Continued...

So at the moment i'm still looking into this idea of writing my thoughts down in the shape of the journey that I have taken. I decided to combine this with my earlier idea of using leaflets to create the areas between the paths. I tried this idea and really like the outcome.

I really like the idea that the materials I am using are representing my journey. I also think that writing thoughts down is a good way to remember specific events throughout my journey. I enjoyed making this study and would like to take this idea further. I think I now need to try this idea but on a larger scale and with more going on to see if the effect is the same. I was very specific with composition in this piece and will try this idea again but not be as precious when applying materials. 

Thoughts

Whilst on my journey around the University campus, I wrote down things I thought/heard/saw as I was walking. I decided to try this method out as a way of mapping. I copied down my thoughts in smaller font and followed the lines on the map - the route I had walked. I like the idea that my thoughts represent my journey and really like the outcome.

I used different weight of lines to represent roads that I remembered more clearly. I think this method is effective and will develop this further. 

Leaflets

I began trying out way to incorporate my leaflets into my mapping. I took another journey around the University campus and collected more leaflets and business cards. I decided to try out using these as a material to make a map. I drew a basic sketch of my walk and built a map made from the leaflets around this sketch. I tore the leaflets rather than cutting them to reflect the different shapes of the pavements and buildings.

I really like this effect, and think this is a much better way to document my journey rather than just drawing out the path I took. I like the fact that it takes a few seconds to realise what the sections are representing. I like the colours and think that the torn paper looks a lot more effective that simply cutting them into a shape. I really like this study and will take this idea further. 

Origins - Journeys

So this is the title to our first project. Our brief is to research and develop ideas into how a journey can be portrayed in a none-typical way, and what the word 'Journeys' means to us. I had several ideas to start with, including an idea by mapping my travels using the sounds I heard along my way. I began by collecting images of artists work. In particular I liked the work of Candy Jernigan, and her use of collage to build up the idea of a journey. She collects items and uses these to document her travels. I like the way she uses multiple objects in her work to portray a hectic or busy place. I work a lot with collage and so decided to plan a journey around Manchester and see what I could collect that would remind me of my journey. I walked around many of the busier areas, but also took a trip down to quieter places and wrote down anything that caught my eye, or that I would particularly remember when looking back over my walk. I recorded things I heard and sounds that remind me of different places. I walked for about two hours, and when I got back and looked over things I had collected, I realised that the most common things were leaflets. These were advertising events, pubs, shops and places. I decided to use these leaflets along with the sounds I had recorded to document my journey around the city.

I used different colours to represent different sounds I heard on a daily basis. I also used thick frantic lines to portray the busyness and noise of the city. 

This was the first piece I tried out. I like the variety of materials I collected and think they are relevant to my journey. I don't think the overall composition works well, as the items I collected are displayed in a pattern around the edge of the page. I think documenting my journey in this way is too literal, and I will try a different, less obvious way of presenting my findings. 

Final Outcome

I decided that rather than planning out a specific design for my kite, I would just improvise and decide upon the shape and structure as I was assembling the pieces. I wanted the outcome to still be abstract however to still resemble a kite. Rather than using tape which would detract from the design, I used a method of cutting so the pieces would slot in together. This allowed me to easily position the sections where I wanted and also helped create angles. I used a glue gun to secure the pieces further. I am really happy with the outcome of my kite. I feel the design and materials reflect well upon my way of working. I think if I was to attempt this project again I would make the kite a lot bigger, and use a more lightweight material. Although I am happy with the overall design, I think it would look a lot more effective on a larger scale, and with a thinner material, so the light shone through the sides more effectively.

I now needed to decide on a structure for my kite. I often work with paper and practice origami techniques so I decided the form would follow this style. On a recent visit to the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art, I came across the work of

I really like the unusual composition and the shadows. I decided to give my kite a strange form by cutting up sections of the sheets I made from the photo's and sweet wrappers and re-attaching them together. I made sections that would inter-lock and stick out at strange angles, whilst still giving the impression of a kite shape. When held at different angles, the pieces will almost make a diamond shape however keeping the abstract quality. I am very happy with the overall result of my kite and will use this technique again in future work. I think the colours give it an interesting quality and like that the materials are not typical.

After I had decided on the basic print for my kite, I began to experiment with different materials to add interest. I decided that I wanted the materials to be slightly transparent so the light would shine through and you could see several sections of the kite at once. I tried out different materials that would give the kite a bit of colour and shine. I have worked with metallic sweet wrappers before and really liked the contrast of them when placed next to my photo's of the cranes. I tried trapping the photographs and sweet wrappers in laminating pouches. I really like the effect and the colours together. 

Summer Project - Patterns In The Sky

So the aim of our summer project was to make/design/ plan a kite. We could use materials of our choice and it could be any shape, size, colour etc. I decided quite early on that I didn't want my finished piece to look like a typical kite. I wanted the use of materials and the construction of my kite to reflect me and my work methods. I decided that rather concentrating on obvious patterns for my kite, such as stars and clouds, I would concentrate more on skylines and the shapes they make against the sky. During a trip to Glasgow I took photographs of cranes outside the Art College as I liked the thick lines and interesting shapes against the blue of the sky. I decided that this these photographs would form a basic pattern for my kite.