divergentpractice

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Project Reflection

Overall I’ve really enjoyed exploring the route undertaken for this project, as it’s not often I get the chance to bring on alternative outcomes for my work. As I predominately tend to work in a sculptural form it allowed me to chance my change my perspective and how I would create work - usually incorporating consumerism into sculptures through disposable plastics and wasteful items I intentionally tried to stay clear of them in order to challenge myself more, and take this opportunity to learn about different media, materials and techniques that I could later mix into my projects. I do feel there are some aspects I left out that could’ve been developed further, such as more mutation results, larger installations I had originally intended to make through macramé and embroidery etc despite the macramé outcomes taking a while to make. However, I am able to integrate them back into Creative Enquiry and have a stronger approach taking the concept forward. A major drawback for this project was mostly the impact of Covid -19 and the on/off lockdowns, this restricted obtaining my materials, space,  forced me to downsize and ultimately find alternatives to my work as I didn’t have a suitable space for what I wanted to create, and due to the length of the 3rd lockdown I’ve not been able to upload all of my work as some of it still remains in the college building unphotographed - leading my project to take alternative approaches, but an advantage is it’s also forced me to problem solve and work with what I have available still pushing my work forward. 

Conclusion

Over the course of this project I kept returning and repeating the walk along the river (8 times overall), this for me meant it was the action in itself of returning and continuing the walk along the river and interacting with the environment was to symbolize that Evolution of the surrounding land and marine life was continuously in play and with humans co-existing they are constantly adapting around us as we are inflicting them to mutate in order to survive. I found there was different sounds, lighting, weather that constantly changed the walks and differentiated themselves, offering a diverse experience every time. 

Corresponding blog for continuation - https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ba4creativeenquiry

Pinterest board research - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/rachaelmcgloan/creative-enquiry-divergent-practice-inspiration/

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Hybrid Theory final.  

Chosen Sewn prints taken back out to be displayed and suspended at the site to allow the connection of environmental degradation to the River (Displayed alongside at different sections). The artefacts being brought back to the site in itself is to present the idea that the human interference with the environment is the cause of how these anomality's are being generated. Kept the textiles in the embroidery hoops to represent the cells of mutated pollution, the hoops are made of plastic to indicate the abundance of plastic waste built up in large bodies of water. (Deliberately made that the only non natural material used in this project, as the idea was to observe rather than contribute to the cause). I found that the pieces swaying in the wind and flowing with the environment aided the osmosis of the mutated cells when movement occurred.

I took the photos later in the day in order to capture the river at a darker state to strengthen the concept and compliment the work with the site. However, it’s likeness is tricky to see in some of the photos, the final image is how it would likely be displayed in a exhibition setting. Ideally I would’ve loved to have left the work at the site temporarily and seen interaction from others to observe if people would register the representation, but unfortunately I am unable to as it may risk covid-19 cross contamination.   

Top - Representation of how I’d envision the mutated gene to look like. 

Centre - Tree roots expanding and connecting out using the backstitch embroidery technique - I also incorporated the map link and river section layout, and placed it in the centre to be shown as the heart/source of the affected area. 

Base - Narrow sight of the River image (subtle) being overpowered by the two tone effect of the acrylic print - mutation at the site. 

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Sewing on top of prints - working in layers to indicate constant evolution and mutation along the Allander River (site).

- Stitches of the shapes taken around the site - stitching is intentionally subtle in comparison to the acrylic print to show that the pollution is overpowering the environment in this area. 

*First attempt at using a sewing machine, after figuring out the different settings and getting used to how to move the fabric correctly it was much easier. - I went through 2 machines and 4 needles in the process.  

*Reincorporate map/grid lining work back in creative enquiry (back stitch inspired) piece.  

Artist Research ; 

Ana Teresa Barboza 

https://www.textileartist.org/ana-teresa-barboza-handcraft-nature/

Fiona Hutchinson 

https://www.fionahutchison.co.uk/exhibitions/

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Drawing Allander river landscapes on top of prints in the form of sound of river flow & experimenting with colour contrast. 

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Screen Printing  acrylic textile paint mix with stencil on tie dye fabrics. Stencil designs taken from previous clay imprints.

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Wuon-Gean Ho Artist talk (Zoom Edition) 16/12/20. Lino cuttings and prints made during lockdown, relatable emotions and having to adapt around the scenario - an interesting talk. Reduction Lino work was intriguing. 

Covid-19 - virus that is mutating, what are long term effects caused by being infected?

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Blind sound paintings (Acrylics on paper and canvas) - conveying the flow of the water and surrounding environment from the Allander River walk. 

Last painting portrays layers of sound overlapping. colour schemes are determined by the accelerated movement and body of the water. 

-Looks likes roots trying to find connections. 

*Reincorporate seismographs and sound work back into Creative Enquiry.

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Loved the concept of gathering the waste up from the environment and creating a form / sculpture with it as that’s normally how I would construct artforms. However, due to Covid-19 any contact with unfamiliar objects/ other peoples waste /contact in general would be unwise and be health and safety risk. 

Instead in order to continue with using natural materials while still portraying the human interference to the pollution and environment, I learned to single chain crotchet and connected it randomly with different knots in order to form a large anomaly/ mutation cell. By intertwining the piece through my hands I am mimicking the idea that we (humans)  are the source of the issue.  

*First attempt at crotchet - stuck with single chain links to connect everything continuously to appear as if in a set order. 

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Follow up from Macramé bag found at other linking blog -  https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ba4creativeenquiry

Learning different knot styles ; Palomar, clinch, turtle, blood, dropper & Chinese Crown. 

Youtube Videos -

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWw_f7CQQLg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QbJfpsGpmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YKeSp97pSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6AY-MJcrB8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0uFJez60xk&t=154s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEfKdNbMc-8&t=287s

Macramé Hybridization wall hang - inspired from the Allander River walk. Measuring 4.1ft height (hoop included) by 0.8 ft width. Mutated leaf cell in the center of the hoop representing nature and pollution impact. The Allander river with the centering a V shape (waterflow), following with horizontal Larkhead knot crossovers symbolic to fishing techniques and imitating DNA helix’s below - a mixture between regular and irregular - embodying mutations caused by pollution. Tie Dyed to show the spread of toxicity over time (attempted Ombre effect). 

Knots used; Hoop - Lark head, Square, half hitch, triple hitch and quadruple hitch and woven through. Hang; Square (alternating) , horizontal half hitch, spiral (regular & reverse). 

- Ideally I would like to continue this aspect forward to create a large scale piece, however, due to Covid restrictions and  health & safety measures it would be impractical as I would want the piece to be interactive. 

Artist Research;

Ernesto Neto

https://www.designboom.com/art/ernesto-neto-gaiamothertree-zurich-07-03-2018/

Sculpture Textile artist - GaiaMotherTree a large scale textile interactive installation with center seats, a place to connect and stimulate senses. Structure of the tree is beautiful and gentle patterns with vibrant colours. 

Sally England 

http://www.sallyengland.com/

- Textile artist, incorporating different knot styles, weaving and braiding techniques - past work explores combination of art pieces to the environment. (Tree, architecture, teepee).  

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Artbreeder (Continued) Crossbreeding the outcomes that I liked most to create a final dystopic outcome.  

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Artbreeder (Continued) Mutation of landscapes of time from Allander River images. 

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Artbreeder continued - using the encased water pollution image develop from. 

- I noticed as I uploaded these images the resolution seemed to pixelized more, distorting the image further.  

*Half and half utopic vs dystopic contrast acrylic painting, displaying the natural landscape before human interference and the destroyed future caused by pollution. (Lung shape to represent the wildlife and us constantly inhaling and consuming the toxicity - vision of a natural environment is shrinking on the left and beginning to see the destruction expand out on the right ).

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Artbreeder - Uploading and manipulating the landscape photo’s I took along the Allander River to create dystopic wastelands created from excess pollution -  what I picture the future to look as the environment adapts to survive if this issue continues. 

Artist Research ; 

Valerie Hegarty - https://inhabitat.com/valerie-hegarty-uses-recycled-materials-to-create-haunting-works-that-look-like-decay/

By using upcycled materials to draw attention to destruction and damage. I particularly enjoy the melted appearance and the roots forming from the framework - showing there is beauty in decay in it’s own right as it transforms itself to suit the environment over time. 

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Artbreeder crossover random images to create a mutated cell ( practice run continued). 

I continued the practice run until I was satisfied I had found an outcome that allowed the portrayal of what I had interpreted the form of a mutated gene would appear. *Detailing the final image above. What attracts me to this is the vibrancy of the colours and the overall shape it embodies - attractive but deadly vibe. 

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/killifish-survive-polluted-waters-thanks-to-genes-from-another-fish-65838

Interesting fact, the Killifish is a prime example of marine life that have had to undergo evolution and adapt to living within highly toxic polluted waters and have begun to thrive with this new mutated trait.  Though there isn’t killifish in the Allander River it makes me ponder how other species and the environment surrounding are adapting themselves - given different levels and types of pollution, outcome will be entirely distinctive to each site. 

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Art Breeder - forming crossovers & mutations from random images (practice run). 

Original 2 starting images aren’t my own creations but after morphing them together I am able to create a variety of mutated items and shapes that looks like could be found in rivers and seas as a result of pollution. 

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https://www.unep.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/

Informative articles regarding the severity of waste and pollution across the world. Endless seas of disposable plastic waste that's presence will exist for centuries without breaking down.

I found it rather disturbing to learn that these 10 rivers (detailed below) are made up of 90% of plastic waste which is constantly being dragged out to the oceans. Not only are the marine life likely to ingest this the cycle turns to us as we are consuming the marine life afterwards creating a constant mutated cycle. - Highlighting the issue of waste & the bacteria being produced alongside it is also a concerning matter. 

Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) 1,469,481 tonsIndus 164,332 tonsHuang He (Yellow River) 124,249 tonsHai He 91,858 tonsNile 84,792 tonsMeghna, Brahmaputra, Ganges 72,845 tonsZhujiang (Pearl River) 52,958 tonsAmur 38,267 tonsNiger 35,196 tonsMekong 33,431 tons.

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Hong Kong Soup 1826 - Wildlife 

Photographer of marine debris, Barker focuses on highlighting the waste crisis set in China through her (Soup) series - gathering waste from 30+ beaches . I particularly found the suspended in time plastic shaped animals intriguing. Almost bringing around the concept that they mutate to become what they are subjected to (plastic amongst many other items).