On: Conal Fructums
I used various methods of geometric software to develop the cone-shaped sleeves of the garment. Rather than draping or patterning by hand, I found that the best way to form the shape would be with the use of technology. Unknowingly, this tied back into the machine-made ideas of the project. There is something interesting to me about the appearance of software itself.
This was one of the most successful uses of research in my project, as the shape formed was very interesting and very much in response to the Bauhaus figurines.
Development of the Conal Frustum Sleeve with Geometry Softwares
On: Textile Dyeing
When in Manhattan, I could not find the colors of wool that I wanted, so I very quickly decided the best way to move forward would be to custom dye the fabric. I sourced paint chips that matched the colorway I had mixed previously. The colors were successfully tested in percentages on images of my model Mika. Fabric and textile manipulation research has been very important to my project, and I'm finding different ways of developing the textiles.
I know that wool can felt very easily in the dye process, so I thought it best to take it to a professional source for the dye process. Metro Dyeing in Manhattan was able to do the dyeing while I was only holiday there and talk me through the procedures for dyeing fabric of this sort.
On: L'Unité d'Habitation
I came across Le Corbusier's building L'Unité d'Habitation, which is constructed in the Modernist style. Le Corbusier constructed the building with the idea that the structures could be interchanged and shifted; conceptually this is a very interesting way to approach design. Modernism overlaps with the Bauhaus era and there are definitely crossovers I can see in the style of the period. The geometric shapes and colors are quite similar.
Although I do love the colors, what I am most interested in are the geometric shapes made by the structures. I think that the best way to respond to the shapes would be to use lasercutting as a way to create shapes. Lasercutting is often used in model making for architecture and interesting forms could be made in this method.
On: Scavenge Workshop
In a workshop with Helen and Danielle, we had to scavenge for items to use in an installation of some sort. Using the research I had done on cubism, I focused on placing unusual items on the mannequin in an interesting format. The installation acts as research to produce ideas about linear placement on the body and could inform print design. The shapes strangely work with the imagery I had been looking at previously.
On: 'Game of Bricks'
The cubist-style work of the Bauhaus is becoming interesting to me as the shape development is progressing. I love the intricacy of the geometric work in this era. There isn't information available to explain the concept of 'Game of Bricks,' but I do know that is a performance piece from the Bauhaus school.
The shapes are incredibly experimental, and I think that they could inform experimental designs. Although I do tend to create work that tailors to the body, adding elements of shapes that build away as in Oskar Schlemmer's designs here could add another layer to the design process.
'Game of Bricks' Bauhaus Performance Piece
On: 'Stitch' Exhibit
I viewed an exhibit of embroidery in fine art contexts at the Daniel Raphael Gallery. The work up at the gallery was particularly relevant to my Unit 7, as embroidery is a technique I plan on using in the final outcomes and have already been sampling with. I was particularly taken with the work of three of the artists on display: Maryam Ashkanian, Robert Dean, and Richard McVetis.
Ashkanian's work took the form of pillows with embroidered figures sleeping. I particularly love the dimensionality of the pieces, and found them both figuratively and visually interesting. Robert Dean presented a series of portraits, and I was taken with the beauty of the men in his work. Richard McVetis created finely detailed cubes that explore the passage of time. McVetis’ aim is to "take the very notion of time which is invisible and make it tactile, visible, an object in the room with the viewer," similarly to the way in which I want to explore breath and biorhythms.
On: The Memphis Group
The Memphis Group was an Italian design and architecture group that focused on building furniture, textiles, ceramics, and artifacts that had an ephemeral sense of design. The work was colorful and often asymmetrical, once referred to as "a shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price". The work was made in response to slick, black, minimalist work of the 1970s, which made me think about bringing this contrasting aspect into my design work.
Though it is quite polarizing in taste, I am attracted to the colors used and the shapes formed. The use of these bright colors is done really skillfully as they meld incredibly well together. The angles in the furniture design reference Schlemmer's work incredibly well, and the prints are very informative as well.
On: Robert Morris
I came across Robert Morris's felt sculptures in my research on minimalist modern art, and I was particularly piqued by his use of soft materializations. His process is described as using "sheets of thick industrial felt and basic formal procedures (like a series of parallel cuts), followed by hanging, and then accepted whatever shape they took." I find it interesting how he left the ending shape to whatever the medium took on, allowing chance and gravity to take part in the artistic process. Morris said that felt was skin-like, and the ideas of chance link to those Merce Cunningham was interested in for dance design.
On: 'Riddle of the Sphinx'
This textile installation was of particular interest to me because of the colors, scale, and isometries. I was somewhat familiar with Mike Kelley's work, but this piece is quite different from his others because of the materialization. The work makes use of metal bowls rather than his usual stuffed toys to create undulations in the textile. This series of work flaunts stereotypically feminine ideas, in response to traditionally masculine ideas of minimalism. I really like the colorways that Kelley makes use of, as the blocks remind me of the weavings I previously researched.
On: Bauhaus Weavings
The movement tracking software’s Movement Material blocks closely resembled the weavings done at the Bauhaus school. The weaving workshop was very successful in its experimentation with both traditional and industrialized techniques, while color was influenced by artist Paul Klee. The weaves, as with the other aspects of the Bauhaus school, were to be used for a practical purpose so tapestries and textiles were often made.
The geometric forms created in the samples could be reinterpreted in many different contexts, the most apparent to me would be knit. The block shapes and the repetition of line would both translate very well into a knit setting.
On: 'Synchronous Objects' (2009)
The visualization project entitled ‘Synchronous Objects‘ takes the choreography from William Forsythe’s ‘One Flat Thing, reproduced’ and processes the data, resulting in a number of different ways in which to view dance. Programs, tools, scores, and visuals are all made use of as a means to present movement in nontraditional formats. The project was created in collaboration with Ohio State University’s Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design.
The website opens with a question: What else might physical thinking look like? There is a sense of logic to the movement, which is sometime viewed as rather haptic, presented through different modes of presentation. The Movement Material feature was the most interesting to me, as the colored blocks could clearly translate into textile.
On: Improvisation Approaches
William Forsythe employs several techniques when building choreography or working on improvisations. The various videos that were created in tangent with Forsythe and his dancers are able to display these isometries very clearly. The use of geometric forms and planes to build dance material is a concept that is very interesting to me; often times dance is purely driven by aesthetic purposes rather than having an interesting way of building the movement. The shapes of the body are becoming increasingly interesting, and the various methods by which this is similar to the 'Triadic Ballet.'
William Forsythe: Scales of Isometries
William Forsythe: Dropping Curves
Dancer Thomas McManus using Forsythe Improvisation Techniques
On: 'Limen'
I looked at Wayne McGregor’s 2009 work entitled ‘Limen’ for the vibrant usage of color. McGregor’s ballets are typically devoid of bright colors, so his decision to use such a range of colors was very interesting to me. Working with vibrant colors is really out of my comfort zone, so looking at other designer’s whose work is similar is a way in which I can start understanding varied colorways.
The ballet is an exploration of liminality––“thresholds of darkness and light, presence and absence, life and death.” The concept of the interplay is something that I’m finding in my work, mostly with the use of the man and the mechanism, but the communicative potential of all of these thresholds are very exciting.
McGregor said of the piece, “Limen is not about a particular liminal point or specific threshold that I am showing in dance, I am not trying to be explicit in that way. There is too much concreteness in the world, and dance deals best with ambiguities and multiple meanings anyway.”
On: Schlemmer’s Sculpture Work
I researched Schlemmer’s other creations, as he worked across many different mediums. The obscure shapes are consistent among all of his design work, and a quality I find very fascinating. The Bauhaus was the first time that art and design were mixed, and students were allowed to explore different types of design work. I think that mixing different techniques of my practice for this project would help to bring forward this idea of the Bauhaus within my own work.
I found Schlemmer’s sculptures captivating for their use of line, reminding me of pinstripes which is a traditional tailoring fabric. Mixing textiles from Savile Row with different knits could help to meld different ways of working.
On: The Triadic Ballet (1922)
Oskar Schlemmer’s 1922 ballet created during the Bauhaus era was the core research source I chose to use for my Unit 7 project. The choreography and costumes were developed my Schlemmer with music by Paul Hindemith. The Bauhaus notion that the man is a machine and the body is a mechanism is central to the design of the ballet, and wanted to abstract the human body and its movements.
The idea of trinity is integral to the concept of the piece, with 3 acts and 3 dancers. Each act of the work presents a different color and mood: “The first three scenes, against a lemon yellow background to affect a cheerful, burlesque mood; the two middle scenes, on a pink stage, festive and solemn and the final three scenes, on black, were intended to be mystical and fantastic.”
The most interesting part of the work to me are the costumes and the way they distort the human form. The shapes are so irregular that an optical illusion is formed; the idea of op-art is one that I would definitely like to explore more in further research. I also like how the images are fuzzy because the film is aged––it almost looks like it mohair because of the fluffiness of the forms.
Oskar Schlemmer: 'Triadisches Ballett'
On: Styling Research
Many of the dance images I had been looking at featured socks without shoes, and this will definitely inform how I style my garment. I love the appearance of socks with a fully fashioned garment; there is something that isn't proper that I quite enjoy. The image from 'One Flat Thing, Reproduced' gave me the idea to experiment with color, and I want to pull a variety of different color tones to try with the model. Making sure that the colorway works with the full jacket is most important in this situation.
Styling References: William Forsythe's 'One Flat Thing, Reproduced'
Handsewing a Jacket Lining (Making Techniques)
On: Savile Row Buttonholes
I looked further at research on Savile Row buttonholes after the initial plan to have a hidden placket did not work because of my fabric choices. Because it was too bulky, it did not sit properly at the front of the jacket. I went back to images on Savile Row buttonholes, as they are traditionally handsewn. I definitely think that adding an exposed button and buttonhole would tie back in with the initial research. There is great beauty in the details of tailoring, and I need to make sure that the finishings on the final garment are as well executed as any other element.
On: Embroidery Process
These images were sent to me by the embroiderers in Howrah, India who are translating the prints into embroideries. I was very particular that I wanted these to be done by hand as they reflect the concept of the handwork involved in tailoring. The work is being carried out by Dries Van Noten's embroiderers. I was very happy with the way in which the line quality is able to be replicated, as the prints Nancy and I designed are very delicate and skillfully crafted.
I am finding, however, that fabric research is very important in textile development. Fabrics that are too fragile can warp easily when embroidered, so ensuring that the fabric is not too delicate is vital when picking fabrics in the future.
On: Nancy Riegelman
Nancy Riegelman is an artist/illustrator based in Los Angeles, whom I had been discussing collaboration with on the textile development. I was particularly interested in her drawings because they tie in so well to the concept of the man verses machine that I've been exploring. She says of the pieces, "The drawings were a study of breath. Each line is reflective of a breath that I've taken. The drawings are prismacolor on monotype."
I love the ideas that breath can be reflected in a visual manner, as it is a biorhythm that is not able to be seen in many forms. The graphic quality and colors that Nancy uses are particularly informative to the color selection of textile. We will be developing two designs based off of these that will be hand embroidered for the final outcome.
On: Katherine Cowgill & Gaga
Whilst home in Los Angeles I worked with professional dancer Katherine Cowgill to get more movement studies as a means of primary research. After training at the School of American Ballet, Katherine joined Los Angeles Ballet and currently trains in a form of dance called Gaga as well. Ohad Naharian's movement language is nontraditional and unconventional in the way the body is held and placed.
We discussed this way of moving as it is unfamiliar to me, though I do know that a documentary was made about Naharian a few years ago. Katherine said that Gaga is about sensations of movement and geometric forms in choreography. I brought up the research I had done on Forsythe, but she said they differed in that Gaga comes from an internal sensation. I particularly liked the shapes that the body forms when paused in still as well as the subtle movement marks. These definitely tie back to the lasercut shapes I had made previously and help to generate more research for conceptual movement approaches.
Katherine Cowgill: Gaga Improv Exercise (Primary Research)
On: Studio Wayne McGregor
I was invited to attend company class with Studio Wayne McGregor by their Associate Artistic Director Odette Hughes. I was thrilled to be given this opportunity, as a longtime fan of Wayne's choreographic endeavors. McGregor uses science and technology in his creative processes, constructing choreography from interdisciplinary collaborations. The future of dance-making and the intelligence of the body are two of the major concepts dealt with in his oeuvre. I found that the stills from video clips I took that showed the physical movement of the dancers in the studio the most interesting to my process.
Process and Concept Tracking of Studio Wayne McGregor
On: Canvassing a Jacket
Rory Duffy, a Savile Row master tailor who is based in Ireland, sent me these photographs of the process of constructing a traditional jacket. The padstitching that goes into the canvassing infrastructure of these is incredibly time consuming and tedious, but is never seen by the wearer. There is definitely a graphic quality to the stitches I enjoy.
The idea of internalization made me think of placing internal elements on the exterior of a garment. Elements that I can place on the outside of the final garment rather than the inside (particularly pockets) could articulate this concept.
On: Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer was a teacher at the Bauhaus school, whose use of tubular steel arose from riding a bicycle. Steel is both lightweight and strong, lending itself well to mass production and the ability to bend into new forms. The genius of his Wassily chair design is that the sitter does not make contact with the metal, and was referred to by Breuer as "my most extreme work. . .the least artistic, the most logical, the least 'cozy' and the most mechanical." I particularly love the mix between the leather and the metal and the cold colorways. This contrasts with his stacking tables, which make use of brightly colored plywood.
On: Frank Stella
I came across Frank Stella's 'Black Series' which is comprised of a sequence of lithographs that form rectilinear compositions. Stella's early prints were based on stripe paintings, and there is a clear simplicity and understanding of line and form in the work. This particular set of drawings were made with the use of a lithographic marker, so the stripes are able to be clearly defined. This builds a "more intensely optical diamond-pattern." I quite like the placement and composition of the prints that are not centered on the page. Stella's ideas of line and form could really help to inform embroideries and other samples.
On: DanceForms
American avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham was an innovator interested in exploring new technologies in regards to dance and movement. He was very interested in ideas of chance, and after 1991 used a computer program called DanceForms to make his work. The abstraction and digitalization of human configurations is what I really like about Cunningham’s work. The shapes composed by the software also resemble the costumes Schlemmer created, which was an unexpected cognitive connection.
On: Eye Tracking
I found a study done of the eye movements in glaucoma patients to check vision impairment while driving. I was struggling in my research to find new ways to track and quantify movement, particularly relating to dance. Choreographic notions are not as interesting to me, as they are purely a way to write and draw dancers’ movements in a given space. The mix of the technological and the handmade is what I’m finding is the most interesting route of research.
Eye tracking is the “process of measuring either the point of gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head.” The geometric shapes created by the computerization program is really intriguing, and I find that the computerization of human forms is a subject I am continually fascinated with.
Eye Tracking in Glaucoma Patients
On: 'Points of Support'
A performance work with translated visuals, 'Points of Support' was created in 1978 by Polish artist Natalia LL. Though appearing to be rather simple, the work is smart in it's use of line and form. The artist is shown in the left frame performing a shape with her body, while the right shows an abstracted representation of the position. The way in which the body is translated into varied abstractions is becoming increasingly interesting to my practice. The figures on the right appear to resemble movement tracking diagrams as well, which I find interesting as the positions are still.
On: 'Two Dozen Shirts'
Ray Kyte’s photo series of men’s shirts can be seen as a way to reinterpret the identities of such a frequently seen object. The button down shirt is continually worn and seen throughout men’s fashion history. Observing the details and textiles that make up these garments is an interesting way to view these pieces. Each of the images were taken in the same setup, draped overtop a light box.
On: Savile Row Tailoring
I have always admired Savile Row tailoring for the incredible use of hand sewing required for the canvassing. Padstitching is something that I’ve always wanted to try but have not had the time needed to do so. The idea that the man is a machine is a concept that I would like to explore further, and there is definitely a mechanized process to the way in which the stitches are put in.
Using this very traditional making process to create a contemporary design is something that I’m very inspired by. The shape of the Savile Row coats are not nearly as interesting to me at the construction techniques needed to achieve them. Distorting the identity of the suit is something I would like to do in my final outcome.
Rory Duffy: Canvassing the Jacket Foreparts
On: 'Modern Times'
I discovered a humorous clip from Charlie Chaplin's 'Modern Times' (1936). I found the clip relevant to my work as it is a play on the idea of man and machine. There is also reference to movement in the cogs and wheels of the machinery. Although I'm not sure the clip will inform anything for this project specifically, I do think that the graphics of the clip are fantastic, and the black and white medium puts the shapes of the cinematography on display.
Charlie Chaplin: 'Modern Times' (1936)
On: 'Pixel'
'Pixel' is an interactive project piece choreographed by Mourad Merzouk with technology by Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne. The hour long work makes extensive use of digital projection mapping, where the dancers interact with the projection shapes. The appearance that the projections are suspended in midair is quite incredible, and the dancers are able to move their bodies in extraordinary ways. There are amazing illusions created by the technologies, and the show presents the crossroads of different artistic mediums.
'Pixel' Dance Performance (2014)
Agnes Denes: 'Snail Pyramid – Study for Self-Contained, Self-Supporting City Dwelling – A Future Habitat' (1988)
On: Bridget Riley
Optical illusions make themselves continually present in Bridget Riley's work. She pioneered the op-art movement, "in which she explored the dynamic potentialities of optical phenomena." Seeing the work in person creates a very distorting effect on the viewer and is sublime in building physical shifts of the eye. There is a psychedelic energy to the work, yet an unwavering minimalist stance in the pieces. The use of pure geometry is very exciting, and the subtleties that continually make themselves present.
On: Lenticular Lenses
The shapes presented in the Triadic Ballet immediately made me think of lenticulars and the strange images they are able to produce. They rather dated and garish but I quite like the way in which the forms always continue to shift. Using different methods to create trompe l’oeils in garments would be a clear translation of this idea. Pleats that constantly move, embroideries that shift the seam lines, and unusual seamwork could all help in achieving this effect.