Initial Designs

Some of these designs are related to the idea of combination garments and others inspired by the drop-hole technique, which I mentioned in previous posts. The first three design sheets, I have used quite classic and simple garments, a shirt, mac, and maxi dress, and the last two design sheets I have also kept quite simple, as I am just getting used to the ideas, but I will develop them more to suit my concepts in the final designs.

Drop-hole Technique

Taken from the book 'Pattern Magic', me and my group tried out the drop-hole technique in class, which was amazing, however it was quite complicated so we didn't manage to finish it, but it was something really unusual and intelligent, that I would never have even thought of, or have been able to create a pattern for. All of the techniques are Japanese, which is quite obvious by the way they look, and the methods used, which can be quite complicated. As I haven't got any images from class to show you, here are some from the book, the first one is the technique we attempted.....

Concept pages

Combination garments

Continuing from the previous posts, the puzzle that I worked with had lots of combinations or ways to put the blocks together, which linked into the idea of layers and confusion from the babel theme. So I thought it would be a good idea to have layered garments which contain some structure, which can have elements of them which the wearer can remove, such as removable sleeves for the summer. It links with the perception theme and miscommunication, as you do not expect that they can be removed, as they are well hidden. It is interactive too, as the wearer is making the decisions about how they want to wear the garment and what they want the overall layered look to be like.

The process of doing what I did with the puzzle or having a number of combinations is quite spontaneous and accidental, which reminds me of Jackson Pollock...






















...his abstract expressionist paintings using the 'drip and splash' technique were based on the whole idea of spontaneity and chance, and they were about being free and interacting with the canvas, rather than focussing on something else, such as an object or person, to create it.

Another thing I've decided on is the colour scheme based on my concepts. I had a few intitial ideas:
1. be spontaneous, and pick a colour out of the bag, maybe not a great idea seeing as I've got such a range of pantones!
2. do opposing/clashing colours, such as orange and pink, bright and pale...
3. choose one colour, but different shades..

...I ended up choosing number 3 because I think it will work best with my design ideas as there will be lots of layers, with different tones of the same colour. I've chosen a colour pallete of nude colours and some slightly darker and brighter ones which will go with the more pale colours, to give a nice contrast, and unexpected clash, and act as highlighters, creating a depth in the layers.

Some of the colours I've chosen:

Prints and fabrics

After the messing about with puzzles from the previous post, I created a print with just one of the images, and because they were all geometric shapes with straight lines, they're quite easy to get a print out of, so it would work for more than one print too, but here's an example...

I'm really impressed with how its come out, its great against the black background, I tried it with quite a pale background and I think it looks just as good, if not better...

I didn't mean to leave a black outline, but it works very well, without it, the print might not stand out as much.

Fabrics I've been looking at are waterproof, wrinkle free and odourless ones, as they are intelligent fabrics and give beautiful clothes an additional purpose, and a practicality. I only managed to find waterproof fabrics, such as nylon, poly/cotton, nylon/polyester, and coated cotton, the samples will be on the design sheets. These are all great fabrics which are good quality and don't look too much like tent fabrics!

Also to fit in with the idea of miscommunication and confusion, I have looked at sheer fabrics, where you can see the outline of the body or silhouette through the fabric, sort of like an illusion. I chose fabrics such as chiffon and organza . I was also looking for a sheer, matte, plastic type fabric but couldn't find the actual fabric, just examples in garments, I guess I could use a plain shower curtain!

Solve the puzzle

Going back to the idea of conceptual art and how you can perceive it in your own way, it would be interesting to see how things are put together without following the rules or instructions and to see how they are interpreted into something different each time, for example puzzles, garments, furniture such as tables, wardrobes etc. 

I was going to use a jigsaw puzzle to demonstrate this, but the only one I found was a one with frogs on it, containing a thousand pieces, which probably would have taken a couple of hours to get two pieces to match up! Anyway I found something much more interesting. My sister bought me a puzzle from a maths museum in germany which contains four wooden pieces and the aim is to create a T shape out of them. I can never figure how to do it but I did create some other shapes....

I tried out some flat shapes which turned out really well, and could possibly be used as prints if they were repeated. But then I tried doing layered ones where I piled the pieces up, which I was inspired to do by the babel theme which means a mixture of voices translated to different things, so a confusion of things I guess, and this is what I came up with....

..actually I did manage to make a T in the end! Well i kind of cheated, I layered the pieces up but I guess its my own interpretation!

The top photo is taken facing straight down on the little structure and the bottom image is the same structure but shows the side view and its dimensions which you cannot make out from the top image. So, depending on how you you view it, it looks different, or translates to something different. This connects really well with the idea of miscommunication. It sort of portrays how things have more than one aspect to them, which may be hidden if you don't look close enough, an interesting idea that I could incorporate into my designs.

Here's some more...

The blocks created some great shapes and structure, inspiring the ideas of patterns for fabrics and structures for garments.

Keeping it interactive

I really like the idea of involving the viewer in your art, and possibly getting them to create it or be part of it.

This has also reminded me of an exhibition that I went to see before I started this project which was held at Manchester Art Gallery, it was very interactive as it got the viewers to take part in and create the art, without them, it would not function. Here's the artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, explaining more....

Interactive Art

The idea of communicating with the viewer through art work led me to this artist, Scott Sona Snibbe, who actually does interactive art. These videos show examples of his work. They're both really great and get the viewers to engage in completely different ways....

Hidden meaning

Following on with my theme of miscommunication, a key word pops to mind, and that is 'perception'. This led me to the artist Joseph Kosuth as he is a conceptual artist. The whole idea of conceptual art for me is the way it makes you wander and question it. There is no obvious answer, and you don't know why its been put there or what it derived from, only the artist does, but thats what is great about it, it is there for you to have your own interpretation. This also led me to Robert Rauschenberg, whose work I've looked at before, and really liked.

These are examples of Joseph Kosuth's work, this website shows more of his work:
http://radicalart.info/concept/tautology/kosuth/index.html

He communicates most of his ideas through language, in the form of words and sometimes images, and he uses references which seem very literal, which really makes you think and engage with the installations. Its quite interactive in that way, as it is made to be seen and interpreted by people, as are lots of art installations I guess, but I chose Kosuth in particuar because I like the way he communicates his art.

Robert Rauschenberg uses found objects and images to create collage-like pieces with his art, which are purely visual. It was really hard for me to choose images to put on here because I love all of his work, but here are three that I really like...!

Rauschenberg's work is great to look at, I like that its quite graphical, but I think the most important thing is that it represents something, each piece has a different purpose, but also his work was about moving away from Abstract art, which was very popular at the time, it has great meaning behind it.

Again it leads to the idea of engaging with the audience.

Retraction please!

Following on from the previous post, I was looking into heat sensitive fabrics, and glow in the dark ones, and I came across this post from a blog called Hue...

http://hueconsulting.blogspot.com/2009/02/color-changing-fabric-hot-or-not.html

....I changed my mind immediately! I can safely say I will not be able to create something as sophisticated as Angel Chang, with glow in the dark and colour changing fabrics. So I'll leave it to the pro's, moving on...!

Beautiful Technology

Whilst researching, I found a book called 'Fashionable Technology' full of amazing designs all containing technology, I particularly liked a couple of the designers. Firstly, I really liked a fashion designer, Angel Chang. She collaborates with technologists to produce beautiful designs, which also have a subtle and practical element of technology to them, which are hidden, or only the wearer knows about, such as....

...this dress made up of heat sensitive fabric, which when heated, shows a map of Manhattan, and the city's best restaurant, bars etc, perfect for exploring New York.

This dress is another of her amazing designs, it has built in controls for an mp3 player, which are well camouflaged.

Choice of fabric is also important, such as this dress where Chang has used wrinkle free fabric.

The second designer I really liked was a company called Lost Values who do lots of fashion, technology combo's, but my favourites are these gorgeous vintage inspired fan and parasol. They have integrated solar panels which collect energy to power lights, they're so pretty, you wouldn't expect them to have hidden solar panels!