Glued Balloons

In my foundation year I played around with the idea of using a hot glue gun on a balloon. At first everyone was saying it would pop and wouldn’t work out but this didn’t deter me away from having a go. The real aim was to create this abstract form out of this clear glue, but what happened when I tried to pop the glue was that the balloon fused to the area of the glue. This meant that what ever colour balloon I chose to use would be the forms colour.

I wanted to try using these again so I could try and introduce light into this project and having a look what they looked like. I chose the red, blue and yellow colour as from before i remember these working really well with lights.

Here is an image of the yellow balloon once I added light to the inside of it  I did really like the yellow as the colour projected on to the walls around it.

There is then the other colours I then used to try and create the same affect. the first was the red. This one is one I really enjoyed as the colour and just the form of the balloons are great.

Then there was the blue colours aswell.

I didn’t follow through wit this as I as like the pom poms it was unrealistic of me to create a mass number of these so this was when I decided to scrap this idea and move on.

Talk With David

When I had a quick chat about my work with David we talked about how I’ve changed the form of the fabrics but what else am I able to do with the fabrics. We talked about adding objects on top of the fabrics and seeing how that could possibly change the look of the piece. I think while I explore this I will continue with the circle formation of the fabrics as it will be easier and quicker for me to add things and take them off rather than moving the fabrics around as well.

I have felt really good about this project as I have a lot of support from David which has really helped me guide where I want this project to go. I really enjoy working with colour as it is a very big part of what I am about in my Textiles degree.

Experimenting with colour

I decided to look at putting the colours into a circle, almost like a colour wheel. I wanted to create more of a structural piece rather them just being ‘chucked’ on the floor in a messy manner. I could always look at other shapes like squares and rectangles but in a sharper manner rather than them being in an uneven ‘wonky’ rectangle shape. 

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I really liked the way this looks. The colours just flow really nicely into one another. It’s the texture aswell of how these fabrics are laid on the floor and how they just make you want to touch and feel. I think the change in the way that I have placed the fabrics does give them a softer more inviting appearance than before. I want to experiment more with this idea. Maybe try mixing the colours up to see if that will help.

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David came and spoke to me about maybe making the piece more 3D by adding objects underneath the fabrics to raise the fabrics up. I started by clearing all the fabrics from the middle of the circle and I added a wooden box to what would have been the centre of the colour wheel. I then began placing fabrics on the box and draping them down and onto the table again.

 

Here are a few pictures of me experimenting with the wooden box under the fabrics. I feel it took away that idea of texture from when then were on the floor in the circle them up and placing them did as I had to stretch the fabrics because of the box.  I felt when they draped down I didn’t have that same feeling it just felt rather flat what ever I tried to do. The colours do however look like they are blending in better when they have been draped in this manner but I’m not getting the same feeling as before.

Here is a short clip of me going around the piece. I wanted to make a short video so rather than just looking at the images I have taken you can experience the piece. Taking images is great but even with a 3D piece it does take that 3D feel away as you are just looking at this 2D image. I do prefer recording my work by using videos rather than photos as it feels like the audience is there going along this journey with me. I want them to feel like they are right there experiencing the colours and the different formations with me.

Talk with David

At first I thought this was a great idea to have this as a final piece just have them on the floor like David enjoyed. The way in which I had just chucked them if you wish onto the floor in no particular way but just gave a really good look into the relation of different shades of colours.

I then had a conversation with David and talked about other possibilities that I could do with the fabrics. Try to experiment more with my fabrics and see where this could possibly take me and my project.

I am really enjoying the broad nature of this field exercise as I am able to look at this project how ever way I like which is new from my normal subject area as we normally have a very clear brief and what our area tutors expect from us. It’s really nice to just be free to explore what ever idea and medium we like.

Experimenting with colour

I began clumping the materials together like I did when I was experimenting with the colour individually but as a group all together I focused on which colours would come after one another. I tried to make them slowly blend into one another so I did chose to go yellow, pinks, reds, purples, blues and then into greens which I think worked rather well.

I then began experimenting with the fabric laying them down flat I decided to do the same colour sequence as before. I did different size squares and rectangles. The images above are the beginning of me trying out this idea.

 

This took a fair while to complete as I wanted t o make sure that the whole board was covered with fabrics. I do like the way the arrangement I looks really abstract and fun to look at.

 

I then started playing around with the colours. Adding a purple with the yellows and a yellow with the purple as these are contrasting colours. I also added a red into the green and also a green into the red, again this is because they are contrasting colours. I did want to add an orange in with the blues but I didn’t have access to any orange fabrics.

I did like the idea of having the fabrics laid out flat but I prefer when the are in a pile just because it gives more texture to the piece. I wanted to experiment more with the fabric.

Finding Materials

During my chat with David we talked about me maybe walking around the university having a look at stuff I could potentially look at keeping and doing a piece something similar to Tony Cragg. We talked about maybe focusing on a certain colour and finding many different shades of that colour and creating a collection. After my chat with David I had a look in the big cage that is filled with recycled materials and fabrics. I came across lots of fabric that was different shades of green. I started putting this in a pile behind me as I continued to look through the cage of stuff. Looking back ones I had finished I really enjoyed the idea of having these materials just placed on top of each other as a final piece. I continued looking through the cage and found many different shades of yellows, pinks,  blues, greens and some purples.

Here are a few photos that I have taken of the colours all piled up together. I am already really interested where this piece could go I wanted to look at them first as single colours rather than grouping them all together first. I love not just the range of colours but the textures of the fabrics and how some are block colour and some have patterns.

Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg is one of the world’s foremost sculptors. Constantly pushing to find new relations between people and the material world, there is no limit to the materials he might use, as there are no limits to the ideas or forms he might conceive.

The plastic objects which make up ‘New Stones, Newton’s Tones’ were collected by Tony Cragg in a few hours in May 1978 in the area where the artist lives in Wuppertal, Germany. ‘I didn’t sort or select the materials I collected until later when black, white, silver, printed and multi-duplicating objects (like ice-cream spoons) were set aside. All remaining objects were laid out, more or less evenly distributed in a rectangular format 9′ x 12′, in an approximate sequence of Newton’s spectrum: dark red, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, dark blue, violet.’ From a distance it seems to shimmer and dematerialise like a rainbow. Spread out as it is on the floor, consisting of so many individual items, it is not a self-contained sculptural object. Its form invites comparison with floor pieces by Richard Long which are made of stones collected on walks. Cragg’s materials, however, are the product of modern technology. Their very choice, transferred and arranged for a gallery context, does more perhaps than show that discarded objects have beauty, but rather suggests that industry’s production of endless copies is not unlike nature’s manner of reproduction. Isobel Johnstone

New Stones 

I really like this piece as I am very interested in ways artists have become more environmentally friendly. This is a classic example of an artist who is just recycling unwanted objects and creating a new purpose for them in this beautiful and colourful piece of art. This is one of the artists that David suggested to me to have a look at as I was interested in creating and installation by group many objects together. I am happy he has shown me Cragg’s work as it has interested me a lot.

Talk With David

On Tuesday I went in to uni and had a chat with David about my possible idea with my pom poms. He really liked the form of the pom poms but we discussed how it would take me a long time to accumulate a lot of these by the deadline which is only a week ad a half away. We also discussed how there wouldn’t be much of an impact with only a couple hundred compared to a couple thousands which related bak to the fact I just don’t have the time or man power to pull off making that many pom poms. We had a talk about other possibilities and other artists and designers that he thought might interest me. I feel better now that I have spoken to David and have had an some guidance.

I feel more confident now that i have spoken to David and have a new idea that will work out faster and achieve the same desire as what i was hoping for with the pom poms but this idea is also cheaper and more environmentally friendly as I will be looking at recycled materials rather than buying things from hobby craft. I will also have a more broad range of colours and shades of them colours to play around with.

How to make a Pom Pom

1. Cut our two large circular disc – using your glass as a template
2. Draw a smaller circle in the centre. The distance between the inner and outer circle will determine how big your pom pom will be. Make sure this smaller circle isn’t too big. If it is too big it will be harder tie off at the end.
3. Cut slit from the outer circle to the smaller one and cut out the smaller one too.
4. Cut a second slit -so you have an opening to your cardboard ring. This will make it MUCH easier to wrap your yarn pom pom. Repeat for second disc.
5. Put both cardboard discs together. This is your basic pom pom maker using cardboard discs!
6. Start wrapping your yarn. The THICKER you wrap you yarn the flufflier will be your pom pom.
7. Once you are happy with the amount of yarn used to make your pom pom. Start cutting the yarn, by pushing your scissors between the two discs. Yes it can be fiddly and a good pair of scissors makes all the difference.
8. Make sure you short pieces of yarn do not “fall out” of the central hole.
9. Carefully wrap a long pieces of yarn between the two cardboard discs and around your pom pom. Tie off as tightly as possible. Repeat (just to make it extra secure).
10. Pull your pom pom out and done!

Pom Poms

After seeing Volker’s work it gave me new inspiration to create an installation piece. I wanted to create a piece something similar. Thats when I had the idea to create pom poms like when I was in junior school in the playground. I had a look on youtube on how to make them again to refresh my memory. This was really helpful for me to refresh.

I had a practise go with some white wool to see if this would work. My first attempt didn’t go so well. I had another attempt at doing this but this time it was a success.
I then went to hobby craft to get some different coloured wool.  I decided on the primary colours so blue, red and yellow. I think if this experiment is successful then these are the colours I will stick with.

I like the idea of making an installation of pom poms lots and lots of pom poms all in the primary colours. I began making multiple pieces of circle card to wrap the the wool around. I made some that were smaller and some larger so I have a range of sizes. Here is a photo of all my paper circles ready to be used. I created eight smaller ones and to larger circles. You are able to use the circles multiple times so there is no need to make the circle for each pom pom you intend to make.

The next stage was for me to wrap the wool or yarn around the circles. I did get my partner to help me do some as it made the process quicker.

I really like how bright the colours are and think these will work amazing all together with plenty more of them.
The next stage was to cut the threads to create the pom poms. This was a fiddly task but once it was done I was really happy with them. I have made about eight/ ten of them so far.

I had the idea of having a constellation with many of these pom poms scattered around and maybe hanging from the ceiling would look really cool. I have also experimented with grouping them all together like the middle image above. This looks like an interesting idea to look into.
I won’t be going any further with this until I have spoken to David about my idea.