Observing

I started observing my own personal 'random acts'; I've noticed that I like to hang things. I am quite an organised person and I find comfort in when objects and my possessions are in their place. However in reality, at first glance, my room often doesn't look especially neat and tidy...I do admit this is quite a contradiction! I have realised that for me, organising my stuff isn't a case of everything being tidy, its about grouping objects together and knowing where everything is.

I have a series of hooks made for hanging jewellery on, (top pics) yet I regularly find myself hanging an assortment of different objects on it to make them seem more controlled. I also use the hooks to hold letters or paper that I need to remember to take places.

The pictures below the hooks is an example of my 'as long as its in something its okay' philosophy. I have a rather small basket that I put clothes in that I wear to the farm (where I keep my horse), the basket is right near the door, so the clothes (which often can be a bit smelly!) feel very separated from my clothes in my wardrobe. The basket is far too small for the amount of clothes I keep in it, but I continue to pile them up on top of each other...I don't know why I don't just find a larger basket or sort out the clothes in a more efficient way, but while the clothes are concentrated in and on the basket, this isn't something I feel I need to worry about.

Finally the bottom picture is two items of clothing, hanging outside the wardrobe. I tend to do this when I buy new clothes, I don't really know why...

Material Matters

Materiality is a huge part of our culture; the Material Matters exhibition in the Special Collections allows you to experience objects stripped of their 'story'. We are so accustomed to viewing objects in a museum alongside descriptions and explanations of their history...so being able to view artefacts and interpret them purely from your observations and personal knowledge is an unusual privilege. Seeing the array of different qualities one material type has, depending on where, when or how it has been created is fascinating.

We talked about material facilities and the practicality of using certain materials, why use mahogany rather than MDF? Why does one material have a higher value than another? Of course there is the physical qualities of materials...strength, appearance, ease of manipulation or availability. Makers have a close connection with different materials, and create their own opinions and decisions about which materials they prefer to work with. Being a jeweller, I have experienced working with many different metals and I certainly have my favourites. You create an understanding of which metal will work the best for different jobs, for example, working in brass is certainly a lot more labour intensive than working in silver or gold. Advertising and media encourage us to treasure some materials more than others; diamonds are a marketing success, we are told they are valuable so we pay a lot for them.

Despite Stephanie (the curator of the exhibition) being very keen to state that the objects in the exhibition were displayed with no context, I don't think this is possible. Nothing comes without context, the mere fact that the objects are in an exhibition is context in itself. How does an object qualify to be collected and put into a museum? We cherish the history of these objects but who decides that it has enough history? Why has that particular object been taken out of the real working world and been made into an artefact? The preservation of these objects is curious to me, we don't seem to trust or value the changes the last 30 years have on things. To me, it seems a shame to stop an object from developing further history by placing it in a glass cabinet or even worse (in my eyes) a plastic bag or box in storage!

Design Intentions

Design Intentions is all about embracing this new way of MA thinking in my own personal practice. During my BA, I really enjoyed the research side of my practice, but I always tended to use secondary research to help inspire my designs; things like statistics or facts about women and feminist issues. I always felt a struggle to visualise how I wanted to transform my thoughts and beliefs into pieces of jewellery, meaning I was never completely satisfied with my outcomes. It was almost like the ideas ended up being more important to me than the finished piece. This is something I need to concentrate and improve on in my MA, I want my research to be honest and meaningful. I am going to start this by talking to real women, and perhaps in some cases real men, and find out their true stories and opinions on feminist ideals. 

After talking to my Nana, it has started to become clear to me that the feminists that I have spent an awful lot of time researching (like the suffragettes, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst) were of a completely different class to those like my Nana; who had to work to support their family, as the husbands wage alone wasn't enough...the idea that different women were affected by feminism in different ways depending on their race, class, age is very interesting to me...was being an active feminist a luxury for the higher classes?!

My Nana  - Wynn Taylor

During a seminar we were introduced to the watchword technique, a way to help find words that encourage a deeper reflection of our practice. Words are very useful to help to explain and express what you are doing, describing your activity. I find that while your in education, especially when coming to the end of a BA, you find yourself using the same words and the same sentences to help you describe your work. Even more so perhaps, when you finish Uni; having to fill in application forms and write endless artists statements. It's a good idea to sit down and really think about the words you are using...are they successfully describing what you do? 

When filling in the form, I began with the words I am so used to using in reflection of my work; women, metal, form, domestic, wearability...it was when I started to find words that connected each of these that I started to reveal new words that I wasn't used to using. The three words I ended up with were 'intimate', 'cherished' and 'possessions'...now these aren't words I would immediately use. However when thinking more deeply about my practice, I do address topics about women - and in some ways - their insecurities, this is a very intimate thing. Objects are a big influence, in specific useful, domestic objects that may well have been cherished in use. Possessions could link to these objects, but it could also link to the beliefs that we possess on feminist issues. As a big fan of words and writing, I really enjoyed the process, and I intend to fill in another form perhaps at the end of the MA, to see how things may (or may not) have changed.

Introducing a theoretical grounding to my work...

Creatives often use their practice as a form of therapy, a voice to express their personal values and opinions; I have started to consider where exactly it is that I see myself and my practice in society and the world...where do I fit in? 

Being introduced to theories on design has opened my mind to a whole new level of thinking. Understanding your field, the context in which you work and acknowledging communities you may be part of help you to create a framework and structure for your practice. We have multiple ways of being and seeing the world, multiple ways of being one identity...we change our identity according to context. The way in which we learn and experience things plays a big part in how we produce ideas and designs. The act of transforming these thoughts, ideas and experiences into physical objects is something that seems so obvious when talking about how designs materialise, yet I have never taken the time to think about it in more detail and in the context of jewellery. 

We are becoming increasingly familiar with the idea of jewellery being more than just decoration, I find myself describing my jewellery as a 'vehicle for for social commentary' but what does this really mean? I subconsciously pass on my thoughts and beliefs into my research and consequently into my designs and final pieces. Jewellery is emotional and is socially connected with human life and culture, it is personal and portable, and it is this bodily contact that makes jewellery a perfect way to humanise social issues that affect us all. 

My work is a reflection of my personality, but it is also a reflection of my learning. I produce my own meanings by elaborating on pre-existing subjects that I agree with or find inspiring, making a constant regeneration of ideas and opinions.

Pioneer of contemporary jewellery, Ted Noten's jewellery is not about beauty, it's about a message and a connection between the wearer and the ornament, "I make jewellery that takes some time getting used to. When you wear it, you make yourself vulnerable as it makes such a striking statement. I speak out through my jewellery and objects. I comment upon jewellery as a phenomenon, upon the industry or - like any artist - upon humanity". 

Jewellery has the undeniable ability to reflect the beliefs and personalities of both the maker and the wearer, and it is this fact that I am becoming increasingly interested in. I want to explore the connection the jeweller may have with the wearer, and the importance of jewellery to be left in a state where personal stories can be imparted onto it....

Anticipating Change, Round Two

The general feedback from the informal presentations was to...make sure that we were thinking critically about our subject, using the presentation to lead to a concluding statement or question; making sure there is a level of coherency within the presentation, to get through all the relevant research in such a short space time and finally, to be careful of use of terminology and avoid sweeping statements. Because the feedback was general to all of the groups, it was quite difficult to be sure which points were directed at us, so we just decided to take all the comments on board to help us progress our project.

After a meeting with the full group of deciding how we are going to tackle our final presentation, we found ourselves having to make some compromises due to time constraints. It seemed foolish to abandon our Prezi after spending such a long time putting it together and after seeing how easy it had made our delivery. We decided that to make our research more critical, reflecting our groups individual thoughts and beliefs, we would round our presentation off with a debate...the human vs. the robot. To make it more personal, the illustrators in the group created visual interpretations of both sides of the argument, humanising and personalising the computerised Prezi.

Coming home to this months issue of Crafts magazine was a happy coincidence...it's focus was on the future of design and makers at the forefront of future thinking - shame it didn't arrive 3 weeks ago! When reading the articles inside, I felt I was reading with different eyes. This project and MA have already had an impact on my thoughts and opinions...I would usually have skipped the pages revolving around the digital and advances in the 'computer world', however now I am really interested in the designers themselves, and the reason why they use digital technology in their work. One of the designers in the review on Make:Shift, was Gregory Epps creator of RoboFold, he embraces both hand made and new age techniques in his metal sculptures, 'his tools range from biros and craft knives to industrial robots and a lot of rather complex computer software'. He believes that "objects are more successful when they begin in the real world"...finding out designers who use the digital technologies in their work who have similar beliefs to Gregory Epps brings me a sense of comfort. How could a designer go straight from an idea to creating it on a computer screen to production without the middle testing/sampling/trial and error stage? For me, missing out that middle phase would be like ripping the creative and fun part out of designing...

"Will making things by hand be using a mouse on a computer?"

This was said by someone from one of the other presentations, and it really encouraged me to wonder whether digital technologies are going to take over the future of design...I don't think so, new and innovative technologies like RoboFold allow makers to create work that may not have been possible without machines, however I don't think there will ever be a time when the handmade will become redundant...

It had started to become clear to me that the future of design is being able to find a comfortable, appropriate convergence of traditional and technology? Craft can utilise any tool, hand or machine. The machine has always been perceived as replacing the hand of the maker (since industrial revolution), but craft has not disappeared. New tools or old tools, it’s the thinking of the person behind the tool that counts...David Hockney said when questioned about his use of iPad technology for painting “Well, a paint brush is also technology you know!" 

Again, we had a bit of a struggle with balancing the wants and needs of the part timers, with the practicality of the full timers putting together a coherent presentation. We (the full timers) sat down and collated our research into 'sides', we had such a lot of research it took quite some time to sieve out the most significant parts...we divided the next stage of the project between the group, Christine and I were working on the arguments we wanted to make, Jo and Allen were busy making sketches for the Prezi and James the 'Prezi king' had the job of putting all the text and images together for the presentation.

POST PRESENTATION...

The presentation itself went really well and again the preparation of the Prezi made the delivery clear and concise, allowing us to add a bit of character and humour to the argument. The reaction from the audience was great and they laughed at all the right bits! 
We kept our title as 'Computers as the Creator?' and made valuable arguments for both sides, but it was clear by the end of the process that it wasn't possible for computers to be independently creative, however digital technologies and traditional craft were no longer two separate things, the future of design was the two working together. No matter what the future may hold, it seems to me that one rule won’t change: a good craftsperson should use whatever tool is best for the job. 

Objects & Context

We have been introduced to our Options unit now...and for me, choosing one was easy. I love objects and the stories behind them, so the Objects and Context was clearly the option for me.

In the first session we were introduced to Parallel Universes: Making Do and Getting By + Thoughtless Acts (Mapping the quotidian from two perspectives) By Kevin Henry. The article is about industrial design researcher Jane Fulton and sculptor Richard Wentworth, and how they use photography to better understand their environments and the people who inhabit them. The images show unintentional human involvement with objects, from a wellington boot propping a door open to a bottle top being used as a ash tray. We were asked to go out and observe the world around us and create our own collection of photographic documents...when you are given a task like this, you find yourself walking through the city (or wherever you may be walking!) constantly looking, trying to find objects that have been used by humans in this inadvertent way...it certainly makes my commute more interesting!

 "These images are small portable pieces of the world viewable any time after the event."
- Kevin Henry

Why do we classify, why do we collect and why do we value objects? These are questions that I am extremely inspired by. In my own work, I am visually inspired by utilitarian, domestic, everyday objects; narratively, I am inspired by traditional and modern female roles and feminist issues. I like to make playful relationships between my story and these simplistic objects. There are a lot of jewellery designers that make social comments within their work, however in general, the jewellery created is extravagant and unwearable, more like gallery pieces. During my MA, I want to find a way to create jewellery that is wearable, yet still tells a story. There is something very beautiful about an object that only just does what it is suppose to do, the simplicity and perfection in use of materials and form.

Objects are life's stage props...

Objects have a history and they have memories, an object that is old and worn shows that it has been used, loved and valued. We can learn a lot about an object by looking at these wear and tear marks, we can discover how it has been used, handled and interacted with. When we see marks on an object that indicate how it might have been held, we are encouraged to hold the object in that way too. By doing this we feel a connection with the past, this human interaction is comforting and something you would never achieve with a new, mass produced object.

Kintsugi is a Japanese tradition of celebrating broken ceramics by repairing them with gold. The belief that if an object (in Kintsugi's case, a ceramic object) is worn and damaged, it is of greater value because it has been used, and the fact that it has been broken should be embraced rather than disguised. The repair itself adds value to the object, becoming part of its history. There is something very special about an object that has been repaired, especially if your the person that has repaired it. If you have an object at home that you have personally fixed, it begins to mean more to you as you have had an impact on its life, you feel a connection with it.

Despite this, it all depends of context...if you were to buy a jug directly from the potter, you would inspect it and you may find glaze splatters on the base and perhaps a finger or thumb print indented in the clays surface, these things (well for me anyway) would be an added bonus to the fact the piece was handmade...the small imperfections making the piece feel more authentic. However, if you were to go to John Lewis and buy a similar style ceramic jug, but mass produced; when you get home and discover a thumb print or a blemish, you may take it back and ask for a new one!

Here are some of the photos that I have been taking...