Reflection

From this project, I have learnt to discover a completely new way of creating art work; working in such a way that, in the past, would make me very hesitant to even think about. Moving from a state of mind of being very intricate with details, orderly, precise, ‘neat’ and concise, towards being very ‘let go’ ‘letting the flow work’, trusting the ‘clock’ and being patience (all that time when my rust-stains were drying) without knowing how a piece will turn out – it all pushed me and challenged me as an artist to undergo an individual development and sort of rejuvenate from the environment that I was used to of working in.

I think, before starting with a pen and a sketchbook, taking inspiration from your surroundings is very important. It kick-starts your ideas generation and helps to give your work a body and focus.  (As mentioned in my earlier posts) on the first day I went to Islington mill with a very clear, pure and an extra-observant mind and ready to absorb anything that clicks in my mind. For example: walking to the Mill with the group, talking to unfamiliar people from different disciplines/courses; got on to a wrong route but we united and finally reached our destination; seeing the architect around me; ‘Benzie to Islington Mill’, a huge difference in the architect ; Timothea mentioning the old and the new buildings in Manchester are “right next to each other”, and the reading on collaboration, and most importantly making a plaster sculpture that I was never ready for until the finished piece was in my hands. All of this had given me a track and motivation to temporarily forget my previous mode of  working and thinking differently; try to absorb new styles with a hint of personal style.

For instance (as mentioned in the previous posts), I was not very satisfied with Daniel’s drawing workshop, but just by being present I took some learning from the critiques in the end. As Timothea says “...start by copying...”, during a phase of my artistic life, when I was new to art I had always been scared of admitting that I start off by copying because I knew that it will never be a ‘copy’ it SHALL end up looking something that is completely different and personal. She gave me strength and confidence to be able to admit it because others might be able to relate inside, just like I did.

Key Motivation: I believe, what I have done differently in this project is to be open to the things that are new or unfamiliar. Not to say, to not be scared before the first step, because we all need that push, those nerves and that little panic (as artists) to be able to function as artists. Nevertheless, do not hide away from the things that make you uncomfortable or you don’t like. There is always possibility to get learning.

Coming to the time when I actually started communicating for collaboration

Key Motivation: Initially, I had assumed that no one would want to collaborate with me because I'm the only textiles embroiderer in this option. But it was just a matter of being open, putting a brief of my ideas out there and what I want to achieve from this unit. Most importantly, examples of my capabilities because my work is my speech.

Moving on
We faced a lot of difficulties on our way, even after a lot of personal meetings and emails; there were things that were left unsorted and underachieved. This was due to technical errors and things that we were unfamiliar with and end up with something a little unplanned but accurate enough (coincidentally).
For instance, the wide format printers got jammed when I need to print my images in A0 size. I didn’t wait for it to get fixed and quickly decided to print on the best quality paper instead but in A2 size. Later, I found out that I was already stretching my image size from A3 to A2 size, which took away some of its quality.

For Future Learning:

·         The resolution of the images, between Patrick and I, wasn’t communicated before because we both didn’t know it could change anything. So he sent me pictures with a resolution of A3.

·         Digital media Bar help – A2 size is the best quality I could print in, because no  resolution can be put into an image to make it look better.

·         Increasing image size is nothing but starching an image.

·         You need a different and much bigger lense, for a required resolution/quality: cost factor.

·         Printing an A3 image in A2 size would take away most of the details and hence end up with a pixelated image.  

I communicated  and collaborated through emails and one to one meetings
Fearless exchange of opinions

Key Motivation: learning and working from the process, whether by mistake or influenced by someone’s opinion

Something that has strongly influenced my practice is when you are 'working together', exchanging thoughts, opinions and ideas makes you realise that sometimes it is Ok to speak your thoughts even if they don't work in the end. Because you do, eventually, get an amalgam of possibilities and impossibilities that first came from both sides. 

Be open to opportunities and taking risk to step into an unfamiliar context

Patrick being my technician (we still gave our other ideas a try): He made these squares inspired by my drawings and I engraved the lines, then he agreed to layer them over my fabric.

Chickpea peels, crushed and stuck this way - getting elements out of my sketchbook.

The Final outcomes of our Collaborative work   

'A plaster sculpture by Patrick O’Donnell reminded me of the Benzie Building. I have responded with images which call to mind the gently disruptive influence of Islington Mill’

‘A friendly jumble of brick’



Before and After



Actual exhibition

·         Everything started from scratch and I didn’t think it was going to work because we only had a day and nothing was proof decided, in terms of where and how we place things.
·          We all communicated giving each other ideas and everything fell into place very gracefully.  Helping each other from ‘is it straight on the wall or not?’ to composing to cleaning to moving stuff to being our own AND each other’s curators; hence it was not just two collaborators working anymore, instead it was a big group everyone working with each other.  

           

Considering Patrick's other ideas that were unfinished and not ended up big



Patrick's encouragement for me to use my tea and rust liquid to use on one of his pieces.

As Patrick names this process “Disruption under process”

Future development
Hanaa Cara, an artists from Islington Mill, she let me have her plaster block and experiment with it, using Patrick’s idea if we could somehow have my silks and those patterns on the sculptures and be able to hold the piece in our hands. 

By the end, her and I, exchanged email addresses she wants me to do a workshop with her group on rust-staining.  

Line of Inquiry – Process

After a lot of drawings and figuring out ways to develop those drawings into something in the form of textiles, I decided to go back to idea of luxurious material i.e working with silk.
Absorbing the old feel of the Mill and trying to translate it through drawings, manipulating materials and mixed media. 

My style of work is very detailed and therefore extremely time consuming. I have always produced my work in a very controlled manner. Meaning, it is very ‘neat’ where all the shapes and lines make sense and they have their own space. 

Challenging my way of working 

Looking around all the artists that I was working with, they had a very abstract way of working which contradicts my style of working. I had struggled thinking and working in such environment where I’m taking way more time to draw something and others finish theirs while i’m just making my way around thinking what precisely to draw. 

Try to blend in but not loose personal style:

·      Keep the details but try free hand motions

·      Choose a process that satisfies your standards of details but is under-controlled rather than controlled.

Process and materials to consider 

·      Paper 

·      Tea – a natural source of achieving the old feel rather than using chemical paints.

·      Drawing materials i.e fine liners and pens 

·      Roasted chickpeas peels, for a natural brown colour and added texture

·      Some metallic colours — playing with both silver and gold where silver suggests Benzie and gold suggests the Mill.

·      Some sort of rust 

Fig no 1

Rust-staining

Silk is a natural fabric and therefore it doesn’t take any sublimation prints. So I decided to use the idea of staining just how I used it on paper but with two changes that is, using rusted tools and a lot more patience as the tea liquid dries naturally in its own time. 

My first experiment 

First trial
Apparatus used: card>cotton fabric>rusted tools>silk> hot tea poured over

3 contrasting materials in trial i.e paper, cotton and silk
Took approximately 2 weeks to dry but I could see how it was drying naturally and leaving layers of stains.
Satisfactory results of details.
some vague chemical reaction of the rusted tools with the tea, leaves these unexpected marks on the fabric 

Second trial 

I used silver ink, a day before it was completely dried. 

Thinking through making and working from mistakes
The silver looked ever so slightly too strong and during the process of rust-staining the liquid started moulding, leaving a very dark brown layer on the silk. So I gave it a quick hand wash, left it on my home’s radiator to dry.
  

The radiator’s pattern imprinted on the silk, leaving another interesting silver stain

Third trial
On the Manhole’s cover, in my garden — it looked rusted to me and I gave it a try. The squares on the cover reminded me of Benzie’s geometrical structure and also Patrick’s 3D plasters. 

Unlike the prediction, due to wind, it wasn’t getting enough time being wet and consequently not leaving any stain. Or perhaps it was a different kind of metal. But it left some very interesting dark grey spots on the fabric which is unexplained as it all happens naturally.   

Fourth trial – How rust-staining could contribute to a very low in detailed drawing. 
Result – the rust isn’t as interesting as how it changed the look of the metallic acrylic paint spots.

This is how collaboration impacted my way of reaching towards discovering, experimenting and developing this method of staining.  

Process of making/installing  

the group decided they would like to utilise the Link gallery at Manchester school of art to work on a group show with the theme: Under Construction (working title)

It could encompass elements of the home, building connections, new beginnings and process.

Some images from the pieces that we put together to work from for the exhibition. 

Exhibition-under construction

I took this theme in my own way. While making my way from Benzie to Islington Mill, I took pictures of any under-construction work that was going on and taking inspirational elements from them, see images below.

·      The raw nature of construction sites i.e the mud and soil, disordered machinery and equipments. This is what i called working in an under-controlled manner 

·      The metallic rods

·      The mesh like fabric that is wrapped around the sites

This mesh like fabric is what has been translated in my drawing and then developed it in the form of weave. A mono-filament is used to make it see through but its plastic nature made it very difficult to control.

 Patrick’s plaster workshop and Daniel’s drawing workshop

Not too ready to work towards such colourless outcome.
But as I got my hands in working, I realised how satisfactory it is and I could be in control but still make something that looks under-controlled (not too perfect). I took inspiration from the rust-stains that were at the back of my mind. 

Later thoughts: once it dried I felt some strange attachment towards it. It was a living piece in my hands that I made. So, I sanded it tried to get some patterns and details on it, and really enjoyed my time working on it, see the image below.

Patrick’s thoughts on my Sculpture,

“Also, incidentally, I wonder if I made it clear that it was the little carving on the surface of your plaster sculpture that made me think of the Easter Island Petroglyphs. These were reliefs carved in stone, sometimes on the famous statues: a sort of precursor to hieroglyphics”

Whereas, the drawing workshop was a little intimidating as I was in that phase of getting out of my way of approaching towards something versus something that’s not my style I.e the ‘in control’ and ‘under-control’ battle. But all in all, I personally struggle to draw something very quickly on the spot. I also think, it was a little controlled workshop in terms of time and perhaps what a drawing should represent. For example, we were asked to draw a landscape of the sculptures, that we created in Patrick’s workshop, because Daniel himself was inspired by some artist Yves Tanguy who paints landscapes.

Later thoughts: as I was already challenging myself to create in a way that is very challenging to my style, I did not have to like every workshop. It was just a way to discover what we find interesting enough to create from. 

Easter, reaching out and introducing myself and my work

The focus was to extend my skills with a view to augment creative options for the future.  

Firstly, I had to be brave and confident enough to reach out to somebody and not be scared of giving away my work if someone wants to work with it.

My word on collaboration to Timothea Luckcock: 

Working independently all the time can make you become very precious and controlling towards your art work; but to work together is about stopping, trusting and letting others take over your art work.

Email connections and Collaboration
To manage my time, I decided to record my work in the form of images and give a brief introduction about what’s the inspiration behind it and how do I see it when merged with somebody else’s work. 

·      Old versus new 

·      Manual versus mechanical 

·      Colour vs colourless — earth vs the clouds 

·      Free hand, not controlled or controlled and geometrical 

·      Rough and sophisticated 

·      Natural process i.e rust-stain or a modern process

In short, Islington mill and Benzie.

Patrick O’Donnell, an artist from IM, seemed very interesting to use my silk pieces and giving them life. We exchanged countless emails thinking, exchanging ideas, possibilities and problem solving, such as:

·      He could be my technician 

·      Taking my fabrics and working with it, see fig no 2

·      Layering his plaster under, over or through my fabrics

·      Projecting my silk patterns on to his sculptures - he was extremely keen on somehow getting the patterns from my silk on to his piece and physically be able to hold it in our hands. But sticking the silks on the sculpture would have spoiled all the details. Therefore, he let me experiment with one of his pieces which will be shown in the next post. 
He really encouraged me to use the liquid, the tea and rust tools' liquid, on to his plaster to be able to see a continuing and ever changing process of disruption.

On our first meeting as collaborators
Patrick being the 3d artists that he is, as soon as he saw my silks in reality, he starts to play with my silks trying to give them shape
Then, realised that the audience should be able to see the intricate patterns on the silks 

 Problems and decision making we had to face:

I could get him to make me a very geometrical, modern looking piece and project my patterns on to it.
 As Patrick describes my ideas in his expertise words, 

“Interesting your idea of juxtaposing images which reflect the simplicity and ‘purity' of the Benzie (Classical?) with the friendly jumble of bricks and stones of Islington Mill (Gothic?) 

Which of these most lifts our spirits?”

Problem: 

·      the piece will need a lot of time to dry

·      none of us knew anything about projection – will have to wait for the University to open and get an induction 

Solutions

·      we could use one of his pre-made sculptures 

·      Emailing the AV store about the projector; Digital Media Bar for an induction 

·      Using Photoshop to overlay my silk patterns on to his piece

Another Problem:

·      No induction sessions available, the whole process of getting inducted and installing a projector seems very time consuming. It perhaps required a lot of visits from Benzie to the Mill. 

Solutions

·      We decided to use one of Patrick’s sculpture that started 'its life as a milk carton'. Upon thinking on my idea of having a very geometrical shaped sculpture, he showed me this, see the image.

·      It immediately got my approval because it looks so sophisticated, portraying a sense of ageing, changing or a slight disruption which is exactly my idea behind my side of the project. So I saw a connection. 

Another Problem:

·      Whether it is projection or Photoshoped image, it is just going to show one side of his plaster. Whereas, I would want to see my patterns across all dimensions of the piece as it has very interesting curves.

Solutions

·      Using an electrical self-rotating plate – that will slowly rotate the piece and my patterns will show on all sides of the piece.

Another Problem:

·      More time to search for a good one 

·      Costly

Something that has strongly influenced my practice is when you are 'working together'. exchanging thoughts, opinions and ideas makes you realise that sometimes it is ok to speak your thoughts even if they don't work in the end. Because you do, eventually, get an amalgam of possibilities and impossibilities, that first came from both sides. 

Therefore, keep working on the idea of projection but because we are short on time, I could still have the images digitally layered over each other. This way we will still be able to portray our idea to our audience.