Final Project Evaluation

Group work: I feel as though I myself have worked well within in the group. There have been people who have not pulled their weight the whole way throught the project, and I felt Steph, Claire and I carried the rest of the group on occasions. By the end of the project however everyone did pull together and we managed to create some really exciting work.

Own Project Development: I was a bit slow getting into the project but I think that is because it was 10 weeks long so the sense of panick wasn't there from the begining. Once I had got started I found a topic I was able to stick to easily and carry on into made and drawn material. The crochet, atex and cotton wool samples I created evolved and moved on to a point until I realised we just needed bulk rather than beauty for the final filming and I was taking too much time over each one. The slow hand processes I used reflected the 'slow is beautiful' idea and I felt really connected to that idea for the future through actually doing it.

Contextual research: As a group the artist research was really interesting and pushed the ideas from the beginning, however each person still had very different ideas of where the project was going and the research reflected that and sent us in far too many different directions. Once we had found the Andrew Huang video and been to visit microbiology to collect our own photos, I didn't feel the need to research into the art world any further for inspiration as our work would have started to look like theris and too may more ideas would have arisen which we wouldn't have had time to deal with.

Final Film!

Final Film! This piece of music was chosen because we tried out a lot of sound effects and nothing seemed to flow or sound quite right, especially on movie maker. This song has elements of small sound effects which fit in well, and the overall makeup of the song (which Kes added to the group blog) fits in with the changing of speed of our video. It builds up as the mould builds up on the body. The song 'Children' by Robert Miles is also looking forward to the future and what the future will bring us. I feel this movie relates to the initial brief because we are acting as 'help agents' for prople to see what the problems are, and it is linked so closely to 'slow is beautiful'.

The group editing together

                                             A group photo of us all at the end of a long day!!!

Tuesday: editing the film, 4 hours on from this photo we were still editing...and the next morning!! A really big effort, which has paid off because we managed to finish everything!

My final samples

                            

 Latex samples. These represent the agar plate and the area on which mould grows. I added paint and cotton wool to these as they were drying to create more texture and to show the idea of organisms growing onto a medium.
 Cotton wool samples. I made a lot of these near the end of the project because I had simply rolled them in water and paint so they were easy and quick to make. This was useful because we needed to bulk up the amount of samples towards the end. I also embroidered into them which I love, but they were time consuming and the camera didn't pick up the detail ayway.

 Crocheted circle samples. These were used to bulk up the amount of samples by the end because they were small and quick to make. These are just a few of them, I made about one hundred in all.

 Crocheted and french knot samples. I loved making these because they were a different technique and showed skill, and aso linked in with the slow in beautiful theme thrugh the slow hand processes used.

 Cotton wool buds and paint. These were good as they tied in the surgical and sterile element of our ideas and the idea of adding paint represented the contaminating of Gavin's lab in Microbiology with our mould growths.

A quick overall image of all the samples I managed to make in the time. I feel as though I made a lot of the samples when others maybe didn't feel it as important to make as many. I  am glad I did though because the overall film really benefitted from a substantial amount of samples to play with.

Stop motion: part of the final film

Stop motion of what we were filming from above. It's jumpy because we couldn't keep the camera in the same place and we didn't take a photo each time a sample was added, but it still shows the way the samples grow and gives an idea of how the film is.

Stop motion fits in so well with our idea of 'slow is beautiful' and how a slow peocess can be an incredibly beautiful one. Stop motion films are so time consuming to make, but they are so worth while. You feel a part of every stop  frame, because you took them individually and moved the sample every time. It's a  deeper connection to your movie than something that is filmed on a video camera.

First day of filming final film

 These were our samples before we started filmin. So proud of all the samples we were able to produce!

       Jess H standing in the whits suit ready to film the samples climbing over her.  She didn't get out of the suit for 4 hours, of standing in the same position!! Very proud, not sure I could have done that. We should have paid someone else to do, also we should have had someone smaller because of Jess being so tall it took longer to fill her with the samples.

 Emilia, Steph and Jess who put the samples on the Jess with me whilst Claire took the photos. There was amazing light coming through Steph's lounge windows.

 Emilia and Jess B placing the samples onto Jess H. It was time-consuming to attach bevause we had to pin each sample individually onto the suit. Some samples were also really heavy and the pins didn;t hold them particularly well.

Image through the Microscope

I like the way there is a dark circle around the image. This could work well in the film to suggest an agar plate.

Latex sample stop motion

Stop motion at the end of the day using latex samples as the focus. It would have been better using more photos and moving the samples less to make it smoother.

Mixing the samples

We needed to make smaller samples so that the video would run more smoothly. This led me to make more samples that were quick and small crocheted circles with no extra embellishment to bulk up the amount, instead of taking a long time creating a texture detail to them.

Samples working together along the floor. I really love all the different styles and sizes clashing together. It looks beautiful, and the greens tie them together. Emilia, Claire and I put this together when we were waiting for the others to arrive. The group works well when there are a few of us at a time, but of course more work gets done when there are more of us.

Sterile suit

Trying out the suit with steph and experimenting with the tubes. It may be harder than we thought to get the tubes to look effective but we will experiment more with them.

1st group stop motion in the suit

 1st video using the suit. Really like it because it adds a paranoid, and sterilised atmosphere like we experienced in the microbiology department.

1st group stop motion

                            

All of our samples collectively used in a stop motion. This would have been more effective with everyone's samples because only Jess Brown, Steph, Claire and Jo could make it. Still inspired us to do more similar though.

Drawings from footprint filming

 We dripped watercolour paint onto the drawing, this was really effective because all the splashes started to represent mould. Also the addition of colour onto the page lifted a very black and white day!

 A mood board made up of each person's photos and samples.

All of the footprint images could easily be transferred into prints onto fabric, linking the idea of how mould could start to influence fashion.

Sketchbook work

 Sketchbook page. I  used cotton wool buds to paint with. It created a really interesting texture and the colours mixed really well.

 Adding water and paint to cotton wool. I like how the paint is such a stronger colour on the wispy edges.

 Page out of sketchbook. I made small drawings next to the large one like looking through a microscope. This represents well my vision for all the groups made samples put together. I'm excited to see how they will look.

Stop motion ink

This video was done in the group work, they were really fun to achieve and it was great to work in the group. We have the idea of using food colouring and tubing to suggest disease spreading through the body.

Drawn stop motion

Drawn stop motions are much easier to make look smoother because you can make the difference between each photo much more subtle.

Sample stop motions

These films are all very basic, and are used with quite large samples so it is quite juttery. I've found using much smaller, or just more samples creates a much smoother video.

Stop motion up the wall

It was tough making a stop motion going up the wall on my own because I had to find ways of attaching to the surface. Also I was moving around a lot, it is definately easier with more than one person.

Stop motion of Mould on Footprints

3rd stop motion made. I have really enjoyed them and I feel like I'm getting the hang of them more now.

Stop motion of Four Samples

Video of samples made into stop motion. Short film just showing how mould grows.

Crochet Samples

 Crochet and french knot samples inspired by the shape and texture of mould.

Sketchbook work

 I have been using a lot of watercolour in my sketchbook work because I love the way the colours can mix together without being a completely even colour.

 Here I dropped water onto the paint after mixing the colours and the effect it makes is a beautiful representation of mould ans growth.

 This was an experiment of one of the moulds found in the petri dishes. Crunching paper creates a really interesting texture.

Using masking tape is a good texture fround to then add colour to. It already has that rough, powdery quality found on so many of the moulds.

CV

Joanna Dyas: Textiles in Practice C.V.

  

Personal Details

Name: Joanna Dyas

Place of Study: Manchester Metropolitan University

Blog Address:  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6033401544436107748#overview

Qualifications

GCSEs: 
(Buxton Community School) 13 GCSEs grades A* to C including A* in art

Alevels:  
(Lady Manners School)          Textiles – A*

                                                Art, Geography – A

                                                General Studies – C

Foundation Diploma: Distinction from Manchester Metropolitan University

Other work:  Work Experience at Earl Sterndale Primary School: June 2007
                   Work Experience at Buxton Community School Dance Department: June 2009
                   Work Experience with ex-Embroidery student Loretta Harmer
                     Collaboration with MA contemporary dance student Kerry Allsop in Coventry.

Image of collaboration work with Kerry Allsop.

 Artist Statement

Art for me, especially textiles and embroidery, lets me understand the world around me and allows me to express how the things I experience affect me. So far, both hand and machine embroidery have helped me to interpret the inspiration of nature. Geography has always been a passion, so through my work, I love to include this running theme of the natural world. The beauty and intricacy of nature, and it’s ability to overcome mans intervention, even in some cases take over the man made world is a concept I love to bring to people’s attention. Mainly I have fought to use hand, and slow technology techniques allowing me to feel fully part of each process of the work, but more recently digital, especially photography has allowed me to push and experiment with ideas I never could have thought up before.

My work is a commentary on the world, interesting things I find or beauty in unexpected places, made into textiles which people can relate to in any way they wish. As I don’t have a specific area of textiles I am working towards, my embroidery can work into many different outcomes or even be left as an art piece. As we look to the future, resources are becoming scarcer and we are all going to have to be more socially conscious of where we buy clothes and materials, and I take that as a fun challenge; to take something unloved or overlooked and make it beautiful, therefore leaving the world a more beautiful place.

Work made at university based around the theme of rust.

I want my work to have a social conscience, for every person who experiences it to be able to understand and appreciate it. I find textiles such a fun and exciting way to express myself, and art in general is an amazing way to bring people together. It is my goal to use my creativity and skills set in embroidery to be of some help to people. I would love to make a real difference in people’s lives through my passion, and therefore through a way that not a lot of other people can.