Final Major Project Week Four

I am wary of the time scale of my final major project and am therefore constantly checking my original project action plan and timetable. Having compared my proposed level of development with my current position I am confident that I am on top of work and planning my production effectively.

By week the end of week three I had intended to have extensive primary and secondary research, drawings and collages as well as to have conversed with peers about the subject matter in hand. I have achieved these aims so far and am even ahead of schedule, in that I am already well into the textile and silhouette development stage I had proposed to commence in week four. 

Upon reflection I have identified that at the beginning of the project I was more heavily involved with facts and figures and that I had hoped to combine slogans with my creative work. I have decided that, although this neglect was not necessarily intentional, it may well be for the best, as my work is edging towards a more conceptual, less literal approach to veganism. Through critical evaluation I have concluded to allow my natural progression away from original intentions, as this is part of the process. I may later return to the slogans, facts and figures I explored earlier in the project, for additional design or promotion purposes. 

In order to advance my project I have begun official design development. I am using practical skills such as paper manipulation, calico stand-work and silhouette extraction to do this. I find the method of using paper on the mannequin effective in producing quick and easy silhouette ideas. I have so far translated artist research into Lovis Corinth into carcass inspired paper forms, extracted silhouettes from docu-film imagery of peeling/skinning cows- exploring them in thin-weight paper on the stand- and directly interpreted Alex Van Gelder's meat portraiture (as well as the primary research I conducted inspired by it) when draping in calico.

Sketchbook page- Author's Own

When presenting this development in my sketchbook, I felt some pages were more succesful than others. I identified the problem of fitting multiple variations on one page, along with the research that inspired it. I solved this by allowing a 'busier' page than I might usually and accepting that this need not compromise the success of the composition of the page.  I concluded also that going forward I would present my mannequin work on larger print outs to allow an audience better viewing of detailing.

Sketchbook page- Author's own

During the process of draping on the stand I endeavoured to find the balance between my context being apparent and an avoidance of too literal design-work. I pinned carcass shapes on the form, but allowed them to curve, fall and be manipulated. This made for an abstraction of the original silhouette whereby the reference and context becomes less obviously presented. 

I feel my stand work is very strong, however I am aware of the multitude of different styles I am trying to do all at once. This is something I habitually do and through self-evaluation am trying to address. Going forward I aim to tie each element of my research together seamlessly, but will certainly not cram all my ideas into one final output as this would dilute the content and decrease the overall quality of my project.

Sketchbook page- Author's own

Final Major Project Week Three

Having evaluated my work so far I am encouraged to be further conscious of exploring and utilising the multiple processes I have learnt throughout this foundation.

As part of my constant self-evaluation process I have asked peers their reactions to my work and also find group crit meetings highly useful. I have taken their advice to create larger textile and tactile samples. I have done this by delving into trials of melting, gluing, painting, stitching, dying and other surface decorations and fabric manipulations.

Process documentation collage- Author's own

The textile samples I am creating aim to be fleshy, skin-like and grotesque but to also have a touch of beauty and intrigue. Each sample is a literal or conceptual translation of my research material. For example for one sample I took a docu-film research image of a dairy cows in poor conditions and manipulated the image using the flatbed scanner. I found this to be a succesful method in producing interesting textile ideas on paper. The process is prolific and when combined with melted, synthetic felt in a blood red tone, stitched and cut into, revealing negative space, makes for a highly inspiring textile design idea.

As well as taking advice to trial larger samples I was also encouraged to have more primary research. I jumped out of my comfort zone therefore and began photographing meat in plastic. I referenced my artist research into Alex Van Gelder when conducting this photography session. I was inspired by him in that I used a black background and vivid/ intense colour contrast. I have since explored multiple processes with the photographs taken; I have printed on photo paper, tracing paper, brown paper and acetate and have also melted, stitched, sealed and cut into the images. Some of the primary research shots will be useful for silhouette extraction.

Sketchbook page- Author's own

I am believe my use of stitching and layering, to mirror cow prints discovered via my initial research stages, has been succesful. I have sourced interesting velvet and neoprene samples that when combined create an engaging juxtaposition.

Sketchbook page- Author's own

I am pleased that I was encouraged to hold-off beginning my official 'design process' of black line sketching/ clothing design on A4, as this has prolonged my earliest stage; which is the rawest creatively. This has meant I am continually developing varied processes and design methods beyond the, sometimes restricting, process of fashion sketching.

Going forward I feel I am ready to begin the more solid translation of initial research into design development. I will work on the stand in paper, calico and colour, collage images as part of silhouette progression and commence contextualising this development on the female form.