Unit X // processes

The materiality workshop really got me thinking about different types and variety of material. Doing the 'TO sheets', for example’ TO cut’  ‘TO fold’, this reminded me of the Friday drawing days which we did in first year. This made me want to draw more. With the workshop it made me think that I need to use the process thinking by doing more.

 

I  have been moving out of my comfort zone and trying to draw people in a fun way, which will then maybe transfer to laser or print. I have really liked some of these outcomes and  have found a way of drawing where it won’t look crap.

I am really enjoying researching architecture and interiors and I think this has been inspired by the  New York studio visits. Also, by going to Florence and New York it made me realise not to be so precious with my work. When drawing I find myself being less experimental than I would be when working with materials. As part of this project I have set myself a target to improve my drawings skills in the hope that it will enhance and give personality to my laser designs.

I also during this project tried to get myself out more and drawing whilst at the space instead of drawing from images I have taken and this really worked for me.

During this project I wanted to ask the people of  the Northern Quarter and the building what they would like for the piece, but then I wanted to create something I thought would get a conversation going, even if it was nothing to do with the piece itself. I feel like from the rooftop project and the event this happened. I created a sketch book to put by the side of my work to get conversations down into that.

I also during the night took down conversations I heard and I hope I can take this and carry it on as it was really fun. I also like that I won't just be stopping at what I have done and carrying it on further.

The panel

With the panel my initial thought was to have it bright and lots of block colour, however through group tutorial it was mentioned that the construction qualities would be lost. Just pops of colour would actually complement my work. When working with the CNC machine and using plywood it made it split, therefore I had to use the wood workshop to sand and file the piece. However it still had raw edges so I used pops of colour to line the insides of the panel.When looking for materials I remembered the ones we used during the material workshop and tried to incorporate these into my work. By combining spray paint and the bubble wrap textured material it really transformed the material to the point it looked like metal. This made me think that unattractive materials can be made attractive and still retain their texture. Because of how much time I spent trying to figure out ways to add colour, this really did make time short for me. This comes down to my organisation skills again and figuring these bits out earlier. If I had more time I would have refined the piece and  varnished the wood. The rope which provided the pops of colour needed neatening as they started to fray.

When at the space I decided to work with the other two panels like I wanted to do initially and I brought over shapes from my panel and spray painted them onto the existing panels. I really liked how this worked with the piece. I decided to use the CNC machine so I would get grooves into the wood and then this would allow me to trap textile. With the laser cutter I didn't get this effect as you can only cut or engrave. By using the CNC machine I got a more 3d look to the panel. ATOL the architect was really impressed that I did this on the CNC machine .He explained that it's really difficult to do this and  still keep the detail of the illustration.