Visual Research Development

After my last tutorial, my group and my tutor suggested that I begin to come out of my comfort zone within my sketchbook and start to create some 3D pieces from my drawings, in order to push myself forward. Similarly, with a context in mind of costume or set design, we all thought that creating something 3D would be more relevant and would relate more closely to these industries, as both involve working in a 3D manner as they design. It was also suggested that I begin to look into window dressing, as it involves both the body and interior space.

I researched into a couple of designers; Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake who both create unusual garments, some using organic shapes and some geometric. Out of the two, I prefer Issey Miyake's work (below, right) as it is slightly more structured, and appears to use stiffer, more industrial materials than Rei Kawakubo (below, left), which appears to be made from softer materials, which are manipulated and stuffed to create unusual shapes.

Matt Shlian designed a shop window display for Levi's made solely out of paper, which also was made up of geometric shapes such as hexagons and pyramids. From this, I realised the works I have looked at over the past week would assist me in considering my audience more closely - such shapes could be used in both costume and set design, as well as installations in shop window dressings - see below.

I have begun designing compositions from my drawings using 3D geometric shapes similar to the ones that Matt Shlian used in his Levi's installation as well as Issey Miyake. 

The mix of colours with the figurative elements from my drawings, I think, work well as they make the shapes look even more abstract. In contrast, it also adds depth and sharpness to the 3D shapes. Moreover, with the mixture of dark and brighter colours, this would suit the audiences I mentioned before as costume and set need to be bright in order for them to be clearly defined under lighting. In contrast, a shop window display could be plain, dark or colourful, depending on the client and their store vision.

Influences and Inspirations (2)

After researching images relating to disguise on Pinterest, I found that the ones that inspired me the most were the three in my previous post.

I went on to create collages of faces (as seen in my previous post - Waldemar Strempler) by cutting up the facial features of the people in magazines and rearranging them appropriately to create a new face - a 'disguise'. Some of the people look abstract, whereas others quite suit their new features. 

I mixed the idea of disguise with peacock feathers again to create more drawings - using the shapes of the peacock pattern to cover the eyes of someone, for example. I also used similar spherical shapes to create a collage covering the eyes of someone (above top right) - similar to Anton Bundenko.



Looking back at the work of Januz Miralles again, which I found earlier, I have distorted my own collages and found photographs of the human face (in the style of Waldemar Strempler) in order to create some more drawings. Adding different media such as acrylic paints and ink to the distorted images makes them more abstract and like a 'disguise' or a 'cover-up' and relates to the work of Miralles, also. 

I wanted to investigate the idea of disguising the face using other methods, such as covering up aspects of it with an object, or replacing features all together with something totally different - see my Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/rmlhaigh/disguise/) for other inspirations from artists such as Amy Judd, who uses animal features to cover the human face. Below, I used the ideas behind her work, teamed with the concept of an image of Twiggy that I discovered on Pinterest, to create my own piece.

I would say my work could be tailored towards the costume industry as I enjoy working with unusual concepts, in a three-dimensional manner. I like working in an abstract way as Miralles and Strempler do, though I am also inspired by unusual and shocking images like Amy Judd and Anton Bundenko create.

Luly Yang is a designer based in Seattle, USA, who predominantly creates gowns and bridal dresses, however, she also is involved in making Haute Couture fashion pieces such as 'The Monarch'.

 It is a custom silk taffeta butterfly print skirt and corset bodice, embellished with hand placed Swarovski crystals and black ostrich feathers. 

VV Rouleaux

VV Rouleaux was established in 1990 in London. The business manufactures ribbons, trimmings, edging and beads and sells them to the public along with large design houses such as Paul Smith, Karen Millen, Marc Jacobs and Julien Macdonald who use them in their garments. 

When Annabelle from the company came to speak to us she brought some samples of what she has made. 

My favourite samples were the ones that had fringing on the edges of the woven strips. The fringing was made from horse tails on some of the samples which was an unusual texture. 

 I would like to attempt the looping on the top of this strip of weave when it comes to creating my own samples. 

I also found that a few of the samples were brightly coloured which linked to one of  the colour palettes that I have created for my own samples. I intend to weave using a bright colour palette with muted tones down one side to symbolise the 'dark side' of fairgrounds then use embroidery techniques and beading to start creating accessories such as collars, for example. 

Circles and Spirals

Last week I made the decision that I would branch out and explore less literal means of data in nature. With this as my aim, I have used the same embroidery technique of pin-tucking to create new samples. 

The samples reflect loose circles or spirals which, although they link to my project through tree rings as data, they are more abstract.

 I experimented with different materials to see how the spiral pattern would affect them. The poly suede crumpled up slightly but once ironed laid flat. The corduroy was a little harder to work with as it crumpled up more than the poly suede. However, I like the vertical lines on the sample with the spiral in the middle because although it is more abstract than my previous work, it still relates to the tree rings from earlier in the project. 

I also tried the same technique but with thin denim. This was the most effective material to use as it curled rather than crumpled. I then tried to create something more 3D with the spirals I had sewn in the denim by attaching multiple spirals together to create a strip of them.

I attempted to attach them to the body to see what effect they would have. I got this inspiration from research I carried out the other day (threeASFOUR designs - see below). I like the loose spirals on the body as they appear more sculptural.

Contextual Research - Sampling Unit

Whilst carrying out some contextual research into possible audiences for my current laser cut samples, I came across the work of 'threeASFOUR' who are a team of three designers from New York City.

The original inspiration for this collection was Crop Circles.

Their garments which were featured in New York Fashion Week (Autumn 2012) particularly related to my project through their use of circular structures.

Although this garment is relatively structured, I like the looseness of the circles within it.

The colours within this garment also relate to my project due to their natural connotation, whilst the circular patterns are also reflective of my work.

http://susantabak.com/articles/new-york-fashion-weekfall-2012-collections-threeasfour