W/C 31 Oct 2011 Dan Berry

Innovation

Although I found this lecture interesting I found it difficult to relate it to my personal practice.  The lecture was about technological innovations.  It focused on how computer products have become more advance with the use of app’s available through the apple store .  Other than the obvious uses for networking and selling your products I failed to see how this related to a practical subject like applied art.  I feel that this lecture was aimed at students studying graphic design based subjects.

Working on ....

Uni

Jess and I have finalised the designs for the spoons and began work on them.  We have decided that our message for the cutlery should show the women throughout history who have made an impact and what they did. We have cut out a template to ensure that all the spoon shapes are identical, we are going to screen print a picture of one of the chosen women onto the bowl of the spoon to enable us to acid etch the picture onto the metal.  The picture will then be fly pressed to make the bowl shape and soldered onto the handle. 

The following picture is the research sheet that we used to decide which women we were going to feature in our cutlery.

This picture is of the transparency that is going to be used to form the screen for printing onto the copper.

Personal

A couple of pieces made up for the craft stall see pictures below.

W/C 17 Oct 2011 Marisse Mari

Design Thinking

I found this lecture quite thought provoking because it made me analyse the way I approach designing products and what the benefits of designing are. For example this link from the design council shows how innovation is helping to reduce the amount of alcohol related crime.  When I consider designing as a subject I don’t associate it with subjects such as going to the pub on a Saturday night, but as the article shows it is an invaluable resource to sit down and go through the problems of the original design and look at a redesign that doesn’t affect the functionality of the product yet makes it safer and prevents any alternative uses.  It's made me appreciate designing more as a skill.

Working on ....
Uni:

I’ve now finished my design sheets – shown below.  Jess and I are discussing what design elements we like the best to come up with a final design.

Personal:

I have began to start making some pieces – I’m particularly drawn to square shapes when making rings and earrings.  I think I like this shape better than the traditional circle as it is different, yet simple.  Just by changing the shape of the ring you have automatically added interest to the ring, any other design elements that are now added to the ring are a bonus.  Everyone knew what a clock looked like and it’s function, yet when Salvador Dali painted the melting clocks, they suddenly became a more interesting subject.  I find Dali’s work really interesting, I only really began to look at his work last year, but now find myself drawn to it quite often.  I like the fantasy aspects of his paintings and the dual reality that seem to always be apparent.  For example although the main subject of a painting/sculpture may be fantasy there is always a true reality aspect to it.  In the Persistence of Memory the melting clocks and creature are fantasy yet the cliffs in the background are a scene from his home, similarly with the Lobster Phone (or Aphrodisiac Phone), the phone and the lobster are very real items but to have a lobster as the receiver of a phone is complete fantasy.

Visited:

Lady Lever Gallery for Finishing Touches exhibition, the World Museum, Liverpool and the Great Northern Show

I found the Finishing Touches exhibition really interesting.  It was fascinating to watch the styles change through the years, however you could still see the handmade quality of the accessories.  The level of detail in some of the items was phenomenal especially considering that many of the items were made literally by hand without any of the modern machinery used today.

I hadn’t been to the museum before and was excited by the content.  The most impressive thing I learnt about however was the caddisfly.  The larvae of the fly create a protective cocoon around themselves by using whatever they find at the bottom of the water body that they are in.  What is interesting is that they can be bred in a tank with flecs of precious metals or gemstones in the bottom of the tank.  The larvae will use these materials to make the cocoon for themselves.  When the shell is discarded you are left with a totally beautiful yet random bead.  They are the natural equivalent to electroplating.

The Great Northern Show was good fun.  There were lots of designers displaying their work, it was good to meet the designers face to face and ask them questions about their work.  Some of them were more helpful than others, but everyone was happy to offer encouragement for degree work.  I particularly liked the work of Alan Ardiff.  His work was amazingly detailed and well designed, many of his pieces using natural body movements to cause the piece to move and create a moving scene.

W/C 10 Oct 2011 Adam Cooke

Beautiful Losers Film – Pt 2

The artists began to become recognised after an independent show that they set up and hosted.  The artists seem to draw from their own life experience to help to create their work, but after the show they seem to be looking for a bigger experience to work from.  I think their  art was a way to ground themselves amongst the new found popularity. I think this is especially the cast after one of the group passes away.  I think their art changed then and became more of a grieving tool. Overall I didn’t really like this film very much.  Although the film gave an insight into a small group of artists I don’t feel it really represented a movement or a cross section of people practicing at that time.

Working on ....

Uni:

The group have met, with their design sheets. I had a really good time researching my era, which was the late 1800’s until the early 1900’s.  I found the customs on dining really interesting although a little constrictive for my tastes.  The group has now decided who will be completing what pieces for the table.  Jess and I have been allocated the cutlery.  We will now be completing design sheets based on the cutlery.

Personal:

Still working on pieces for the craft fair, some of my design idea’s are shown below.

W/C 3 Oct 2011 Adam Cooke

Beautiful Losers Film – Pt 1

Beautiful Loosers is a film about a group of artists who work and exhibit in a non conventional way.  They are very much focused on the underground scene, which was commonplace in the 1990’s.  I found it difficult to get to the ‘deeper meaning’ of this film.  Although the artists were actively saying that they were trying to rebel from everything that was conventional, they were still trying to fit in somewhere in the art world.  They didn’t seem to be making art for any material purpose but just wanted to show what they were doing (non conventional), yet they chose to do this by setting up their own art galleries (conventional).  If they were truly trying to rebel then they could of thought of a more anarchist way of showing their art, such as the graffiti artist Banksy.

Working on ....

Uni:

We’ve just had a new module launch named Table for a Revolution.  The brief sounds interesting and I’m excited to get started.  For the brief we have to set a table with 8 place settings with a revolution theme.  The group discussed our ideas, but inspired by the Finishing Touch exhibition in Liverpool we decided to go with the emancipation of women.  We are following the time line of the exhibition, so have each taken an era to research and draw inspiration from.

Personal:

A small group of us have booked a stall space in a local craft fair, so I’m beginning to think of idea’s for jewellery pieces that can be sold there.

Darrell Bishop Quote

“I think skills are currently really underappreciated in design.  Skills are too often thought of as a way of implementing design, whereas I have found the learning of skills to be one of the most important ways of actually changing my way of thinking about things.”Darrell Bishop

I find this statement really interesting as it is an issue that I have had some experience of.  I think skills are undervalued especially as in today’s society where a lot of items are mass produced and considerably cheaper than handmade items.  Anyone is able to design something, even if it is a simple drawing on a napkin, it is still a design.  The skill comes in when you are able to turn that design into a 3d piece. Learning a skill can change an item completely, a piece of twisted wire can make a ring, but if you learn the skill of making rings from scratch then the possibilities suddenly become endless for the designs that you can make a reality.  It is also true that until you’ve learnt a skill and realised how things work then the design cannot be at its full potential.  Once you understand the mechanics of a skill you are able to build on the design and make it into something much more spectacular than what is on the paper.  Through this process you are also able to push the boundaries of the design to truly create one of a kind pieces.  I think the mass produced market severly hinders the handmade market.  I think there is very little skill in the making of an item that is mass produced.