Wearing Plato’s Disco
Visiting the Whitworth Art Gallery as a group, there was so
much inspiration to be taken, but we decided on the permanent installation Plato’s Disco by David Bachelor.
As a
group, we communicated quite well from the beginning, in the form of what we
wanted to make and with the help of inspiration mood boards and discussions. In our mood boards we added pictures from the
galleries we visited and images from our research to give us an idea of pathway. From this we decided on making jewellery, using fabric and glass. When I came up with the design ideas for the
necklaces, I sent drawings to Matty Hall so he could understand what I was
aiming at. We also discussed size and
shape before he made the glass pieces.
I was glad to have
collaborated with Matty in the end, because the glass and textile work blended
well together to make jewellery and we really kept to the inspiration, colour,
shapes and theme. He produced the glass pieces while I laser cut organza fabric
and constructed
the jewellery using wire. When I first
tried this, I used thick embroidery thread, but it was too floppy. I used wire to thread the glass pieces and
the laser cut organza quadrilaterals, alternating with beads, according to my
designs. I decided to use beads in between the organza as spacers because I
wanted it to be less dense and I thought it looked nice on the first sample. I then threaded waxed cord using a slip knot
to finish of the necklace. The slip knot I learnt from my tutor gives the
adjustment to the necklace length. I
first thought of using manufactured fastenings such as clasps, but that
wouldn’t have had as much adjustment as I would have liked, and I also wanted
the finishing to be handmade. We have produced four pairs of earrings and four necklaces and also made one bracelet to go with all of them.
Display at the Craft centre
At first one of our group members couldn’t take part with Matty
and myself, but later he took the colour and inspiration from Plato’s Disco to match with our theme. For the final exhibition he made a jewellery
box and some display stands for the necklaces, which made a great difference
for the display. I was disappointed
about the one-minute video we had to present for the exhibition at the Craft
and Design Centre, because we were advised to format it in landscape, but we hadn’t
read the full description given to us properly and ours was portrait. If I have to make a video again for a future
project, I will keep in mind to use landscape.
I wore the jewellery we produced, so that Matty could take photographs for the
exhibition. I haven’t shown many from
the front, because I felt uncomfortable.
In the future I would try to leave plenty of time to get professional
photographs of my work.
I would take forward the skills I have gained through jewellery
making such as laser cutting and knotting. As I have explained in my previous
blog, I singed the organza fabric to stop it fraying and it was too rough
around the skin whereas laser cutting was efficient, sealed the edges and was
safer.
First sample (singed version)
Laser cut pieces
In feedback for my previous project, my tutor advised me to
interrogate and refine samples to focus on the actual outcome. In the beginning of this project (Whitworth
Threads) I was again tempted to experiment and produce different types of
samples with excitement instead of following the theme, but I have tried really
hard to stick to one method of production and to refine it. This is what I have learnt for this project. I have also learnt and discovered that it is
possible to collaborate with 3D students, this way you are getting out of your
comfort zone. At first, I thought it wasn’t
going to work, working with 3D students, because it’s completely different to
what I’ve done before but, when we discuss our thoughts in groups and in
tutorial, I’ve learnt to make it work.
