Unit X: Throup Revisited

Scrolling through my blog, I came across a blog entry that I posted about Aitor Throup a while ago as research for my very first project. The entry consists of a very short paragraph and it’s not difficult to tell that it was hastily written in the run-up to a blog submission deadline! It simply does not do justice to his work or my obsession with this guy! So at long last I will attempt to remedy this.

I probably only came across Throup’s work about a year or so ago whilst flicking through a ‘Fashion Designer’s Now’  book, or some title along those lines, and I was immediately taken by his illustrative style and the futuristic designs that brought those figures to life. The collection that struck me most turned out to be the one for his MA collection at the Royal College of Art entitled ‘When Football Hooligans become Hindu Gods’.  The collection is an experimental take on generic utility garments that have imbedded within them a strong sense of narrative and wit. The narrative was that of a journey of redemption and transformation amongst a group of football hooligans who face remorse after their violent attack of a Hindu boy. The collection; with its transformative hood features and play on utility garments idiosyncratic to the subculture in question documents this journey in a way that is avant-garde in its vision but also retains accessibility as wearable garments. This was perhaps what draws me to his work as with many high profile designers the balance between form and function is often lost.

Since then, I have followed Throup’s career on and off and was very excited to learn that the designer would be revisiting Manchester School of Art in honour of its 175^th anniversary. The event was a conversation between the designer and Manchester Evening News diary editor Dianne Bourne. There was a lot of hype around the event, and rightly so. The talk was recorded as part of the Young Creative Chevrolet Lecture series and ticketed on Eventbrite and everything! It might even be said that as one of Manchester School of Art’s most successful alumni, Aitor Throup is kind of a big deal!

Luckily, to save me from rattling on about the whole conversation, I have found the full video of the event on Youtube (below). But there were some things that I learned about the designer that were particularly inspiring.

What was particularly interesting was his refusal to be classed as a Fashion Designer. Whilst he does not deny that he is interested in his garments being used in the industry, he seems to be very much against the cyclical nature of Fashion. Here, I think he had a very valid point as the advent of seasonal trends demands new products every few months only to make its predecessors redundant. I find myself feeling really rather guilty around about fashion week because I feel that as a fashion student it is probably my duty to keep on top of all the new trends. This is easier said than done and frankly I don’t even know how much I care! There is very little focus on longevity and that is something Aitor Throup hopes to tackle within his work.  What was most resonant about his design philosophy was what he describes as ‘justified design’.

He believes that nothing should exist without a reason, be it justifiable through narrative or function.  He prefers the label of ‘Product Designer’ or ‘Engineer’ to be associated with his practice, claiming that he has become a Fashion Designer only by default! Particularly, he is interested in new methods of construction that serve to solve the existing and as yet undefined problems in everyday garments.  In this way, Throup is probably one of the most exciting designers today and his work shows that it is possible to create something beautiful that is not entirely frivolous. 

Unit X: Harmony from Discord

This week has been a stressful one! There has been much biting of tongues and Facebook based venting!

 It all began with our lecture with Anne Douglas. Anne's work is based primarily takes on a curatorial role is excited by the process of bringing together completely different fields such as fine-art and science bring the audience an exciting artistic experience. One question she got us to think about in the lecture was that can a collaboration be successful even if the outcome is not? Her argument was Yes, it can. This is because collaborations are all about the sharing of skills and knowledge and therefore much can be gained from the actual experience of collaboration. If the end product is successful then clearly the collaboration worked well, but all in all it is a process of trial and error.

With this in mind, Anne Douglas was the perfect person to sit in on our Tuesday tutorials Robin and Eleanor. But all did not go to plan. For starters, the only people that turned up were myself and Lizzie from the installation sub-group and Millie from the film sub-group. Not a great turn out! We were asked to pitch our idea so far and the tutors took a positive interest in what we had to say about the installation.They were particularly interested in Lizzie’s knit samples because of how tactile they were.  However, as Millie was the only one present from the film group, I don’t think she was quite able to do justice to their ideas on her own and since we had not been involved in that process, neither could we. This led Anne to question our decision to work separately and she stressed that we were completely missing the point of the collaborative unit. At this point I must admit, the whole sub-group scenario was a bit of an easy way out of having to manage such a large group!

For the remainder of the meeting, Anne talked to us about the ways in which we could combine the film and installation as a sort of performance piece where we could invite the audience to experience the installation as a sort of guided tour and film the reaction. Whilst her ideas were all very exciting, we left the tutorial feeling a little dazed and confused.

Things only got worse when the news hit Facebook. I would post a screenshot of the conversation but it’s a little messy! The problem was that Millie posted a panicked message about how we were being asked to change our ideas. Somewhere along the line this got heavily misconstrued and things got pretty heated as people were not happy about though of dropping ideas.

Needless to say, I was pretty nervous when we called for an emergency group meeting. Thankfully, we had all cooled down a bit and were able to talk about how we could intergrate the film and installation. At first we talked about the knit being part of the set design to go with the film.  But as we went on to brainstorm scene ideas I was a little concerned that the story line had nothing to do with our plans for the installation at all. I think it was a little difficult for the group to visualise how it would fit in as we haven’t yet gotten around to sampling anything on a larger scale and as a consequence couldn't really show them what we had in mind.

As the narrative the film-people had in mind was based around irrational fears, I suggested that the knit could be a figurative representation of this that is present throughout the footage. The fact that it would be more in the background for some of the scenes might add to the sinister connotations as fear can be portrayed as something that is ever present. 

I think after all that fuss, we might actually be in agreement. All we need to do now is to get cracking on some large scale knit samples!

Unit X: Brass Art

The week before we broke up for Easter, me and my friend Sonia gate-crashed an art lecture. I say gate-crashed because after about 5 minutes we realised that we were the only fashion students in the entire lecture theatre and the content wasn't really directed at us at all. Nevertheless, it’s probably the most bad-ass thing I shall ever do!

But this being a collaborative unit and possibly the only chance we will have to deviate from everything fashion, this incident turned out to be a bit of a ‘happy accident’. For you see, the lecture was headed by Chara Lewis, a member of the Manchester based artist collective, Brass Art.

We came across a piece of their work in September last year at the Tatton Biennial entitled Flights of Fancy. For this, the collective exhibited a site specific inflatable sculpture called Trine Messenger (2012). Taking inspiration from classical images of Hypnos, the collective’s surreal piece was an amalgamation of each member’s face using 3D and 4D bio-medical facial scanning.  Sadly, when we visited Tatton Park, the sculpture had started to deflate so we did not get to see it all its glory. But from its documentation on the collective’s website I can see that this was clearly an impressive piece. The fact that it was stark white alludes to marble sculptures, almost as an echo of the inter-mingling of modern technology and classic art forms.

Trine Messenger at Tatton Park, 2012

A lot of their work revolves around the interplay between light and shadows. For example the series of watercolour silhouette drawings produced as part of ‘The Non-existence of the Unnamed’ (2010) series were exhibited in a dark room in which the artists installed just one light bulb. This brought the notion of shadows playing tricks on the mind to the audience whose own shadows would mingle with the figures on the wall. In this way, the drawings almost become an installation as it is as though the eerie silhouettes were emerging out of the canvas like some portal to another realm.

The Non-Existence of the Unnamed at The International 3 Gallery, 2010

I am interested in how the collective utilises space to play an active role in their installation. For example, the installation ‘Still Life No.1’ (2011) was a result of their ongoing fascination with 3D laser printing, with which they created miniature figurines of themselves. These figurines were displayed alongside other small scale sculptures made out of cheaper materials such as cellophane. They worked alongside a theatre technician to create a rotating table with its own light source on which to display the collection of objects. This gave the mini-sculptures a new dimension as the shadows created by the rotating table created ever-changing shadows on the walls of the gallery space, almost like a live shadow play. I think this is a lovely idea as the installation in itself was not particularly big but still the artists managed to fully utilise the space in an interactive manner. In this way, the difference between the expensive 3D printed figurines and the cellophane is lost entirely as the shadows cast on the walls reveal nothing of their origins.

Still Life No.1 at The Whitworth Art Gallery, 2011

*images taken from the artist's website

Unit X: Zero-Waste Pattern Cutting with Fiona Mills

Our lecture with Fiona Mills was an introduction into the concept of Zero Waste pattern cutting. The objective of this process is quite simply to reduce the amount of waste produced in the creative and commercial pattern cutting process. Shockingly, 15-20% of fabric waste is produced at this stage in current commercial practice with even greater waste produced by high-end designers as a result of their elaborate and complicated designs. This is worrying as, despite the protestations of many big brands, much of that waste does not get reused or recycled. This is even more of a problem now as fashion is fast moving and the seasonal trends mean that more garments are produced at a quicker pace; therefore greater wastage.

It is then interesting that though this is a contemporary issue, the practice of Zero Waste Pattern Cutting has been around for centuries and takes inspiration from the first garments ever produced. This harks back to a time when fabric was a valuable commodity as Roman and Grecian garments would be constructed using entire lengths of fabric and shaped simply by tucking and draping.

Fiona then spoke to us about the Yield exhibition held in New Zealand in 2011 that celebrated the use of Zero Waste in modern practice. The exhibition brought together a diverse cross-section of designers and researchers that are the forerunners of this field. This ranged from young designers such as Julia Hamsden, a recent design student, who works primarily with menswear and uses the waste pattern to create quirky grown-on details on generic garments for the commercial sector. On the other end of the spectrum, there are designers such as Yeohlee Tang who create garments for high fashion who have experimented with the technique for a high-fashion market.

The lecture followed an afternoon workshop with Fiona herself who has just completed a masters with her research based around transforming commercial and designer patterns into Zero-Waste garments. As part of the workshop, we were given a set of pattern designs from the Yield exhibition and were asked to recreate the design without any instructions. This struck me as a bit of an odd request as I regard pattern-cutting as being about precision and accuracy. But Fiona assured us that it was just about having fun with the construction process and being creative.

I decided to take her word for it and chose to work with a skirt pattern by Yeolee Tang. It seemed simple enough but when I got down to cutting and reassembling the pieces I just couldn't figure out how to put it all together so that it looked like a designer skirt. I really didn't help that I didn't have any clear images to see what the end product should look like so essentially I was trying to re-create something that I had never seen before! Since I have major control issues, this was quite a frustrating process. But Fiona was pretty encouraging and eventually I managed to fit all the pieces fit together so that they actually resembled a garment.

Aggravatingly, when I got home I Googled an image of the garment I had tried to recreate and it turned out that my skirt looked nothing like the original! *deep breaths* 

But I won’t lose my mind completely as at the end of it all Fiona reminded me that the process was just about experimentation and creating original designs through the process of problem solving. This is something I'm very interested and might even take another crack at it when I start designing for my next project. All in all, a really great lecture with an equally engaging and friendly lecturer.

Unit X: Mr X Stitch

As a continuation on the road to rediscovery of my love of textiles, I thought it was appropriate to include the lecture with Jamie Chalmers, otherwise known in the world of embroidery as Mr X Stitch. Chalmers is an embroiderer, blogger and generally a very funny guy! In his lecture, he introduced us to the work of contemporary embroidery and needle work artists and a few of the exhibitions he has curated within the field. As a strong advocate of banishing feminine stereotypes, I must admit to my own preconceived ideas of the feminine connotations of embroidery and needlecraft. And so I owe the likes Jamie Chalmers thanks for bringing the traditional field into modern art and design. His blog is a testament to the exciting and ever-evolving work in the field. The link to which is here: http://www.mrxstitch.com/

I highly recommend that you take a gander!

What I loved about this lecture was Chalmers’ sheer enthusiasm he had for all the astists included in his (very extensive!) powerpoint. Here are some of the artists (for there were MANY) that stood out to me as inspiration for Unit X.

Melissa Zexter: School Girls (detail) Gelatin Silver Print, Thread

Stacy Page: Kathy, Take me with you

Maurizio Anzeri: Collaboration with Robbie Spencer and Richard Burbridge for Dazed and Confused

Diem Chau: Hair, Hand; Porcelain cup, Silk thread

Unit X: Today I am Inspired! (Part 1: Lauren Bowker)

Following on from our lecture with Lauren Bowker, a textiles designer and innovator, I was reminded of just how much I loved Textiles in my foundation year. Having originally applied to Manchester School of Art to study Fashion Design, she did not make it to the course of her choice and was instead offered a place on the Textiles programme. In spite of this initial setback her work today is a testament to the fact that as a design student you are not limited to a set field. Now, her work spans across the board with textiles, fashion, chemistry and more recently the field of engineering.

What's most exciting about Lauren Bowker are her efforts to bridge the gap between technology and design. This pretty much began in her final year as a BA student, where she developed dyes that reacted to the level of pollution in the wearer's environment. This is something that she continues to develop in her practice in which aesthetic appeal goes hand in hand with function and innovation. With her ongoing research into thermal-chromic inks Bowker has utilised textile technology for a Fashion context. These take the form of wearable sculptural pieces for a successful Parisian fashion brand that have also been photographed by Tim Walker with Kate Moss as the model. This is encapsulated in the mantra of 'See the Unseen' in which her beautiful feathered pieces seem to take on a life of their own as a showcase of renewal and decay right before our eyes.

Learning about Lauren's practice has gotten me excited about experimenting with materials on a surface level. I have been struggling within my course when it comes to shape-making and designing and feel that I havent quite gotten the hang of it yet. I am also a little afraid that perhaps I wont be able to find my own stamp. This is why I feel elated since this lecture as it has brought back to me something that I truly enjoy- and that is working with and manipulating materials, both traditional and unconventional. From my previous course I picked up textile sampling as an effective and enjoyable way of generating ideas. I love nothing more than an afternoon of simply messing around with machine embroidery and scraps of fabric. This curiosity about fabrics and how they work together to create something new has fed into my current sketchbooks. My tutor Sarah pointed this out to me in a recent feedback tutorial as something I keep revisiting and should continue to develop through the duration of my degree. I hate to say it but I haven't quite found my flair for the designing and shape-making element of each project. Though I know there is plenty of time to figure this out, it is still a constant fear of mine that I will not have a designer's epiphany any time soon! But what I have gained from today's lecture is that it would be a shame to give up something that truly excites me in pursuit of trying to be something that I am not.

Hence why, I have decided to return to my textile background as research for this unit. What I hope to achieve is to find a way of incorporating the textile techniques that I am interested in a fashion outcome as an amalgamation of all that I love.

Unit X: Hetain Patel

Today I attended a lecture from the artist Hetain Patel. His practice is based in performance art varying between film and live performance. Performance art is not something I know much about so I was intrigued to see what his work entailed. And since as part of this unit we've been encouraged to deviate from our usual field, this genre of art could provide inspiration for our final outcome.

Hetail Patel frequently dabbles in collaborations with artists outside of his field. Such as in the performance piece 'Sine Language' 2007 where he worked with a Beat-boxer to present a sort of rhythmic conversation between two practitioners from opposite fields.

However, his work primarily deals with the notion of cultural identity, most significantly his own. For example, his latest piece 'Be like Water' 2012 talks of how he came about overcoming his childhood embarrassment of having to wear traditional Indian dress by associating it with the costumes of Kung-fu warriors that he admired as a boy.

Much of his work is a reaction to his personal experiences of culture and identity. I think this is what makes his work so accessible as to a degree we have at some point in our lives questioned what it is that makes us who we are, be it cultural practices or our individual idiosyncrasies that define us.

After the lecture we were asked to make our way back to Hilton House so that we could speak to the artist as a group and possibly get some feedback from him about our work. It was a bit odd to have to trek all the way back to Hilton House for this but I suppose the first years have been given a sort of nomadic status since the beginning of this unit! At this stage I didn't have much work to show Hetain Patel but I was interested in what he had to say about collaboration and the general process of working with other artists and practitioners.

There weren't many present from my group, or even from other groups as a matter fact. So we joined forces as a bit of a super-group! We all got chatting (or winging about Unit X) and by the time Hetain came over to speak to us we had a really nice and relaxed atmosphere going.

Below are some of the questions we asked him about his practice.

How do you go about securing venues/ gallery exhibitions to showcase your work?

• Make a proposal that is relevant to the venue
• Approach the venue owners how you would want to be approached- do not send the same proposal to all venues.
• Visit galleries and openings- get to know curator and let them be aware of you and your work
• Avoid cold calling!
• Get to know curators! Go talk to them in their curated exhibitions and gallery openings.
• They will be happy to listen to what you have to say about them.
• Know that this is something that takes place over a period of time; it is inappropriate to simply approach curators and ask for an exhibition!

How do you approach the artists that you want to work with?

• These could be people who's work you've seen and are inspired by so it may be a simple case of asking them to meet you for a coffee/ an informal setting so that you can get to know them and their practice. It might be that nothing comes of it, but it is simply a case of having a conversation with them and finding things you are both interested in pursuing before beginning a project.

How do you approach working with people outside of your discipline and how do you reach a mutual decision in regards to the direction of work?

• Have a series of informal conversations with the other person
• Its all about having empathy for their practice
• Try to find links between your interests as a point on which to move forward
• Treat it like a relationship- compromises have to be made!

How do you make contacts in your field?

• Attend conference events for artists. This is a chance to meet not just other artists but also producers and directors.

• These events are specifically for networking so be sure to swap cards.
• Then add these people to your mailing list. It is a way of making people aware of what you do. i.e. email them any time you do some thing even if it is to put up or change a website. That way they will subconsciously register your name and remember you if you ask to work with them in the future.

Do you begin your projects with an idea of the kind of outcome that you want?

• Not necessarily, I may choose to work with different mediums at the same time. This is an important process of trying things out and seeing what works best in saying what you want to say. In some cases only certain processes will work, in others all might have successful outcomes.

Are your performance pieces rehearsed?

• For some pieces it is important for the act to be improvised and 'in the moment'. Often the interaction that takes place during the performance is what the work is about.
• Alternatively, Sine Language was mostly improvised but had a pre-determined structure due to the subject matter (i.e. there was a set rhythm pattern).

It was a bit of a faff to get to and from Hilton House and there was a lot of waiting around but I would say it was worth it in the end as Hetain Patel is a very nice and down-to-earth guy who gave us a really good insight into his practice as a collaborative artist. Having begun his career from a Fine Art background, where much the focus is on the individual, he was able to sympathise with our situation and give us good pointers about how to develop a successful collaboration. He spoke very much about the importance of having a series of simple informal conversations with the person you are working with and generally making the effort to get to know them and finding common ground with them. He stressed that for this to happen, we must have empathy for their practice. I think that is perhaps the most relevant piece of advice we've be given for this unit!