Documentation, Design, Draft

Progress in regards to setting up the right conditions for work: ordered a small (size 2-4) dress form, got access to fibers studio, soon to have a tutorial with Nancy Thorson on new industrial sewing machines we just got in.

Main progress includes documentation of my garments and some sewing practice runs. Sewed a sample dress and now currently sewing my first garment.

Future Goals: collect garments, continue construction.

artist statement

A favorite artist statement of mine by a fellow mackinac island artist, kate levy...

My photographic anthem to Mackinac is ignited by the ironic dialogue between past and present unfolding on this island. Here, as most places have, has seen a plethora of histories altered and mixed through time’s tilling. It is through this lens that I investigate island residents, unexpected landscapes and unique truth-bending narratives.

Versions of Ojibwe folklore reveres the island as the birthplace of man, as well as the earthly home of creator god Gitchee Manitou. Now, tourist-pilgrims visit the island daily to immerse themselves in historical reenactments-- one-dimensional attempts to revive an obscure utopian time. Like a land of ghosts repeating the same patterns over and over, the island seems a half-empty reminder of what may or may not have happened, once upon a time. Instead, one finds the energy of what always is, fully intact, growing out of the cracks of our attempts to re-create it.

Mackinac Island: Early French Fur Trade, War of 1812, Victorian Japonism, Chippewa legend all arriving today. Generations of men who moved invisible glaciers materialize as a replenishing series of eyes. Tour guides sing ever-changing myth to ponchos, tshirts and jackets respectively. Thick blue trash bags, Varney hotel rooms and the eyebags of summer employees gradually fill. Fake indian paraphernalia rides horseback beside toy rifles the size of shipwrecks. Poets, alcoholics, boy scouts, bugalists, guitarists, politicians, summer cottagers. Transient home. Winter. Life exists through all seasons.

Searching for inspiration, I decided to finish a few books I had begun several weeks ago. One of them, "Future Wood", written by international designers, manufacturers and researchers, examines wood technologies, Composite materials, parametric design, automated fabrication technologies, custom manufacturing and advanced assembly methods. This became quite inspirational, not only because I discovered several of the authors were once University of Michigan professors of Architecture and one still is, but also because the projects were so very well outline and developed. With this in mind, I began to think of particular technologies I'd like to work with and what material I find fascinating, as a result I developed a new design for one of the pieces in my series.

I have not yet finished a rendering as the the evolution of this design is developed through research based findings. To further this research I have scheduled an appointment with a local glass artist at Barron Glassworks to discuss the feasibility of this project since it requires either kiln cast glass or cast acrylic.

I have been looking for artists who abstract the human form and Thierry-guenand is my favorite. Also, the figures are outlined which makes it easier for me to read the form. The forms are a bit harsh. I am looking for a softer quality for the abstract shapes I will try to create in my sculptures but I can alter whatever forms I find to make them softer like the bodies in impressionistic paintings. Tomorrow I plan on bending strips of acrylic and scoring the edges to hold the threads. I will make a few different structures and stretch thread over them and hopefully I will make a decision or come closer to a decision in regards to what type of structure will work best.

Samantha has suggested that I look at Picasso and the way he breaks up the body. Thinking about this I became inspired. Cubism is based on looking at objects or figures from different angles and recording all these different views on one dimension. Since my project revolves around the idea that we perceive the world actively, including looking around and from different angles and processing all this actively gathered information in the brain, I was thinking maybe I could use the cubist process in my project. I want to have 3 different sculpture forms standing together. I was thinking that maybe instead of just making these sculptures different forms, I could make them take the shape of one abstract figure form but each would be what it would be what that form would look like from a different angle.

A Look into Our Past

This past Thursday, our IP section went on a field trip to the Henry Ford Museum. When I initially found out that we were going to go on there, I was excited for the experience but wasn't exactly sure what they would have that would specifically pertain to my project. I was surprised to realize that it was a perfect place for inspiration. Among the classic cars, vintage furniture and antique products, there were many forms of graphic design (ie. posters, advertisements, brochures, etc.) dating from the early to mid-twentieth century. Here are a few examples of designs I plan use as references when I explore typography, color, and imagery while developing my campaign.

I will now go back to my designs with these in mind, thinking critically about each decision I make in order to successfully evoke a authentic feel of the past. I am still working on more ideas for potential posters and from there will develop the rest of my promotional campaign. We have class critiques this on Tuesday and Thursday and I hope to get further feedback on everything I have done so far.

Please check back later this week for further development of my poster designs and the feedback/suggestions I receive about them. Thanks.

Ford Museum photoes

Form Study - Models