Unit X - Outward Facing

Unit X - Outward Facing

As part of my outward facing, I completed a work long placement with Z-Arts.

Z-Arts is a Manchester based company, working with families and communities to have with within the arts.I took part in was a four day long craft workshop based around ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’. The crafts ranged from screen-printing to clay modeling. Each workshop featured 15 children aged from 7-10. My role in these workshops were to help set up the room before the children arrived. I was also there to help the children complete the tasks that had been set each day. I found these workshops really rewarding and because the workshop was a week long I felt that I could get to know the children really well and build up a relationship with them. What I liked most about these workshops was that I could teach the children some of the skills that I have learnt though out my education and translate it for them to use within their own work. All the children were happy to learn and take part within the workshops. I feel that by completing this workshop, I have a clear sense of what I want to continue with after my University education. The placement at Z-Arts has helped me to understand what is needed of me to become a teacher. Taking on this placement has given me knowledge and experience that I would not have gained otherwise. I feel that I now have a clear view of what it takes to become a teacher or a mentor for children and how much responsibility and work is needed.

Unit X - Laser Samples

Unit X - Sampling 

These are some laser samples that I have created using the laser cutter. I have found that by using the laser cutter to cut my samples, I am achieving the samples that I want. The laser cutter works perfect for what I am trying to achieve as I need my samples to be really precise in order to thread them up and them work together as a collection. I have used these samples to experiment with how my samples would look as a collection. I have tried to create them as a minimum of six in order to get a sense of how they would look joined together. I have experimented with different types and thickness of Perspex, from 3mm upwards to different colours, although sticking to my colour scheme throughout. I have used a white, black and a neutral coloured Perspex. I have found that clear Perspex was my favourite material as I want the line of my work to be the main focus. By using a transparent background the audience is immediately drawn to the line and no focus was taken from the journey running throughout. I also like the thread that I have used, Parachute Cord. I feel that the line is very crisp and clear through this sample. The line is free-flowing and continual throughout the whole sample.

Unit X - Artist Research

Unit X - Artist Research

(Image taken from Hannah's website - www.hannahleightonboyce.com)

For the start of my Unit X brief, I began researching artists to help with inspiration for my own brief. I had already decided to carry on my work from the Practice Brief as I felt that I could take my ideas a lot further and push my samples into the next Unit. I found the Manchester based artist Hannah Leighton-Boyce. Her work is very similar to the work that I have been creating, focusing on data and displaying that data. Although, Hannah displays the data that she finds, exactly how she found it, no visualizations. This differs from my work as I am translating the data that I have found and creating another piece of artwork from my findings. What I like most about Hannah’s work is the way that she displays her data. She uses a huge sheet of paper, made from smaller sheets, displayed onto the wall with her movement drawings on this. I like the way that her drawings escape the paper and go onto the wall. This is also a very simple way of displaying her work. This is something that I want to translate into my own work, a very simple way of displaying my data findings.

Third Year Practice - Visualisations

Third Year Practice - Visualisations

These are some visualisations and plans that I have created in order to show what I would like my work to develop into. I have always been focused towards creating a final installation piece during Unit X and these drawings show what I would like to achieve. I would like my work to be placed on a clean white wall, this is because I think that it will not take any focus off my work and make my focus of quality of line stand out that little bit more. I would also like my work to be a collection of things, something I have focused on during my 'Practice Brief'. I want my final piece to be a large scale piece of work made up of multiples of things. I would like to have a mixture of soft and hard background within my final designs, I think that this is not only for how my final piece will look but also for practical issues as I think the Perspex will give the piece strength in order to sit on the wall. 

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.