Third Year Practice - Sampling and Testing

Third Year Practice - Sampling and Testing

After attempting to cut the Perspex myself, I decided that I should try and create a more finished and professional look, therefore I decided to go on the laser cutter. I found the machine simple to use and it gave me the chance to experiment in a different way. I created a lot of different samples, varying my range as much as possible. I used a mixture of transparent Perspex and white Perspex. I also cut circles and created a long rectangle piece as well. I liked the idea that I could play around with the different sized circles, large and small, depending on the thread that I wanted to use. The laser cutter has given me the finish that I wanted from my Perspex samples.

I have threaded the samples up using a different range of materials and thread. I have tried to use a variety of threads, using plastic threads, wire, pipe cleaners and traditional embroidery threads. I have also experimented and used a thin strip of stretchy, jersey material. I wanted to experiment as much as possible to see which line and material works the best. I really like the leather cord as it holds itself within the Perspex, creating loops and giving my sample a 3D effect.

Third Year Practice - Sampling and Testing

Third Year Practice - Sampling and Testing

Having spend a lot of time experimenting with soft and transparent backgrounds. It was suggested to me to that I test the idea of using a hard background on my samples. I firstly moved towards Perspex. I used a 3mm sheet with the idea of cutting it into circles and then drilling smaller circles into the first circle this gave me the opportunity to thread the piece up in different ways depending on the holes. This was something that I attempted by myself, however it did not work out how I expected. The Perspex was too thin and buckled under the pressure of all the holes. However, I had a 10mm piece available and tried the same idea with this. I decided not to cut the Perspex into a circle (as I was experimenting with a new material I thought it might be worth keeping a square and experimenting with the shape as well leaving the circle behind) I used a thin plastic thread in white and a thing leather thread in black, I picked these threads as they were flexible enough to create loops coming out of the holes. I really like the way that the thick Perspex and how it came out I think that because you can look at the samples on either side, it represents two totally different patterns and two different journeys, depending on which way to view it.

Third Year Practice - Sampling and Testing

Third Year Practice - Sampling and Testing

I have moved my work forward and have experimented with joining my samples together and how I want them too look in the final show. I experimented with different method of joining them together, for example, leaving a gap between each circle and overlapping the circles. I see my final design as a instillation piece on a blank wall. A problem that I have to over come is what the sample will look like on a wall, if there is a gap, my sample wont be as strong and wont be able to hold itself on the wall therefor it will flop down or bunch and crease. However, my favourite sample is the one where there is a gap, I think that this fits well with my concept as it represents different journeys and different times, making each circle an individual piece, rather than one huge circle with one continual journey on it.

Third Year Practice - Sampling

Third Year Practice - Sampling

During the process of sampling, I found that my favourite thread was something that I found called “Parachute Cord” I really enjoyed using this thread as it was rather chunky therefor gave the desired line that I was looking for. I wanted the line to be bold and the first thing that the audience noticed. I used the monochrome colour pallete, like I have throughout my whole project. Another thing that I enjoyed about this thread was that because of its thickness, it held very well on samples, where as other thread were too thin and buckled under the fabric (eg the plastic threads on the PVC material did not work and ended up bunching together when it was taken out of the embroidery hoop)I found that this “parachute cord” worked really well with the netting fabric and gave me a strong solid sample.

Third Year Practice - Sampling

Third Year Practice - Sampling

When I began sampling, I looked back over all the work that I had created or collected through out this brief. What struck me the most were my bus movement drawings, which I had printed onto acetate, I did this because I wanted the line to be the main focus and not the background. I loved that you could only see the line on the transparent paper, making the audience focus on the movement within the line giving it a new quality. This was my starting point for my samples. These particular samples are created using a mixture of hand stitch, running stitch and chain stitch, with ordinary black thread. I decided to run over these stitches on a domestic sewing machine in order to make them less rigid and neat, as I was trying to create movement in my samples. I think this worked very well as it gives off the same shaky effect that the original bus movement drawings do. These samples are literal translations of the bus movement drawings, I lay my fabric over the top and traced the movement. 

The circe is something that has come about by accident, originally the circle was just the fabric that I cut out of the embroidery hoop, however, I think that the circle works well and I have been trying to find a way to relate that idea back to my work in order for it to make sense and relate to my brief.