processandenquiryemmawalker

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PROJECT STATEMENT

I began this project with a mind map, thinking literally what the words Evolution and Unpredictability meant. I concluded that both these words could mean change, so I began thinking about how I could pursue this as a project. After realising that I have done this sort of project previously, I went back to my mind mapping stage and decided I would explore growth, more specifically cell growth.

While making I discovered that the pattern in my print looked a bit like a loose yarn pattern, this pushed me onward into making not only digitally but with the media of yarn. Continuing research into artists and trial and error with my process allowed me to make decisions about scale, media, and context. The project became about more than growth, it became about what cell growth is ultimately about, connection and disconnection shown in this project in a variety of ways.

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ARTIST STATEMENT;

For this project I began looking into growth, particularly cell growth. This is an area that I became very invested in and by using a microscope to create digital work, it quickly developed into making with yarn as the images created by the microscope produced patterns reminiscent of loose yarn samples.

Not long after this I saw the work become about connection and disconnection as that is what I took from researching cell growth and the art that comes with it, that we are connected to everything inside and around us but we can also be disconnected by something physical, mental, or environmental.

What you see in these images and video is just that, the disconnection between us communicated by plinths designed to keep you away, disconnected from the homes/people behind them, and also the connection with the weaves to each other and to things around them.

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FINAL SUBMISSION NO. 10

TIME BASED

STOP MOTION OF FABRIC WEAVES

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FINAL SUBMISSION IMAGES 5-9

3D

PHYSICAL WEAVES ON PLINTHS

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FINAL SUBMISSION; IMAGES 1-4 

2D

3 COLOUR RISOGRAPH, A3

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Final submission set up:

When I got to where I wanted to display my work I noticed that these plinths were to protect the trees that were growing in the estate, which I still think fits with my motive of the disconnection angle; these houses will still be obstructed from the people by the trees that will eventually grow.

And the connection with the trees to the earth and to us is evident as is! So I think this was a happy mistake for the project to have.

I added the glitch effect to this wee set up video as I like how it adds a bit of something else to it rather than it just being me hanging my weaves!

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WANDERLUST: REBECCA SOLNIT (2001)

Wanderlust was a long read for me. It was a book that grabbed me at the beginning but then i felt myself wandering off or getting distracted and doing something else, which wasn’t great. In saying that, i did like the book, it is a story of various moments in the history of walking from the 18th century onward. I felt that this book was a brilliant way of showing walking’s ability to maneuver how we think and create and how we can use this obvious tool for not only getting from A to B but how it can change the world around us and also how we videw it.

I particularly liked how Solnit talks about the difference between city and country and how this effects our walking experience. The book is not only a short history on walking and the things i’ve talked about here, but it talks on gender, politics and some find it controversial. I found a very interesting youtube video that talks on something I didn’t even consider while reading, ableism, (video linked on next post) which i now feel horrible about as this woman talks first hand about this problem and i didnt even think about it when reading. I was just enjoying the book and the things it was discussing, she goes on to talk about the other problems with the book namely a white woman talking about people of colour’s issues and the chapter Walking after Midnight and how this chapter is very patronizing which i completely agree with.

As i mentioned in my previous post about The Outsider, I like to to go online after reading to search for peoples opinions especially now with working from home and being alone most of the time i like to see if people have the same views as i do about books/videos/art or do they differ, and in this case I actually learned something from the video i had found! 

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WAYS OF SEEING - JOHN BERGER (1972)

Ways of Seeing is a book that talks about artists, their works and how those works are interpreted. Ways of seeing was also a TV series, the book and series were in response to Civilization by Kenneth Clarke, where Clarke discussed artworks in their traditional sense which Berger decided to debunk and talk about a more up to date themes such as the influence of photography, the male gaze, and advertising.

Even though the book was written in the 70′s these themes that are spoken about are still relevant today and still apply in the same way namely, advertising and the male gaze. He discusses why we see things the way we do, how what weve been taught has influenced how we see things and how we should see them from now on. My one issue with the book is the bold text, I had to look up why this was done in such a way as I hated staring at it by reading, while the explanation makes sense and is a good design aspect, i am still not a fan. 

“ The text, set in bold type, was intended to match the visual weight of the illustrations. In this way, images behave almost as text. This is an attempt to replicate the experience of the television viewer, who looks and listens at the same moment.” - https://www.richardhollis.com/book-design/ways-of-seeing/

This book has definitely helped with my creative thinking throughout the project by making me consider why i see things as is, was i taught to see these things and think about them a certain way or have i grown past this and see things for myself? If im being honest with myself I would love to think I gather my own opinions and evidence but how can I be sure? I like when books that I read make me think like this which is why i feel i needed to include it in my tumblr. 

I will definitely flick through the book again when new projects come up to refresh myself as I enjoyed it. 

[processandenquiryemmawalker]

POETICS OF SPACE: GASTON BACHELARD (1957)

Poetics of space was a book that I wasn’t even going to buy at first when i read mixed reviews online; but I decided to give it a go even though I did find it a pain to read at times, as half the book is the author quoting texts and literature but I’m glad I did. 

It is a book about architecture and how spaces are used to transform how we see the things that are around us every day and how we can use our homes as a reference point for creating. I feel its a book that also demands an emotional response to the many items that are discussed.

The chapter that I found the most interesting and that captured my imagination the most was ‘Corners’

I specifically liked corners as I felt it made a lot of sense to me artistically, for example when he talks about “every corner in a house, every angle in a room, every inch secluded space in which we like to hide, or withdraw into ourselves, is a symbol of solitude for the imagination” and “Je suis l’espace ou je suis, I am the space where I am” This really resonated with me reading this when we first started the course in October/November time as I have had to be the space where I am, this whole year has been like this, creating and thinking in one space always.

Poetics of Space helped me think about space in another way than I already did, it made me consider how everything is in its own way for a reason and what we take from it can be used in our work, whether it be poetry, art or literature. I then have gone on now in my project and work this trimester to consider space and how I can use it effectively while thinking about why I am doing it and how I can include insignificant aspects in it. 

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For my 2D submission I have decided on making a Riso print with the design you see above, not the same colours this was just a draft of how the different weaves would interact with eachother, it calls back to the cyanotype print i did in the workshop also which is great - i cant wait to see how the Riso prints come out!

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Its clear to see the blood vessel similarities here, which is great because it really ties into my theme here, but develops it a bit more forward 

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When looking at the weaves closer I thought of blood vessels and how the pattern ties in with them. Blood connects everything in our body with the help of vessels, they run throughout us and the same thing is going on with the weaves im creating, they will run throughout and connect with the environment theyre in. In the next post are my weaves developed in Photoshop to resemble the vessels you see here.

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Lino version of the idea; not really loving this but it was a good way to get my brain working and thinking about new shapes/ways of doing things

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Up close with the weaves to see the patterns it’s creating. The idea that this was developed from is very clear when they’re shown this way

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Bigger and longer weaves!

I have to hang these in my bedroom so they can keep their shape for the next step. I love how the colours are meshing so far, I still have a few to go but this is the amount I’ve managed to do within 2 hours so I’m happy enough to take a break until tomorrow.

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https://www.artsy.net/artist/sheila-hicks#:~:text=Pioneering%20fiber%20artist%20Sheila%20Hicks,to%20floor%20like%20textured%20columns.

Pioneering fiber artist Sheila Hicks blurs the boundary between painting and sculpture with her vibrant woven and textile works, which she creates in many shapes and sizes, from wall mountings that mimic the format of painting to suspended pieces that hang from ceiling to floor like textured columns.

As I get closer to the end of the project I have been considering scale, how i can use it to develop my work and why this is important. Looking at Sheila Hicks’ work I feel so inspired to create something massive, maybe not to her standard but something larger than i’m doing at the moment!