Reflection

This unit has had its high points and low points for me. I felt the beginning of the unit started on a high; everyone in our group was really well motivated and we all shared the same ideas. The mix of different courses within our group also meant we had a variety of skills to bring to the table.

I found I discovered many new things whilst working as part of a group. For example, the help you can receive from the different workshops located around the art school. I also gained new skills in some machines such as learning to use the eyelet-er. These were both positive outcomes from this unit, as well as learning to fundamentally work as part of a team creatively; as this was something I was very new to.

I felt I was very involved this unit. In the past I have found it sometimes difficult working in the studio everyday, however this unit I felt I wanted to make the most of the excellent facilities on a project that would give me the opportunity to try different things; as well as being part of a group with meant I didn't want to be letting anyone down. The research part of the project was something I found I really got stuck into, and really enjoyed building an idea of what I personally had visualised. The beauty of working in a group meant we could all research and bring our ideas together each time we met. The breakdown of  the group I feel stemmed from the lack of communication once we started working in the workshops. Only being allowed a couple of people in the metal workshop at a time meant we spent a lot of time apart from the group, which resulted in decisions being made by a majority vote rather than as a collective. This in turn caused disagreements among us, as some felt things needed re-doing. Therefore, the eventual breakdown of the group was no real surprise when it came to it.

Discussing what could be improved upon; relating to the original group I feel would be our time management and communication. I have learnt that it is very important when working as part of a group for there to be constant communication in order for everyone to keep up to date with the development of ideas when the group is not together. This I felt we then displayed as a splinter group. We made it very clear with each other that this was one of the main causes of the breakdown previously. We were then determined to make sure it did not happen again. Referring to the splinter group in terms of what could be improved upon I am finding slightly more difficult. Having had much less time in which to research, design and produce, I felt we did extremely well and worked effectively together, and what we produced reflected this hard work.

Working as a smaller group, our motivations were primarily related to public interaction and experiences. These were the key themes that finally drove our ideas forward in the last week. Below is an image of the leaflet promoting our rooftop exhibition.

In the future I am aiming to be working in an industry that would be dealing with the public in terms of likes and dislikes through product buying. This project has had me working, thinking about how the public would be affected by our installation and I have found it very interesting. I am hoping to use this thought process through my future projects as I go into my third and final year.

Investigations

In the original larger group of 7, working on the shelter idea I found I developed the skill of thinking more constructively rather than through a textile style of working. I found myself thinking not only about how it would look but how it would connect together. This was something I was not used to but is a skill I have acquired through choosing this project.

I found the collaborative experience as a whole very interesting and definitely an eye opener. Something I have loved about it is being able to bounce off other peoples ideas in order to come up with something brilliant.However at times it was clear this did not always run smoothly. In our case, it resulted in the break down of the group only a week before the deadline. Not only was this a shame, but it also meant we needed to then work effectively as a smaller team of 3 in order to produce something in time for the installation. It also led to the unexpected development of quite interesting ideas from the 3 of us; focusing our attention on fewer elements and being able to sample these before moving forward with them, and taking care looking back over the brief to respond in a way that would be fit for the rooftop. It would have been interesting to see what we could have come up with if we had started as this group from the beginning.

Given the time the 3 of us had, there wasn't the opportunity to develop our ideas further physically. However, we did come up with a couple of ideas we would have liked to have had the chance to experiment with. For example, we wanted to make our installation as interactive as possible, keep it sustainable and with low costs so that the tenants would be able to add to it however they liked. Our main developed idea was concerning the hanging nests/baskets. We wanted to use this design to create discrete bird feeders, which would encourage the development of the natural environment around the city. Below shows what we would have been aiming to achieve, pictured next to one of the nests/baskets we made for the installation.

potential bird feeder idea, developed from 

what we made photographed below

nest/basket made for part of the installation

 This type of work is not very similar to the way I would usually work apart from the materials. I am not usually working to such a specific brief for a specific client, which has been a different experience for me. I hope to be able to take the things I have learnt this unit with me into my final year of university.

Research

Research is an important part of any project, which needs to be done in good time in order for it to be worth while. In my practice, I research into ideas similar to my own as well as artists with the same style of work as mine. This is all helpful, contextual information that I can use to influence my own work.

However, usually in textiles we are researching at the same time as doing our initial drawings and sampling; as well as introducing ourselves to the materials we would want to be working and experimenting with. This unit has been different in that we were to begin with research only, with no real indication as to the materials we would be using or to what we would be making specifically; only that we were working on a rooftop project in the centre of the Northern Quarter, part of the Manchester Light Night festival and we would be supplied with a selection of sustainable materials.

The beginning of the unit had the whole class group dividing ourselves into smaller groups, in order to work on different concepts related to what we thought design was. Although this was not directly linked to the project brief, it was a different and interesting way of getting us to start thinking about what ideas we could potentially come up with, that could be brought forward through the unit. I put myself in the 'Creating Sensations' group. The key ideas here were focused on producing something that affected the audience/ made the audience feel something. We therefore began our research by exploring Pinterest for ideas related to this concept. Below are a couple of images that I personally feel recreate the 'creating sensations' idea; using light and touch.

Through my own research I found that the bigger the scale of the installation/work, the more intense the experience. Looking at the examples above, you can imagine the sensations created in those environments.

A couple of weeks into the unit, having been introduced to the kinds of materials we could use, and being shown the the ideas as to what could be made for the rooftop, this changed the way we were researching. We no longer needed to be looking so broadly. We needed to agree on an idea, which our group decided would be to make a closed environment to provide an escape from the city life, and we were keen on using the used print screens as our main building material. Our next stage of research then began with closed environments and shelters. I then also began looking at how we could create the sensations through touch, sight and sound and found a number of different ideas (a couple of examples are photographed below).

Not long after this, our research turned from looking for inspiration to finding ways of making our ideas happen. More specifically, how we would be able to connect screens together to form a closed environment. This proved to be very difficult with no one in our group with any expertise in this area. However, this is all part of the learning curve of Unit X; we used our initiative and found help in the form of the metal workshop, who proved to be very helpful; and this was something of a surprise, learning that you can go and ask in any of the workshops for help and advice (giving that you come with a realistic time frame in mind).

Having split the group towards the end of the project, this gave way for more research to be done on top of what we already had concerning our new ideas. We were still following the same concept as before, only not over complicating ourselves with the technicality of building a shelter. As a smaller group, we decided to focus more on how we can create a sensation through what we make. We focused on sight, sound and touch to influence our research and designing process.

Deadline Day

Today was the day we had been building up to over the course of this unit and I was confident it was going to run smoothly. Throughout last week we worked extremely hard in order to meet this deadline, and we did it.

We arrived at the rooftop at 10:00am eager and ready to start setting up our installation. As our work was all in small sections, it meant we did not have too much to carry so were able to start quite quickly. We were using the same space as the rest of our previous group; and although the space itself was quite small, we were able to work effectively together today to work around this small issue. We were all able to install our work within the time we had, ready to open the rooftop to the public. Photographed below are a series of images I took today of our installation.

We had a lot of positive feedback on our installation; with one person commenting "it is something interesting and unusual that I have never seen before; a very well thought out concept". The tenants of the building were also very pleased with it and requested it be kept on the rooftop. This I was very pleased to hear.

Final Week

Returning to the studio today with new ideas felt very refreshing, and I was excited to start progressing with the samples we felt had worked well. We began by listing the different elements of our installation and then organised how much time we had left in which to do them. This meant we were able to work towards targets to finishing each part. We then began to look at each of our sampled pieces and discuss the ways we could push each idea further.

Our installation will consist of:

• nests/baskets made out of pva glue and string/raffia hanging in the space under the stairs
• plastic bottles wrapped in different coloured raffia, containing cut up glow sticks hanging in the space under the stairs
• metal washers knitted with mono filament hanging in the space under the stairs
• different textured yarns knitted into strips to be tied to the top section of the scaffolding
• smaller samples of the metal washers knitted with mono filament to be hanging from the top section of the scaffolding
• cable ties to be attached to the netting on the top section of the scaffolding
• spray painted plastic poles to be tied in a way that they can role to the lower section of the scaffolding

Although this sounds like a lot of work, the three of us work well together and are well motivated to completing this to the best of our ability with the time we have.

In first year one of my units involved knitting, however I had never managed to get to grips with the technique. I was therefore excited when the three of us started producing the knitted strips for our installation. After a couple of mistakes I found my feet with it and I'm glad I was able to give it another go and experiment with it in different ways with the assistance of Katie. Below are some of the strips we made (photographed in the space) as well as the hand knitted metal washers on mono filament samples.

'knitted strips'

'metal washers knitted with mono filament'

Having had already made the majority of the raffia wrapped bottles and string and raffia nests/baskets at home, we were then able to move onto spray painting the plastic poles. These didn't take too much time to do which we were happy about. Although most of the elements in our installation are not very time consuming, I don't feel this will mean the experience wont be as effective.

spray painted yellow and copper to fit in nicely

 along side the existing scaffolding

We are planning on connecting these all together with rope that fits with the colour palette we have chosen (red, yellow, green - we determined this by looking at all the images we has of the rooftop. We wanted out piece to fit nicely with what was already existing there and not be an eye sore).

Coming to the end of this project I have mixed emotions. I have enjoyed the learning curve that came with working in a group.

New start, New ideas

Today was a day I felt had been a long time coming. Over the past couple of weeks, myself and others had noticed a lack of motivation and enthusiasm for the project from some members of the group. And especially with only 1 week left you would think there would be a sense of urgency about the studio. Coming into the studio to find that half the group hadn't arrived and wanted to work from home and 'brainstorm' ideas I found very disheartening, having all agreed to meet first thing.

The three of us in the studio felt like we had an important decision to make in order for us to move forward. We asked for advise off one of our tutors, who reassured us the decision we were about to make was for the best and would benefit the whole group.

We will now finish the project split into two separate groups that will each create something different to install on the rooftop next week. I feel that I had wanted to make this decision a couple of weeks previous to today as I felt we had not been working as well and efficiently together, but I didn't know how to go about it. However, this is something else I have learnt this unit; choosing who you work with in a group wisely, have an understanding that everyone in the group will need to be willing to compromise when it comes to difficult decisions being made, and also to be more honest with the group I'm working with; if I feel that there is becoming a lack of communication and cooperation then I should share it with the group so we can rectify the problem before it gets to far as it has in this project.

In a way I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. India, Katie and I looked back over the research we had done in the weeks previous, to bring ideas through to use in our designs for our new installation as a smaller group. Photographed below is our ideas board; including rough sketches of what we have visualised.

We have agreed that we will continue with the 'creating sensations' theme. We are hoping to use the top, thinner stairs, the hanging area directly below it, as well as two different sections of the scaffolding walls. We are keen to make our installation as interactive as possible to give the audience an enriching sensory experience.

We decided to go home and start playing around with the different ideas we had been discussing earlier in the day so that we could make some decisions of what works well and what doesn't. Below are a few photographs showing myself and India's experimenting with different materials.

 Balloons wrapped in pva covered string and raffia and
 balloons filled with water and glow sticks

  Water bottles filled with water and glow sticks

The result from the first photo, also done in different
 coloured raffia to follow our chosen colours

I felt these all worked really well. However, I wanted us to be able to move these initial ideas forward as I felt they were quite basic as they are in this form. I am hopeful we can push these forward in the next week to make them more interesting and unusual.

Ethics Workshop

On the 5th of May John Spencer, PhD Researcher Miriad MMU. gave a workshop about ethics and how we in the design industry are affected. We discussed a number of different scenarios where we had to make decision which in some, the outcomes ended in a hypothetical death. We were then asked why it was we chose that decision and whether it was ethically right. I found this workshop very interesting, as it's something that I've never particularly looked into in the past.

Examples of ethical issues specific to art, architecture, design, and media may include:

• Art practice and political interventions
• Digital media and the question of copyright
• Public exhibition
• Competency, risk and creative production
• Transgressive art practice and shock values
• Media privacy, Censorship, Accuracy, Fairness and Bias

John spoke of a two-part reflection exercise that has been trialled over the last 4 years as a research project within Miriad. It has been designed with the intention to not restrict creative freedoms or introduce unnecessary paperwork but encourage researchers to identify, evaluate and respond to ethical issues they might encounter. We were informed that they were not only offering this out to post graduate students but to under graduate students now too; to be used as a way of identifying whether there are any ethical issues associated with your project and to be able to plan a response to any issues raised.

Today I received the email containing the interactive PDF file for me to fill out and send back. Whilst completing the online form I found some of it quite difficult to use. For example the rollovers that reveal more information about the question, I found these were difficult to control as they didn't disappear after reading the information and therefore covered the majority of the rest of the form which made it hard to carry on answering the remaining questions. However, I do still think the idea behind it is very strong and would be beneficial to every practice once the minor problems were rectified.

Pitch Day and Visiting the rooftop

Throughout this week in the lead up to the pitch, I have felt the same as I did in the previous week. However now I feel like the cracks in the group are starting to show, which is a shame as we all got along so well at the beginning. We all shared the same ideas and were all really on board with knuckling down to produce something the rooftop project committee would really love.

We did however pull together to pitch our idea to the panel. Mark and Femi were nominated to pitch our idea as the most confident speakers in the group, and I feel the overall pitch went well. The response from the committee was mainly positive, they really liked the overall concept but were unsure as to why we wanted to create an enclosed space to 'escape the city life', when the feeling you get from being on the rooftop is exactly that. They advised us to abandon the structure idea and move the location of our installation to the stairway that will be accessible on the night of the exhibition. This seemed to be something that could potentially work really well; working with the same original concept of the sensory experience. We were told that the stair way is only wide enough for one person at a time, which would give each individual a chance to have their own sensory experience when climbing the stairs.

I feel like not having yet had access to the rooftop space has been one of the difficulties we have had throughout this process. Following our pitch today we requested to see the rooftop so that we could get a better idea of what we were designing for in our final coming week. Photographed below are a couple of images of the space we have been recommended to work on.

Top stairs

Top section of the scaffolding

Overlooking the whole space

Having seen the space I immediately had lots of different ideas about what we could do to utilise it. For example, although the panel were not keen on having an enclosed space on the rooftop itself, creating an enclosed stairway would heighten the experience for each individual. We had eventually been able to connect a couple of the screens together and I had thought we could use these to make an arch over the stairs, encasing them. I also thought we should focus on just two or three of the senses and create things that respond to those, rather than trying to do too much all at once..

We have agreed to meet early tomorrow to refine our ideas and get started with producing them. I myself am aware of the little time we have left and want to make the most of it.

Finalising design ideas and Overcoming problems

First day back after the holidays we began to finalise our design ideas. This was so we could move forwards from the design process and begin building.

Although we are keen to move forward to building, we also do not want to rush the design stage. Throughout this week we have been discussing a few different ideas that we could begin to experiment with. These began with:

·        A hexagonal dome structure (completely enclosed)

·        A double screen height spiral structure (completely enclosed)

·        A double screen height spiral structure (partially enclosed)

·        A single and double screen height spiral structure (partially enclosed)

·        A single screen height spiral structure (partially enclosed)

As you can see from the list above, we had a range of different ideas. We were keen to discuss some of these with our tutors as well as be able to gain more information from them about what the rooftop project committee are looking for, for their space.

Having discussed these with our tutors we discovered some potential problems. As I had already raised in one of my previous posts, I as well as the rest of my group have little knowledge of building a structure and making it structurally supportive. Earlier in the week we had visited the metal workshop to ask for some advice on how we would go about attaching the screens together. They were very helpful and offered to help construct our structure when we came round to it. However, our tutors were still had their concerns.

The main problem was regarding the safety of the public and the tenants of the building. In my practice, health and safety rarely restricts what I can do, which is something new I am learning this unit. The issue we have with safety is creating a double screen height structure as it could potentially collapse and injure someone if it's not secured well. From the advise we were given we decided to rule out the possibility of the hexagonal dome structure; with the risk of collapse, a dome structure seemed a very complicated idea with the time we had left and for students who had never constructed anything of this scale before. However, the possibility of choosing one of our ideas using a double height structure also appeared less favourable. We were told that if we could prove the double height worked with physical evidence in the next couple of days then we could go ahead, otherwise we would need to rethink our idea.

Proving the double height was structurally sound enough that it would be approved by the health and safety team was seeming more difficult that we first thought, and was becoming almost impossible with the time we had left. India, Katie and I were aware that we could not focus all our time on the structure; we needed to be more realistic about the amount of work we still had to do. We agreed to be more simple with the structure and keep it to all single screen height. This would give us time to focus of the other elements of our project. We drew out some design sketches that show what we are trying to create and the size we would want it to be.

At this point in the unit we are over half way through. Although I am confident our idea is well thought out and well research, I am finding that some members of the group seem to be less enthusiastic and are becoming more uncooperative the further we have gone through the project. I have noticed this more the past week, and have found it is making it difficult to push our ideas to where they need to be at this stage of the unit.

Brainstorming ideas over Easter

In the 2 weeks that I've been home for Easter, I have been very keen to continue the ideas process in order to bring back some inspiration that I can share with the rest of the group. Having such a strong manifesto with key ideas has made it easier for me to know what sort of things to look out for when doing my research.

The key ideas being: sustainability, site specific, and sensory, I began my research by exploring Pinterest for some initial inspiration. I made myself very aware that the ideas I found online would need to be developed to suit our original thoughts, and not just a direct copy.

I initially focused my research on the sensory element. Below are a couple of images I found inspiring and intend on bringing to the group discussions after the holidays.

I feel like light plays a major part in an overall sensory experience, which is what I was looking at in these images. We are trying to focus on creating an environment with a relaxing/calming atmosphere. So as well as light, I began to look into colour and how each colour makes you feel. This information will be very helpful in choosing the colours we intend on work with. From my research it was clear that colours such as orange, yellow, green, blue, and white would all be suitable for the experience we are trying to create. For example, orange is associated with happiness and creativity, and green has strong correspondence with safety, harmony and freshness.

Before this research, as a group we had quickly discussed the colours we had visualised in our heads. As we had chosen to work with the used print screens with colour already on them, we were thinking of using these as well as including the greens and blues to anything else we made. Realistically colour hasn't been the main priority in this research stage; however I felt that looking further into it at this stage would have us in a better mind set in the weeks to come. Also, in the past refining my colour palette has been something I have struggled with, so wanted to give myself time to think about it in the early stages of the project.

This unit I want to build on the things I learnt from the locating unit. One of my downfalls last term was not paying so much attention to the Learning Outcomes. This unit I want to make sure I understand each one fully in order to maximise my opportunity of increasing my grade.

Following my research into colour and light, I began to look into different structures that we could incorporate the screens into. Below are a couple of ideas I thought we could experiment with.

The only problem with these examples is that coming from a textile background I have no knowledge of how they would attach together and whether it would even be safe. This is an important question I will raise with the group when we next meet.

We had communicated once or twice at the beginning of the holidays to confirm the main ideas so that we were all on the same page with our research. We agreed we wanted to create a sensual enclosed structure. This was refined, but broad enough for us all to come back with a wide range of ideas to discuss.

Finally, as a way of following the sensory idea right through the design, I wanted to look into ways of creating this experience inside the structure too. Looking at my earlier research, this could be done using the lighting and colour ideas already discussed, as well as incorporating touch and smell.

Below is an example of the sort of thing I had visualised.

My initial thoughts with these are that they incorporate colour as well as touch (in that they are soft/comfy which would give a relaxing sensation). We could also look into experimenting with different smells, natural and artificial, combining them with the sorts of things you can see from the second image. I feel as though I would be quite relaxed in this sort of environment, which is something I have been keeping in mind throughout my research; “how would I feel in this environment?”

Materiality

Today was our last timetabled session in uni where we were introduced to the materials we can use, and also a chance for us all to present our manifesto to the other groups. Photographed below is our manifesto.

Creating Sensations Manifesto

I feel our presentation went very well. In producing our manifesto we we're keen to make it as clear and concise as possible in order to put our ideas forward without any room for confusion. At this point I am confident that we will work efficiently as a group as we are all keen to produce something that really shows/ relates back to what we have written in our manifesto.

On returning to our base room after lunch we could take a look at the materials we were being supplied with to potentially be used in what we were creating. I am aware in myself that just because they have been set out for us to use, this does not mean to use as many as possible. I feel we need to be careful and selective with what we choose to start working with. Good group communication will aid us in being decisive over materials.

Introduced to the Sustainable Materials

As a group we have decided to do some research into the ideas we talked about in our manifesto for us to come back after Easter and discuss what we want to produce.

Inspirer Series - Tilleke Schwarz

The talk by Tilleke Schwarz I didn't find as relevant to the project I am currently working on as some of  the others I had attended, however as an embroidery student I recognised that his opportunity could be helpful for future reference. I loved hearing about where she finds her inspiration for each of her pieces, and I also liked learning about the different techniques she uses.

I found it interesting that she doesn't do any sketch book work before producing each final piece. She collects things such as paper cutting and objects that she likes or finds interesting and uses these to influence her work or copies them directly onto the material she's using. I found this fascinating as it is a method completely different to the way I would usually start my own work; but looking at her final pieces it shows her method is successful. It is something that I would potentially like to experiment with in my own work at some point, whether it's in my own personal projects or with my university driven projects.

She also added that most of the things she includes in her work are things that she likes. She explained that is why cats appear quite often.

Photographed below are a couple of images of Tilleke's work in whole and close up sections.

'I have known them all - 1992'

'Into the woods - 2002'

'Into the woods - 2002' (close up section)

'Deer - 2007' (close up section)

The work she produces consists primarily of cross-stitch and hand stitching. She explained to us that due to the embroidery techniques she uses, her pieces are often then priced quite high. However, her pieces are created mainly for pleasure rather than as a way of income.

I am mesmerized by some of the intricate stitching on her work, and the patience she has in finishing each one to her standard; especially in the areas of intense hand stitching.

Manifestos

This morning we regrouped as a class to discuss manifestos and their importance.

Before this, we looked back at the discussions we had last week about design. As individuals we decided which underlying theme we wanted to associate our work with over the course of the project. I decided that I wanted to move away from the ideas my group had initially come up with and join the 'creating sensations' group. I felt I could relate better to the ideas that had been discussed here.

Ideas Wall

Having joined a new group, we went round and discussed what ideas/thoughts we had regarding the rooftop space and the creating sensations theme. This enabled us to see if we were all on the same page and if not we could divide the group. As it stands, we have a main group of 7 and 4 sub groups; these sub groups all tie in with the creating sensations theme but have shown an interest in producing something different from the main group.

As a whole, we sat down and discussed specifically what our main aims were with this idea, keeping in mind producing a group manifesto. These included:

• creating an experience for the audience
• sensual installations - all 5 senses considered to evoke feelings
• relaxation theme
• the use of colour to enrich the senses
• the purpose being an escape from the city centre
• something unique that responds to the rooftop space
• being sustainable in what we create

We then were given the time to go away and research manifestos in any form that we were attracted to. I found that the ones that spoke the loudest to me were short and simple with a strong message. Below are two examples of manifestos I found.

I found this activity to be very useful in helping me to understand our next task; which was to write our own in our groups. Having already discussed our main aims collectively we are one step ahead in producing our own manifesto. Over the course of this week we will put these ideas together to construct our manifesto ready for presenting on Tuesday.

Inspirer Series - Susie MacMurray

After collecting as a group this morning, I attended Susie MacMurray's talk about her site specific installations past and present. When reading the information we were provided with about each of the artists/curators that were coming to give talks, Susie MacMurray's was the one I was most excited to go to.

After listening to her talk, I discovered her way of working was very relevant to the ideas we have been given in our brief this unit. She works with a multitude of different materials, ranging from chain mail, gold wire, shells and hair nets, through to balloons and washing up gloves. I particularly liked her installation from 2006 called 'Shells'. This was one of her site specific installations, located in the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester using the staircase space. She used the history of the building to begin designing. The house was commissioned by a a young wine-merchant and his wife, who lovingly appointed it and appreciated it, but failed to replicate this love in their marriage who split just after the house was finished and so it was sold. She worked with the sensuality and history of the area. Using 20,000 prised open mussel shells symbolising a brittle exterior, housing either hollow emptiness or a tender and vulnerable inner; a scene set for the emotional history of the location. These were then  each stuffed with a deep burnt-red scrap of silk velvet which was symbolic of the wealth in their relationship.  These links between the history of the house and the area are what I love about this particular installation.

'Shell'

Another one of her site specific installations also interested me. 'Echo'which she also created in 2006, was an installation that consisted of 10,000 hairnets containing strands of used violin bow-hair and located in the the decommissioned church St. Mary's in Castlegate, York. 'Echo' was a response to St. Mary's as a vessel for the traces of profound contemplation, sound, memory and human faith.

I love the subtle connection between her installation and the history of the building; and the way now, those used violin bow-hairs hang silently in the delicate hair nets.

'Echo'

Inspirer Series - Eoin Dara

This was the second in a series of talks that have been organised over the next couple of weeks for us to get an insight into the alternative ways of working other than our own practice.

I found the talk taken today by Eoin Dara very interesting. He is a Belfast based curator and has been involved in many different organisations where he has collaborated with other artists/curators. His installations that I was most interested in was were, his 'Billboard Bunting' which he collaborated with Martin Boyle to create, and the collaborative curatorial endeavors between Kim McAleese and himself in 'Satis House'.

Billboard Bunting
This installation was part of the Household Festival 2012 (a curatorial collective that encourages audiences to re-negotiate how they view and interact with art in urban and domestic spaces), curated collaboratively by Eoin Dara and Martin Boyle. His work on this involved using a mundane object and deconstructing and reconstructing it; much like the ideas I have been looking at in my current reinterpret, redesign, reimagine: rooftops unit x project. The inspiration behind the bunting idea stemmed from the historically divided areas of Ireland represented by flags between Catholics, Republicans and Protestants. The historical link behind the Billboard Bunting is what I found most interesting about it. I like that there is a deeper meaning behind what they had created.

The installation was constructed and rehung down an alleyway in Belfast. I like the engagement with the audience/public that is enabled by the location; being exhibited in a different way to a gallery environment, so giving the public the opportunity to interact with it. This too is one of the ideas we are beginning to look at this unit; the interaction with the public on a rooftop space.

Billboard Bunting - Eoin Dara and Martin Boyle

Satis House
Satis House is an alternative gallery for contemporary art in a domestic space. They adopted the name from the decaying stately home inhabited by Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. It has been the first of many collaborative curatorial endeavors that they wish to undertake together.

The space is transfigured on a monthly basis under their curatorial direction, working with emerging as well as established artists, inviting them to respond directly to the unique environment. In this way, it is involved in the household festival which works with site specific projects to get the audience to respond to the work installed. This idea interested me when looking at the brief for my chosen unit x project. Looking at the specific rooftop site that we will be designing for, and how our audience will respond. This spurred me to research the installations from here past and present in search of inspiration.

Satis House, Inaugural Exhibition

Unit X launch - Blue Sky Thinking

Reinterpret, Reinvent, Reimagine - Rooftops

Today was the launch of our final unit of second year. For this years Unit X I have chosen the Blue Sky Thinking - Reinterpret, Reinvent, Reimagine: Rooftops project. When I chose this a couple of weeks ago I was initially excited about challenging myself with something I'm not familiar with and outside my comfort zone. In the past some of my work has involved industrial materials, although I have never used these to create something functional, or that would be used to transform a specific space.

Initially we were split into groups with a couple of people from different courses in each. We were asked to define 'what is design?' My group came up with a list of words that we thought answered this question; looking at the key themes of:

• Everyday
• Sustainability
• Imagination/Creativity

'What is design?'

Other groups focused on the ideas of:

• Creating Sensations - design that makes you feel something
• Futuristic Design - things that haven't been seen before
• Product as the Design - looking at purpose before the aesthetics/challenging the development of everyday objects.

This unconference enabled us to start thinking about potential ideas for this unit. This way of working is very different to the way I am used to on the Textiles course, however I found it refreshing not being introduced to the materials in the early stages of the unit. It is a method of working I would potentially like to refer to in the future.

Evaluation

This unit has been a step in the right direction for me. Although at some points I found myself getting stuck and confused, I was able to work around the problem by changing the way I was working and what I focused on. I have manged my time much more effectively than I had done in the last unit, which enabled me to experiment more with drawing and sampling, finding the strengths and weaknesses in both, and being able to rectify the problems.

In some respects I would like a couple more weeks to see where I could take my work to next; however, I like that this unit has been left open ended, so that I can come back and look at it from a different angle another time. The idea of an open ended brief scared me at first, as I had no idea of what I was working towards for submission. Being someone who likes to be organised, I found this quite a challenge at first. However I learnt to forget about what I was 'supposed' to produce at the end, and rather concentrate on the work I was creating at the time. This enabled me to be more free with my drawing and sampling and not limit my ideas.

I feel that this unit has been a successful one for me, in both what I have produced and what I have learnt. Also in helping me find my 'hand stamp' and experimenting with it. I find ink and water very enjoyable media to work with and this is something I will take forward to future units.

Finalised Self-Initiated Brief

During my last week, I produced some small final experimentation samples to finalise my larger sample designs. My aim for my self-initiated brief was to refine a tonal colour palette and apply it to my sampling. Photographed below are two of my mounted final samples and a selection of the most successful experimentation samples.

Bradford Textiles competition submission

I have produced a fabric that could be applied to both fashion and interiors, however I can imagine it being more successful for interiors. I have also produced a small collection of accompanying samples. I have applied ideas and sampling from my self initiated brief to produce this fabric for submission.

Below I have also included images of how my designs could be used in an interior situation.