Repair

 I've started my project for final year now, a little bit scary but it's keeping me busy at least! I've always been fascinated with repaired items, especially when the repairs stand out, it sort of illustrates their story, and leaves you wondering why they were repaired, or how they came to be damaged etc. At first I collected an image bank of repaired items, to try and illustrate why I feel that they are visually appealing.

I also started looking at other artists and designers who repair and re-use materials, to help me see how I could incorporate this idea into my work like Vik Gramacho, who used the rubbish from the Jardim Gramacho dump to create images of the people who work there

I wasn't sure how to continue my research; I had a bank of images and wasn't sure how to get away from just taking pictures; so then I decided to make my own repairs. I bought a china doll and dropped her from a window, then stuck her back together to go through the entire process of breaking and repairing something, piece by piece.

This gave me a whole new set of ideas to explore, playing with the concept of repairing something, and now I have started to mix up my repairs, making do with other objects or repairing things 'incorrectly' to see how it can change people's perception of the objects.

Finished Work

I finally got all my work fired and glazed. I'm quite pleased with the individual pieces, though I think I prefer the white glaze to the sandy colour, as it smooths over the bumps better, whereas the sandy one seems to highlight the imperfections. I knew that since I was hand modelling each piece I wouldn't be able to get them absolutely perfect, but I wasn't sure whether to make a feature out of the lines and bumps on the surface or to try and disguise them. Overall, although I think the sandy glaze is more natural, and does have a sort of bony feel to it I prefer the white glaze. It's simpler, and in my opinion makes you pay more attention to the shape of the piece.

 Building the pieces up together is quite tricky. I didn't make them match perfectly so that the structure would be ratehr unstable and fragile, and convey the weak element of the spine; but it does also make building the piece up for display a little trickier! I like the interactvie element to it though, and it is something I would like to work more on.

Overall I am happy with this piece, but I think I could work more on the overall structure of the individual units, to make them look more fragile, and also on how they fit together, to see if I could push this stacking element into something more stimulating.

Final Project

I have been working on the shapes which I decided on to illustrate my ideas on the spine. The first pieces I made were a little too flat when you stacked them up on top of each other, so I tried to twist the shapes more, and make each one individual so they brought a different element to the piece. I still have to finalise the type of glaze I want to use. There is a certain amount of lines left on the surface of each piece, even though I smooth and sand them before firing. I don't know whether to try to cover this with a white glaze, or highlight it to make the pieces look more like bones. I have some small test pieces in the kiln at the moment, so when they come out I will have a better idea of what I want to do with them.

Continuation of Work

I have been experimenting a lot with different forms to try to convey the complex yet fragile nature of the human spine. I have been working with a variety of different forms, working with and pushing the shapes to see which one will convey my thoughts the best.

After reflecting on my work I decided to stick with the bone-like form I made above, and play around with it to see what I could create and how I could develop it more.

I feel that using individual units and putting them together portrays the complexity and fragility of the spine more accurately than changing the form or applying it to a different shape. Now I want to work with the size and how to build up the units into a complex whole which looks fragile, but it can't be too fragile or I will never be able to build with it! I like the idea of being able to de-construct and re build the piece as I please, it has a sort of skeletal reference but is a bit more playful, and interactive for the viewer.

Latest work and Exhibition

I haven't made as much progress with my latest project as I would like really, but between the week long design workshop and the exhibition I have been a bit distracted. The workshop was really cool, John got us to do what he called a '3D sketchbook' with some simple shapes that we had made moulds for the week before. The shapes were three different sizes of cylinders and two different sizes of cones. We were encouraged to cut and put the shapes back together, twist them or do anything we wanted, whether functional or not, and develop the ideas we found more interesting by making rather than by trying to work it out in a sketchbook.
 I started to work with handles and feet; as they are not something I usually think of in my work as it is generally not functional. I experimented with different types, and how you could apply the additions to the pieces in different ways. This method of making something, then looking at it, reflecting and making another was one I really enjoyed, and hope to apply to my work in future. We were also encouraged to make our work as well as we could, even though they were just ideas and might never become finished pieces. This was also really useful, as I would sketch and make maquettes very roughly and quickly, and this way of making forced me to slow down and consider my work more, and led me to developments I might not have made at all otherwise.

 I had my pieces in our third and fourth year exhibition. I wasn't entirely happy with the finished glaze, I thought it was too runny and different from the test tiles, but it was a good experience to put work in an exhibition and learn about how to run one.

 I am working on my main project for the semester again, and really enjoying it. I was making maquettes for the project, and trying to make links from the ideas I want to convey with everyday items. I was looking at card games and dominoes as they have a strong connection with logic and fragility and also bringing individual units together. I made some houses from cards, and tried to push them to make them seem as unreal as possible. However when I reflected on what I had made, I felt the form they created was the more exciting part, but that it was being overpowered by the patterns of the cards. I have just started making in clay, and am trying to use smaller, individual pieces and put them together to create a whole. As it is the start, I am using the simplest shapes I can, but I think I may change to a more complex, more naturalistic unit to build up with as the pieces I am making at the moment are interesting, but not very organic looking.

New Project

In our latest project we were given the opportunity to completely design the brief ourselves, and choose our own starting point instead of being given one. I had recently read the book 'Rethinking Sitting' by Peter Obsvik and had been very taken with some of his thoughts about posture and how we have changed as a race from a constantly moving state to a sedentary state. This led me to make some simple posture sketches while on work experience, as there were a lot of people lounging around the reception of the hostel where I was staying.

When I looked at the sketches, I saw the most defining feature of the poses was how the back was positioned, and this led me to research and look at the human spine in more detail. I looked at drawing books, anatomy books and made sketches and diagrams myself to gain a better understanding of how it works, why it works, how it affects the rest of the body etc. 

 The elements from this research that I found the most interesting are how each bone interlocks with the others and how they stack on top of each other to create a highly flexible structure that still provides support for the body. However how vulnerable the spinal cord is in this structure is another element that really interests me, for something that is so crucial to the rest of our body, it is bizarre that it is so exposed and as a result we are very susceptible to back problems. Next I will start to work in 3d and try to create a body of work that can express the elements that I have chosen.