testingmaterialsdisplayandprocesses

A day of testing – the section of the show for MEAL which celebrates the objects within the collections looks good – approximately 300 circles cut out from the initial images and pinned to the wall around the mind map of connectivity!

Working on what should be the final piece for the show – the idea of folding skin - this came from looking at my hands when sewing and links with a trip to the cloth house in Berwick Street which has led me to latex. The piece has started to reference a range of bodily parts which weren't initially my intention but I am working with it to see what happens, in the end it just might not fit.

meaningofmaterials

The decisions around the choice of materials have been really important - the use of utility papers and materials that are usually used within a hidden context, for example within the lining of clothes, has supported the thinking behind my making. The tracing, glassine and baking papers have a quality that hides or 'knocks back' the papers that are behind it, creating its own sense of the hidden but when folded reveal and in fact present the fold by showing the layers of the materiel used. The moment I realised that I had to work with these materials - that this had-to-be - came from seeing an example of shadow ribbon at the Costume and Textile collection in Norwich – found within the ‘fabric manipulation handling box. 
The blackness of the interface material and dark glassine has come to represent the opposite and I feel presents a deadening atmosphere (referencing my thoughts and connections to the long dead owners and users of the materials and objects I’ve been looking at and working with).

choicedecision

A revelation around the fabric choice and materials in general I will use within the project - I’ve decided that they will be ones that are usually hidden within the garments or used within the conservation/storage of objects. 
When the choice of materials can be anything rules and concepts are important to enable you to focus what you will work with. The idea of the hidden within the fold is the link to this decision. It also has interesting political and aesthetic factors embedded within this choice around issues of quality and value.