Module 1; Assignment 6; Make and construct

Cloth is really used in many ways – and not the least fashion/art/high street fashion make use of very diverse techniques for changing existing clothes/cloth (holes, rips, “ageing” denim etc)as well as new technology is applied (sparkling prints on eg T-shirts; neon colours, holograms and similar techniques; textile research is rapidly developing “smart” textiles – very interesting indeed!)

I have chosen three very different concepts for constructing my three textiles.

1. Friends and family fabric/armour

I do feel that apart from the body’s inner fabric necessities the next most important fabric of your life is family and friends. I would like to think of this as a hard and very protective shield protecting you from all evils. At the same time it should be warming and feel sparkling with joy!

I chose to make strips from pictures of faces and human beings fixed and strengthened by heat fixed “vlieselin”. I made a weave but felt there were holes in it so I made a further armour from lids from Al-foil boxes. 

Drawing - Impression of Friend's Armour

 

Conclusions and thoughts: The resulting armour and fairly flexible and sturdy cloth became exactly what I had in my thought process. It can actually be used to construct an armour and it looks warm and friendly and has a strong symbolism in it. It is a weave of friends, intermixed with “metal” plates giving it the “bullet prrof” protection. This metal plates can be removed and put back when needed. The structure is quite bold and checked and creates an interesting structure in particular when the “metal” armour is inserted.

This can be developed into a “proper” shield and still further – arm caps, belt and still could be made look quite attractive. I have not used photos of family and friends but that could actullay be done. Thinking of it, such photos can be printed onto cloth and complement the armour!

 Drawing: I feel I did develop the concept onto a black background and continued with the “metal” plate patterj to make it more interesting.


2. .Elastic, stretched fabric from newsprint with some inherent decoration

I had become fascinated by a book about paper. I found, or rather rediscovered (from my youth) different techniques to plaay with paper structure.

I started with newsprint backed by heat fixed “vlieselin”. I continued to make a repeated and highly structured pattern of cuts, which meant it could be stretched fairly well.  Actually I had to keep my head cool – as it is ery important not to make any single cutting mistake. I managed almost without mistakes, but the few I made could be mended by adhesive tape. Otherwise there were no problems except from having to fix the blue and silver plastic strips in the end of each row with adhesive tape.

I added some blue plastic strips into the “weave” as well as some strips made from crisp bags, with a silver appeal. I think it became a very different fabric and surprisingly flexible to stretch.

Drawing on newsprint - to symbolize the newsprint used for producing the stretch fabric - the resulting light figures have been used in the prints and further work in module 2.    

Conclusions and thoughts: I was intitially most fascinated by the technique, but realized how interesting the resulting fabric became. A fabric of importance to you, usually needs to be strectched at some occasion – and here we are! It did become a three-dimensional structure and further interesting features are actually the holes created. The holes that can be opened and closed when the stretch is released--- I feel the concept can be used for interesting thoughts – something to hide? Something you only want to display at certain moments etc.

The drawing is made by a combination of charcoal and acrylic paint on newspaint. I chose deliberately news from the recent upheaval in north Africa – perhaps something one might want to see and be touched by in a strectch weave. Initially I was not very content with that drawing – but when now looking at it it becomes quite interesting and hat you can see in it. I see dancers, swinging turquoise bands when they are dancing – perhaps the joy of the Egyptians or the Tunisians?

3 The decorative, exciting frayed holes?

I did choose three different silk fabrics – I cannot claim this is everyday waste materials – but they are remnants buried in my boxes to be used for something and what could be better than creating a new cloth structure? Two of them, dupion silk, have a dual colour which really was what I wanted to use. I added a third colour, a bright yellow thai silk which I thought could add an interesting component to the colour mix.

I chose to make a pattern of triangular holes, and then fray the bits of fabric. I realized that by making the triangles in different directions, different colour combinations appeared – quite interesting and something I had not thought of.

It did become a tedious task – the fraying was far more difficult to carry out and very time consuming – but once started I had to finish!

Drawing - combinaation of pastels and acrylic paint

Conclusions and thoughts: I feel this became a very lovely but also interesting concept. I realized I might again have been inspired by Tony Cragg’s stacking and possibilities arising from such a concept nd technique. My mind wandered off into cartoons – “darling –please close now…” or “what do you see darling? – Marilyn Monroe “ Th concept can be developed both as a fashion concept, but also as a “wall hanging” with different pictures underneath the feathery “doors”. One can use all sorts of materials for fraying  - one does not have to fray – it could just be openings in the structure with interesting features behind.