Reflection Experiments...

As I tried using natural sunlight to create reflections and it did not work, I decided to experiment using a light bulb and other materials. These 2 experiments below were designed using foam board creating 2 different window frame shapes; the perfectly even squared window uses the material known as Cellophane and the unevened window uses the material of Windmill Transparent Foil. I was apprehensive when thinking the materials would actually reflect even just an obvious colour but looking at these images they worked especially well, both materials were good for reflecting. Moving the image further away from the light bulb makes the image reflection smaller but a lot stronger visible wise. Even though I like how these reflections turn out, they would be hard to use for wear and tear as these experiments I created are too clean cut.

Attempting to use natural sunlight...

Doing Textiles is about pushing boundaries and experimenting with all sorts of materials and finding the right combination, this is quite fitting for this project especially for me as finding the right combination of materials to create the perfect wear and tear is essential to my idea. I wanted to create windows with different papers, reflectors and shapes attached and see how the worked or did not work with reflectory using natural sunlight. The types of materials I used really did not work with the sunlight, the papers were too thick to gain reflection and the shapes did not really create a refection at all. Using these materials with natural light did not work but to further this exploration I'm going to try other materials with technology light and see whether this would work better.

Wear and tear with light...

 These images are off a task set by my tutor, once Rachel told me the task I was a bit apprehensive as it entailed working straight from the wall which I didn't think would work well with my project. To make the task work for me, I planned doing something flat, then making it fit to thee wall. To make this task useful I worked on acetate sheets re-creating some of the wear and tear I had found from photos I had took, using a variety of materials I created 8 of these. Now adding the task, using foam board I created a corner shelf cabinet that had the acetate sheets attached created half a sphere. Inside each shelf I placed an electronic candle, then darkened my working area and took some images of how the light worked with the marks I had made. This experiment worked really well but the reflections weren't as vivid as I had hoped.

Linda Florence's Work...

After discussing my ideas and thought's with Rachel she gave me the name Linda Florence to research as she thought she could relate with my project. After looking up Linda Florence and her work, I realised she relates to my work well as she produces wallpapers and other pieces of artwork that carries layers of different patterns placed on top each other, each layer could be accessed by rubbing off the top layer using coins- I thought this idea was genius and very original! Linda Florence's work related to my work well with it's use of layers, wear and tear and the idea of revealing something hidden.

Worn Floors...

When I was taking photographs in Hotspur House, I remember taking a photo of the floor I was walking on thinking how many people must have walked over this excat spot to create this type of worned wood. The floor being worned down by people walking over it reminded me of a previous image I had seen of a piece of work called 'Tensta Floor'. This piece stood out to me because I thought it was beautiful. The floor gradually changes by all the visitors, this piece shows constant change, with all their steps the top layer of white wears away revealing an underlying golden floor. Doing something like this makes an artist interact with his viewers, the golden path reveals a pathway in which most visitors took.

Wear and Tear...

After coming across the 3 images that intrigued me I began to think about what I wanted to take further throught what stood out to me the most, this being the restored door. Restoring something old and making it new takes away it's age, detail and history bringing some of this back especially with Unit X being on old school/new school Manchester seems the right direction to proceed. I like the concept of revealing some of Manchester's history, I'm going to start this by looking at restoration, wear and tear, old verses new and ageing something. I will use the resources of the visual library and slides aswell as the special collections, I will also maintain my own photos that show wear and tear and images of Manchester that I may use. To start this off I went around Manchester taking photographs but none really grabbed my attention, so on a visit to Hotspur House I found that this was the perfect oppurtunity and place to take photographs of wear and tear and a place of Manchester that's still ongoing and in a way could use restoration itself.

Stainglass Windows...

When looking through my images from my visit to the MOSI, I came back across the images I had taken of stainglass windows. These originally stood out to me in the museum because they seemed more contemporary when in contrast with the old machinery, they reflected light into the room and added extra colour and detail. I like how this piece uses a natural resource to help create light in different areas of the window reflecting unique shapes and differing colours. I attempted to do a painting of the bottom half of the stainglass window using Gouche paints, looking at the results now I think the paints were very thick and without the light shining through it's hard to create this same effect with the type of paints I used. Using light is definately something I will keep in the back of my head when experimenting, the possibilities with light could be endless.

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