UNIT 4

I titled my Unit 4 project "Quiescent" which means to be in a 'state or period of inactivity or dormancy'. I specifically chose to study the elements and discover how I could capture them mid-motion when creating my garments.

Project Proposal, Bibliography and Timetable:

Poems:

These are the poems I looked at when beginning my project. I wanted to look at the way different poets personify the natural elements and how that could influence my research.

The Voice: A Treasury of South African Poetry- "MU."

THE MOON: Emily Dickinson Poems- Third Series (1896)

Warming Her Pearls: Carol Ann Duffy

THE SUN ON THE BOOKCASE: Thomas Hardy

Powerpoint Research Presentation:

For my research presentation I put together a powerpoint of my book work, then spoke in depth about each page when presenting it to my peers for feedback.

Feedback:

In response to my presentation, my peers suggested I look at Studio Ghibli as some of the Ghibli movie animations looked similar to the images I had been looking at in relation to 'wind'. I watched 'Castle in the Sky' as recommended and found the illustrations related really well to those I'd already been looking at by Leonardo Da Vinci.

When designing my final piece for 'wind' I took into consideration the structures of Studio Ghibli airships.

Unit 4 Sketch Book:

Planning my Photoshoot:

When photographing my final outcomes I looked at art by Pierre et Gilles as my influence. Although it is a lot more intense and theatrical than my work, I really like their aesthetic and the way they achieve an almost cosmic or seraphic look. I tried to achieve this when editing my own images by experimenting with different light tools on photoshop.

Final Outcomes

Target Audience:

For this project my target audience is the couture market. After thoroughly researching a range of designers including Iris Van Herpen and Hussein Chalayan my work has reflected a lot of similarities such as a more structural approach with my use of resin and wire.

Due to the nature of my garments they are not suitable for high-street or casual wear, I think they would work better for those attending big events, award ceremonies and other occasions that require bespoke designs.

Evaluation

‘Quiescent’-to be in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy. For unit 4 I chose ‘Quiescent’ as my title, to explore this narrative I researched the elements; fire, earth, water and wind. My aim for this project was to capture motion visually using structural materials. To plan my project I created a mind map, mood board and timetable which would help process and organise ideas, I also kept a log book throughout the project in which I noted each day of work and what I wanted to achieve on a weekly basis. Before starting my project research I annotated a range of poetry by Emily Dickinson, Thomas Hardy and Carol Ann Duffy. All poets are similar in the sense that they often reference nature, this was a key part of my research as I wanted to look at the way they personified the elements and how this could help me when experimenting with motion.

To begin my research on water I looked at designers such as Yiqing Yin and Iris Van Herpen- both of which are hugely influenced by nature. Yiqing Yin emphasises the importance of movement in her garments and therefore uses lighter weight fabrics that flow freely mid motion, this also reminded me of Greek sculpture which perfectly replicates wet or transparent fabrics despite being carved from something solid. One of my favourite sculptures is 'Mercury and Psyche' by Reinhold Begas- I really love this piece of art as Begas achieves such immense detail and intricacy in the marble statue.

To try and replicate this same appearance I used muslin and drenched it in water before draping it over the mannequin in various shapes by twisting and knotting it. From this I took images which I then proceeded to sketch over which gave me some great designs to work from. In contrast to free flowing fabrics, Iris Van Herpen uses a hard resin to create the illusion of splashing water. From this I created my own epoxy resin samples using my mannequin to manipulate it into shape, these turned out really well visually however I later on had to add fibre glass into my final design in order to combat its fragility.

When studying wind and hurricanes I became interested in a more surreal approach, for inspiration I looked at Hieronymus Bosch and Leonardo Da Vinci. Despite having different influences, both artists display ideas of flight throughout their works. Bosch's main influence is based off religion, the painting I was most interested in was the Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony. I really liked the imaginary floating figures, some of which flew on flying fish and others that had sails guiding them through the sky. With this surreal approach it gave me the idea to create a wing like piece as part of a final outcome. I used Leonardo Da Vinci’s flying machine designs as a template for my own structure which would be worn as part of a final outcome- in response to feedback from my class presentation I also looked at the airship animations from Studio Ghibli. To explore the different possibilities I used wire and tights to form my construction. So that I could also achieve motion that mimicked the motion of wind, I used stretchy fabric to connect the wing-like wire piece to the wrist of my model so that it would move in accordance to the model's arm gestures.

For my research on fire I started by taking my own photos at a fireplace to observe shapes and movement of the flames- these led to the correlation in dance and therefore introduced me to the American dancer Loie Fuller in footage from “Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies”. I really liked the imagery of this as it demonstrated such subtle movement however the light fabric from which the dancer's garment was made from gave the illusion of more dramatic movement. To incorporate these concepts into design I sketched a range of garments focussing on the placement of fabric to mimic delicate burning flames, I also created samples from synthetic fabrics such as polyester by burning shapes into them using a hot metal tool to create different textures that could be layered up.

I then used these samples of burnt fabric alongside the original fire photos I took to create a collage, by scanning this I was able to create a print on photoshop which could be transferred onto fabric using a heat press.

In my project proposal I had originally planned on researching photographer Steven Gill and creating cyanotypes for my earth research. As seen in my sketchbook I didn't follow through with this because I came up with a new and slightly more ambitious idea for my 'earth' studies. Instead I decided to focus on crystals from the earth, specifically those found in crystal caves such as Nettlebed Cave, New Zealand and Naica Mine in Mexico. I started by looking at my mother's crystal collection, the ones that stood out to me the most were opalite, amethyst and rose quartz. When looking at crystal sculptures I came across the works of Alexis Karl who creates skulls using different stones. My favourite piece is called 'Genus Open Jaw' which is made of quartz, sellinite, marble powder and resin. I think the way she makes it appear as though the crystals are growing from the object is really interesting; to create my own sample inspired by this I tried to make salt crystals. For the best chance of at least one successful crystal I made three separate solutions using table salt, epsom salt and borax. To form these I mixed equal parts water and salt/borax with blue food colouring- then stirred until dissolved. I left these out for a few days with a piece of string in the solution for the potential crystals to grow from and waited for results. The only one which worked was the table salt mixture which formed lots of little blue crystals. I was really happy with how this came out however I know next time to create a larger number of solutions for a higher rate of successful samples.

To see how this could be incorporated into fashion I looked at Thierry Mugler's Spring/Summer 1998 collection in which a model wears a transparent jumpsuit with hundreds of crystals sewn onto it to give the illusion of crystals growing straight from the skin, in response to this I bought a pair of vintage transparent gloves and decided to hand sew crystal beads on to mimic this look.

I am very pleased with my outcomes for Unit 4, this has been my favourite project so far as it has given me unlimited creative freedom and allowed me to progress in such a huge way by experimenting with so many new materials.