Friday, 15 April 2011

Further Secondary Research

What am I going to make for my final piece?

Having done a series of experimentations with techniques and materials, I think I have the most interest in manipulating wax.
To further understand this media, I started looking into secondary research for inspiration and other artist approach to it.

Wax art

To me, a wax sculpture or 3D shape only comes in candle form- can I break this barrier and give it a different purpose?




Encaustic Wax Art

Phil Madley was the first artist I researched into encaustic art. At first glance; I thought his work was just a normal oil painting, but after reading and studying more about encaustic painting techniques, knowledge has changed my opinions and thoughts to his work.
Below is one of his wax paintings, though the colours and position of the wax I presume was originally controlled and planned, the outcome of this piece is very soft, flowing and free- playing with this thought has sparked off some of my ideas with properties of wax.


What if the final piece was an aftermath of wax being dripped and melted on? One-off concepts was what I have always been talking about in this creative practice – by creating a natural painting/ image with this idea can definitely create a very unpredictable yet unique outcome every time.

Saturday, 9 April 2011

'Soulless'

'Soulless'- image at bottom is QC unacceptable
colour oblique strategy outcome
Make something applied more defined

After a weekend of thinking, I studied QC’s colour images to get inspiration. I’ve noticed that on every computerised image, she has applied a layer or effect to it to achieve the outcome. Looking through, I noticed that one of the images resemble a plastic shiny layer on top. By comparing this effect with the experimentations I have been undertaking, I decided to apply a layer of wax over the stretch structure.

Reason for wax and reason for choice of method

○       The dried effect of wax is similar to plastic … shiny, glossy, slippery
○       It will be a good opportunity to experiment ‘wax’ further
○       I can start looking at the properties as suggested in my first ‘Oblique Strategy’ outcome
○       Wax can stiffen the structure of the stretch and harden the edges to make it more ‘defined’
○       The original image had an ‘applied’ layer on top, good to ‘define’ this image by applying it to the original piece
○       Slime green was chosen as this was the colour of QCs experiment
○       Really wanted to carry forward my new learnt knowledge of wax



Soulless is the given name to this piece. Reason being the fact that it once belonged to a different environment with a purpose-however, this piece to me now resembles something that has been possessed by another with no soul and just a given shell.


While I was painting the wax onto the fabric piece- I had a lot of ideas running through my mind. These are the things I could do to improve and develop this piece and concept:-

○       Could the wax be in different layers of density? Will this make certain areas of the fabric stiffer and certain areas more draping?
○       What if it was in a layer of different colours- or colour graduation?
○       What if there was no fabric under the wax – could clothing be made of wax on its own?
○       How can I created a ‘fashion’ looking piece with the use of wax- can I coat a modelled layer first and then remove it?
○       Does the wax piece have to be eternal? Can it disintegrate and melt over time? What will this imply?
○       Does the wax even need to cool down?
○       What if the wax was sandwich between 2 layers?
○       Can I coat a fabric with wax to change its properties? What will happen to the drape of it?
○       What patterns can be achieved with wax? Will it be same as casting?

 
Again- there are so many opportunities and experimentation I can do with this material. Should I carry this idea forward to the final structure?

What next?
With the final oblique strategy accomplished, the next task I have to do is to plan what to do for my final piece.

Looking through all my technique and experimentations, I think I have the most interest in investigating the properties of Wax. Not only is it a challenging material to deal with, I am also very intrigued as to whether a ‘fashion’ collection can be created from it. Though I have selected ‘Wax’ to be my initial material – all techniques learnt in ‘Creative Practice’ module will be considered to strengthen knowledge and understanding of the final piece.

To further understand – I will need to start doing some secondary research as to how other artist and designers have used wax either in an artistic context or in a fashion concept.

I really cant wait to see where my research will take me ! ^___^


Evaluating my oblique strategy against the piece I have manipulated – I think I have accomplished my task effectively. As QCs final prints had a layer ‘applied’ onto them- translating this applied effect to ‘define’ the structure was the best way to strengthen the 2 together. Although this maybe slightly literal- I feel I have learnt a lot on wax properties and what I can do to fabric as well . Without this experiment, I don’t the above ideas will spark as quickly.

Monday, 4 April 2011

Oblique Strategy - Make some implied more definate

After manipulating QC Wax Arch oblique strategy, the next task I was given was ‘’ Make something applied more defined’’.
To follow through – this time I had to manipulate Belgin’s original freestyle structure, but with QC ‘Unacceptable Colour’ applied onto it.

Below is the outcome of QC strategy


Initial thought on approach and what I can do with my given oblique strategy

○       As no colour was applied to the actual ‘stretch structure’, can I apply colour to it to make it more ‘defined’?
○       What will the colour and application method be?
○       Will I colour the background to make the structure the focal point?
○       How can I make the structure more defined and stronger?
○       Do I coat it with another layer of glue to secure and harden it?
○       Do I outline the shape of the structure?
○       Should I apply my previous knowledge and techniques to it?

This time I need to be brave and more brutal in order to achieve the best results !
Think… think… think… I have one week to accomplish this mission