jane-objectdesign-blog

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29/08/17

Final Object

Through some online browsing, I was able to learn three knotting techniques commonly used in macrame, a half knot, diagonal half hitch and a square knot. However, I only ended up using two knots for my macrame, half knots and two diagonal half hitches, coming towards each other.

In the lesson, I was able to fix up the mistakes I made previously and really tidy up the knots and the ends of the rope by giving them a trim. As you can see the original wooden rod that was used to hold the macrame has been changed to a branch that I found on the grass area at uni, this is because I accidentally laid my bag on top of it and it snapped in half. 

What I found the most difficult about this project, was the short amount of time we had to complete our object. There were also many times where I got confused about how to create a certain type of knot and had to end up undoing several knots. If I was given more time to work on this project, I definitely would’ve been more detailed and learnt more macrame knots to perfect it.

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Messager, A 1993-94, Penetration, image, viewed 24 August 2017, <http://www.designboom.com/cms/images/ridcue/berjan01.jpg/>

The light shades are created by sucking a circular knitted textile around a resin cluster of balloons. The semi-translucent light serves as a reflector for the LED lights of the golden lining inside.

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Knitta Please, 2008, The Mexico City Bus Project, image, viewed 24 August 2017, <http://tendenciasdemoda.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/knitta-please-bus.jpg>

In this work, Knitta Please has gathered many colourful hand-made pieces created by herself and other people who participated in the project. The hand-made pieces are then sewn by hand together over the bus, resulting in a fully covered bus.

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23/08/17

At the workshop, I was able to hang up my rode, making it easier for me to work on my macrame. First off, I folded the 3 metres of rope in half, over the rod and into the loop to secure, repeating this step 14 times.

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23/08/17

I took a trip to Spotlight in Wollongong as the materials I originally bought with me weren’t strong enough to for macrame. From Spotlight I purchased two items that I would be needing for the project, 50m of macrame rope and 1 metre rod. Once I got back to the studio, I headed to the workshop where I was able to cut the rod in half. I then measured and cut out 14x 3 metres of the macrame rope.

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Bertjan Pot is a designer based in the Netherlands, he heavily focuses on material and production processes. Pot graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 1988, and started off his career at The Monkey Boys with fellow designer, Daniel White. Later in 2003, he started designing under the name, Studio Bertjan Pot, which he still uses until this day.

Under Studio Bertjan Pot, he works alongside designers, Vladi Rapaport and Marjolein, where they produced interior products, using experimental approaches with unique techniques, texture, structure, pattern and colour. Almost all of his designs come from experiments in materials, he believes that the way a product feels is just as important as the way it looks. In addition to their own work, Studio Bertjan Pot has collaborated with companies and institutions for example, Moooi, Montis, Established & Sons, Alturo Alvarez, Richard Lampert, Den Herder Production House, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, and the AUDAX Textielmuseum Tilburg (Pamono 2017).

Pot is best known for his ‘Random Light’ (1999), introduced in the Moooi collection in 2002. The Random Light started as a material experiment, as most of the works created by the studio, it is a globe-shaped pendant lamp made of resin drained glass-fiber yarn. Other interesting works created by Pot, include his collection, ‘Masks’ (2010-). In this series, he creates ‘contemporary renditions of folkloric masks’ by stitching coloured ropes together forming a newly textured human face. The series started, when Pot attempted to create a flat carpet by stitching coils of ropes together, however, it was resulted in curvier swatches, in which Pot was able to use the swatches as the contours and depths of the human face to make a mask. Pot’s masks possess quite contrasting qualities: the bright colour schemes, which range from bold to pastel-hued colours, instilling cheeriness to what would otherwise be considered to a rather morbid distortion of the human face (Chang 2014).

Most of Pot’s experiments are formed from impetuous thoughts and curiosity for the function or appearance of something. From there he takes on challenges with manufacturers to explore possibilities and push boundaries. In many of Pot’s works, he is able to give mundane objects more playful characteristics, such as the masks and other works including the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ chandelier. Pot has taken an average folding safety-ladder and several LED lights, dispensing it upside, from the ceiling to create an inventive and new concept (Hughes 2012). He uses a unique and shape and form to display the lights rather than working with normal chandelier, this has enables him to set his design apart from other chandeliers and become a more memorable piece.

Pamono, 2017, ‘Studio Bertjan Pot’, Pamono, weblog post, viewed 22 August 2017, <https://www.pamono.com.au/designers/studio-bertjan-pot>

Harrison, D 2014, ‘Bertjan Pot Interview – Dutch design can be fun’, Design daily, weblog post, viewed 22 August 2017, <https://www.designdaily.com.au/blog/2014/5/bertjan-pot-interview-dutch-design-can-be-fun>

Chang, S 2014, Bertjan Pot’s Ongoing Mask Series’, Hi-Fructose, weblog post, viewed 22 August 2017, <http://hifructose.com/2014/03/19/bertjan-pots-ongoing-carpet-mask-series/>

Hughes, D 2012, ‘Stairway to Heaven by Studio Bertjan Pot’, Yellowtrace, weblog post, viewed 22 August 2012, <https://www.yellowtrace.com.au/stairway-to-heaven-by-studio-bertjan-pot/>

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22/08/17

After choosing our mundane objects, we were given the night before to prepare a little research presentation for our mundane object. As we were presenting, our classmates were able to give us input and criticism. With this, I was able to receive some feedback, since I mentioned that I wanted to work with textiles, someone suggested that I worked with macrame. As I did some research, I found that it wouldn’t be too hard to create a macrame wall-hanging and decided that I would go with that plan.

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 Messager, A 1993-94, Penetration, image, viewed 24 August 2017, < http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NRU1rwqSJ3s/UROlb1Nr6XI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/1VHYmFSgh8I/s1600/v12+045.jpg/>

Messager’s artistic practice has expanded from two-dimensional works to large-scale installations, many of which have moving elements. Many of her installation works incorporates photographs, prints, drawings and everyday objects and textiles such as soft toys, fabrics and wool.

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Mundane Object - Research

A lamp shade is a cover for a lamp, used to diffuse or direct its light. They come in many shapes and materials- conical, cylindrical or glass, fabric, plastic, paper and metal and nowadays comes in various styles to suit people’s décor needs.

The first lamps used date back to 70 000BC, with a simple structure of a shell or a hollow rock, holding a piece of moss soaked in animal fat that burns with a flame. Lanterns from the past used to be in a form of a vase-like shade to protect the flame. The first lamp shades were generally used to soften the light from candles and then later on used for oil lamps. However, in the 19th century, glass lamp shades were predominantly used for oil lamps and gaslights (Bellis 2016). The lamp shade prototypes that are commonly seen today, made an appearance in the 1600s. Over the years, the lamp shade became more and more decorated. Around 1890, Louis Tiffany began to sell a highly ornate lamp shade to the general public. It was made of brightly coloured glass and the Tiffany lamp shade has been admired worldwide. In the 19th century, Victorian lamp shades were growing in popularity as, electricity became a more common. These lamp shades were created with stretched fabric on a wire frame which was then enhanced with beading hangings from the bottom of it. Lamp shade design did not begin in the late 19th century, but that's when it was elevated beyond mere functionality. Shades gave lamp makers an opportunity to shine a light on their sense of aesthetics, whether it was to create an aura or an eye-catching centrepiece (Voronoff 2017).

Fringe is a decorative textile trim applied to an edge of a textile piece. The origins of fringe, date back to Native American tribes of the Plains where they had created garments with fringe, which served as a type of gutter that repelled rainwater from the wearer. Fringe first became a decorative fashion embellishment in the 1920s. It is also often used as a border or edge of hanging threads, cords, or strips, and was often found on garments made from suede, leather, and buckskin (Encyclopedia 2004).

The lamp shade I have chosen, from research seems to have some characteristics of a Victorian lamp shade, as it uses fabric as its cover along with decorative textiles such as fringes and tassels. As seen in the photographs of the lamp, their visible stains and although I am not completely sure what the reasoning for the staining is, some possibilities include the heat of the previous light used or simply, it just got dirty. Light can greatly affect materials such as fabric in many ways. Some materials will absorb light of one colour and re-emit light of another colour, this effect is called fluorescence. 

Bellis, M 2016, ‘History of Lighting and Lamps’ , ThoughtCo., weblog post, viewed 22 August 2017, <https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-lighting-and-lamps-1992089>

Voronoff, K 2017, ‘The History of the Lampshade’, eHow, weblog post, viewed 22 August 2017, < http://www.ehow.com/facts_7569226_history-lampshade.html>

Encyclopedia, 2004, ‘Fringe’, Encyclopedia, weblog post, viewed 22 August 2017, <http://www.encyclopedia.com/sports-and-everyday-life/fashion-and-clothing/clothing-jewelry-and-personal-adornment/fringe>

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16/08/17

In this lesson, we were given a lecture on ‘Materials and Making Processes Readily Available in Australia’, where we were able to check out the resources and processes available in Australia. We then took the trip to the Salvation Army down in Wollongong CBD to go pick out our mundane object.  As I was walking around looking for an object, a few items came into my interest, the first of which being a silver teaspoon, with carvings engraved on it. The next one was a Tiki-looking  totem, however, I was finding it difficult to think of why I would want this to be my mundane object and how I would find inspiration off of them. After a few laps, I spotted the lamp shade and what at first intrigued me to the object was the staining on the fabric along with the little fringe attached to the bottom of the fringe. I thought that I could possibly do something within textiles or staining, and so I was set on the lamp shade.

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15/08/17

In our first lesson, I was absent, however I was informed that we went through a lecture on the ‘Redesigning the Mundane’, where we talked about the different strategies and techniques.