Forming shapes on the body
Looking back at my photographs of the paper garment, I decided I wanted to use photoshop to edit them into black and white and raise the contrast. I believe by doing this I was able to enhance the shapes and 3D elements of my garment and this would allow me to think of design developments.
'unprestigious' graffiti name tags in my local area contrasting with the prestigious pubic arts in Chelsea
I have chose to reserch into Designer Madeleine Vionnets because her Greek-insipred garments remind me of the free flowing fabrics seen in the Albert Memorial I photographed for research. I love how her work depicts the esence of royalty and have an almost Godly like quality to her models when they are photographed wearing the garment. I would love to try out her specialist use of bias cutting in my garment draping and design development along the course of this weeks project. I think this technique will really connect to my 'Public Art' primary research.
"The influence of the Portuguese saw Brazilian women clad in dresses/skirts made from Bordado Richelieu, a doily-like embroidered fabric that is very much like Venetian lace."
(https://historyplex.com/traditional-brazilian-clothing)
(pinterest - Brazilian embriodery)
"After Carnival, the most anticipated event on the Brazilian calendar is the June Festival, the Festas Juninas, which covers the entire month of June with a lot of native music, square dancing, typical food and drinks in honour of three Catholic saints: St. Anthony, St. John and St. Peter. The June Festivities with its strong traits of Brazilian folklore are among the most popular events in Brazil."
Origin of the June Festival
There are several explanations for the origin of the festivities. One theory argues that pagan tribes in the Northern Hemisphere (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Baltic countries) celebrated the summer solstice (Midsummer night), occurring on 21, 22 or 23 of June, dancing around a bonfire, thanking the gods for good harvests and the fertility of the land.
In the past, during the Festas Juninas, the sky was filled with balloons with candle lights and, at night, it was impossible to count the lights floating in the wind. Today, balloons are prohibited due to the risk of destructive fires, but the traditional bonfires still illuminate the June night and beautify the festivities."
(https://brazilinhotpants.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/festas-juninas-june-festival/)
"Booth creates drawings that are multi layered collages bursting with colour and texture."
I have chosen to research into Booth's fashion illustrations, as I love his use of mixed media and loose mark marking as a form of portraying what he see's in front of him. His use of colour is brave as he chooses to use dissimilar colours such as a bright yellow, deep green and bubble-gum pink all very close to each other (in the second photo below) which in the end makes for an interesting vibe. I also like the way he repeats colour and pattern (as seen in first photo withe the blue on the leg and skirt) as this makes for a more considered and coherent appearance.
(http://theymadethislondon.com/illustration/john-booth)
(Instagram: @John_booth)
"The term knitwear refers to any fabric that has been knitted regardless of how fine it is."
Fine knitted fabric's appear to be whole and without gapes when seen with the naked eye, but when you zoom into the structure you can see the loops and holes within the knitted threads.
This is a sample from an Anglo-Saxon iron mail coat from the1600s. The knitted style mail was popular due to its strong structure and resistance to battle. The solider's would were this knitted mail coat to cover their bodies as a form of protection.
PRIMARY RESERCH - This was a strechy knit fabric we found at the Central Saint Martins material library.
I thought this was interesting to photograph as this material changes its appearance according to the amount you pull at it. As you can see, I have photographed myself pulling hard at one end of the material to show how far the structure can gape. The more I pulled at the material the larger the holes appeared to be, between the looped knit. I love how this process of stretching (creating further gaping), reflects our hunt for happiness. The more we stretch ourselves in order to gain what we think will make us happy the more wounds (holes) we create.
(AND THE BRIDE WORE... THE STORY OF THE WHITE WEDDING BY ANN MONSARRAT)
I have looked at Design Alexander McQueen for inspiration as I want to add some colour to my final garment. I have looked at this piece of his as it reminded me of the dances of Isadora Duncan. I would like to mesh together the ideas of the Public Art Grafitti with the ideas of Public Art of royal statues. I will spray paint the lettering inspired by the grafitti I found in my local area, on my final garment.
This is a photo I took of some local 'name tag' graffiti. This image is my favourite image from my research for this project because of the layering effect of the public's art on top of the already public art. What I mean by this is that someone, wholeheartedly, from the public has come and spay painted their form of 'art', (which is their name tag) on top of the already existing mosaic on the train station walls. I find this incredibly interesting and inspiring for this weeks project and will help me develop my ideas.
Madeleine Vionnet - Designer Reserch
Called the "Queen of the bias cut" and "the architect among dressmakers", Vionnet is best known today for her elegant Grecian-style dresses and for popularising the bias cut within the fashion world and is credited with inspiring a number of recent designers.
Vionnet is credited with a move away from stiff, formalised clothing to sleeker, softer clothes.
Influenced by the modern dances of Isadora Duncan, Vionnet created designs that showed off a woman's natural shape. Like Duncan, Vionnet was inspired by ancient Greek art, in which garments appear to float freely around the body rather than distort or mold its shape.
We were asked to find a 'functionl object' that would contrast with our traditional dress. I choose an old, broken, sellotaped Nokia mobile phone. I think this contrasts well with my traditional dress because it has a technology element to it. My traditional dress, Festa Junina originates from the rural areas of Brasil where technology is limited and far more unimportant then in other areas of the country. Because of this reason I think this object can provide me with an interesting contrast to my traditional dress.
Reserching typical songs sang at The June Festival (Festa Junina)
Cai, cai, balão.
Cai, cai, balão.
Aqui na minha mão.
Não vou lá, não vou lá, não vou lá.
Tenho medo de apanhar.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Fall, fall, balloon. Fall, fall, balloon. Here in my hand. I do not go there, I do not go there, I do not go there. I'm scared to get caught.
(https://www.suapesquisa.com/musicacultura/musicas_festa_junina.htm)
Looking at the shapes I gathered from my observational drawings in my surroundings I decided to create a three dimensional paper form. By transforming two dimensional shapes into a three dimensional form, this has helped me think about abstract construction outside of fashion and the body. To take this idea further I can use this information to develop my construction with three dimensional shapes but this time concentrating on the body.
"She accessorized her dress with an unsusal head covering inspired by the headdresses worn by nuns under their hoods."
(ABOVE & TEXT EXTRACT: The Wedding dress - A sourcebook) (BELOW: YOONIQ Images.com - Copyright (c) Mary Evans Picture Library 2008)
(1930's) British socialite Barbara "Baba" Beaton wearing a mesh veil and headdress "inspired by nuns". The design inspiration suggests purity which creates a paradox with the material the veil is made from -mesh and lace. These materials were often used in designs for seductive wear, often opted by prostitutes at the time.
BRITISH MUSEUM (ROOM 68)
Instantly this quote from Andy Warhol jumped out to me as being a perfect example of a hedonistic person who finds happiness in "cash". The quote also shows how quick that happiness is taken away when he has to "spend" it within a "minute". This relates well with our project as we want to look deep into and question the hedonistic beliefs -essentially proving it's faults.
"Cash. I am just not happy when I dont have it. The minute I have it I spend it. And I just buy stupid things."
I found this structure interesting because it appears like a piece of mesh material, despite it not actually being mesh it has the same shape and pattern. I love how there are holes in the structure showing failure in the strength of the material.
"A little girl begs for money outside the barbed wire fence at the Killing Fields museum in Cambodia."
MONEY NEEDS TO BE SECURED AND PROTECTED - CAGE STRUCTURE LINKS TO MESH STRUCTURE
"What happens when we have a crisis of faith? What happens when we want to explore, express and question our faith, when people rely on us to be stable, solid and unwavering in faith and conviction? So many people think that church leaders are the solid types, the strong ones, that we are leaders because we are sorted. Some leaders like that. And some may well be. Many are not.
In fact, many are called because they are not – it was their sensitivity, thoughtfulness, depth and angst that was part of their calling and the very thing that makes them good at their job. And the very thing that makes it so hard, that threatens to pull at the very seams of life and faith and unravel the whole thing in a very public kind of way. Without faith, there is nothing left – no job, no home, no foundation on which your whole life and reputation has been built."
EXTRACT FROM A BLOG POST ABOUT CHRISTIAN FAITH & MINISTRY (THEBLOGOFKEVIN.WORDPRESS.COM)