could ruin the ink all together. This would have been awful as because of this they may not have either been able to complete my pack on time or complete it at all!

Act 2: Group Discussion

To help make sure that our ideas would be well received by other students we had small group discussions to talk about our ideas and take on board any suggestions. I found this talk to be very helpful as it not only gave me ideas about how I should present the work but I also received some really interesting feedback about how people would feel about receiving my pack and what materials would be appropriate to provide.

The points that were raised about how I should present my work were very helpful. I was becoming worried about how I should create instructions for the knitting. Having previously tried illustrating instructions (below) I found that they weren’t so easy to follow. This is where i was suggested to instead write links for youtube videos that would show them how that way. I took this idea on board and I think it was the best thing I could have done. This way the person who received my pack could follow at their own pace.

Secondly, receiving feedback about how some people would feel if they received my pack really motivated me! All in my group said that they were unfamiliar or un-practised when i came to knitting so would at first feel a little uncomfortable. However they also mentioned how they would be excited to get this pack as it really would push them out of their comfort zone, as this is exactly what I want to do… My aim is to try to make the person who receives my pack fall in love with these techniques as I have.

Finally, the discussing of materials and what I should provide also was very useful to me as I wasn’t sure if I was to expect to have them returned or not, finding out that we should expect them back was a relief for me as it meant I didn’t have to waste time and money finding the materials and that I could just provide my personal ones. I comprised I list of what I would provide in the pack:

• Knitting needles

• Different yarns and ribbons

• Flowers

• Carving tools

• A small amount of paint for the stamps

Act 2: Final outcome

Overall I am really happy with how my experimentation pack came out. It not only looks good aesthetically but I really believe that it will push the person who receives it out of their comfort zone and help them to gain new skills and challenge their default making patterns. I am also happy with my pack as I believe it is fair time-wise. I made sure in each of my instructions to state an approximate time that should be spent on each task – to make sure that if someone really struggles with one of them (most likely the knitting) that they don’t have to feel any pressure to use all the yarn and ribbons I provided them. I am really proud of the pack I have created and feel so excited knowing that something that I have made that I really love is also able to help someone learn and possibly even discover something they love doing.

Act 2: Envelope Exchange

Task 1:

The Less I know the better by Tame Impala: Listening to the song on repeat until the illustration is complete, thinking about the colours and emotions the song makes me think about. This song made me think about jealousy and in turn, the colour green. With this character I wanted to show different aspects of the song’s story. The ideas of: denial, hope and wanting. This is what each of the arms represent. The fingers in the ears symbolises denial, the hands in prayer symbolises hope or a wish and the outstretched arms symbolise wanting.

Task 2:

Twisted Transistor by Kovn: By listening to this song only twice I had to think about the worst feeling I have ever felt. I thought of my fear of aging and passing time as well as how in this infinite universe how small we are, not even specs of dust. I found this outcome quite stressful to create but also really exciting, I hadn’t made a comic like this before, and after doing so I discovered how much I enjoy it. I am hoping to experiment with comic making a lot more in the future.

Task 3:

Losing it by Fisher: This task was one where i could get messy! I dipped a feather in ink and created this illustration inspired by the beat. At first it is messy as i moved the feather across the page to the rhythm. I then started to notice a pattern in the beat and the mess turned to a pattern. Creating pattern using music is something I had never thought of before. Introducing pattern into my work is something I have always wanted to do as I love to express myself through pattern in real life. However, I find it difficult to find inspiration when creating my own patterns – so maybe using music as a tool is exactly what I need to do!

Task 4:

Sunset lover by Petit Biscuit: To finish I was to listen to this song on repeat, drawing something that makes me feel safe or happy. I illustrated a picture of my mum and my dog as my family as so important to me and I can always count on them to keep me safe and make me happy. I don’t usually draw things like this, but now when did I realised how relaxing it is. This was such a nice task to put last as it calmed my mind and made me positive after the tasks that were more high energy or that had more stressful topics.

The envelope I received after the exchange was really fun to complete! The basis of the was about using music to inspire the imagery I was to create. The pack contained four tasks and each task had a song along with it. What I loved about this envelope was it’s verity, each song was a different style and had a different feeling. This meant that I was able to create work with varying themes and atmospheres. Listening to music when I work is something I don’t do as often as I used to, after doing these four tasks I remembered how fun it is to use lyrics or a melody as inspiration for pieces and will definately be considering making this process something I can use to find inspiration or a starting point.