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Unit X Blog Post - Summary

The second part of Unit X was to work together in groups (no longer mixed with 3D Design) to create an exhibition for our end of 1st year project.

 During this time, I believe that made a good contribution to the group, such as always putting ideas forward, going to all group sessions and helping others out with issues they may have been stuck with. However, I did find it difficult at times for my opinions to be heard being in a group with some strong-minded members. This seemed to come down to the fact that there were so many of us in our group compared to others on the course. Something that I would have changed would be to half our group size from 8 to 4, so that we could work more effectively towards our final exhibition. Although, working in this group size did have its advantages as there were always plenty of ideas floating around, the decision making on the other hand, of whose ideas to use is what seemed to cause most problems. At times tensions did get high between some members, through clashes of personality and ideas which I believe falls down to us being in a large group, as well as all of us being a close friendship group outside of university.

 On a few occasions, we worked in the library in smaller groups if other members were busy with other commitments, and during these times we seemed to be the most productive, as it was easier to help each other without everyone putting too many ideas forward, for example, even just with small tasks such as helping to build sentences and get the wording right to write definitions.

 Looking back, as I group it was clear to see that we got too carried away with our initial idea before actually thinking about it realistically, that we would struggle to make walking into a box full of senses a reality with such a short amount of time. Although we all liked the idea and concept at the start, we realized that it would have been hard to pull off as we are only 1st year university students. Therefore, it was back to the drawing board and we collectively decided to rethink our idea and brainstorm, trying to incorporate as many original ideas as possible that we liked but in a simpler form so they were easier to add into our exhibition.

 At the start of Unit X, we did a lot of collaborative work with the 3D Design students. I enjoyed this part of the project as it was interesting to exchange skills from our design based courses. I would say I learnt a lot from the few 3D Design students that I worked with and got to know, including model making with scrap metal materials and slab building with clay.

 I think holding an exhibition being the final project of 1st year was a great experience and good practice for the future. I really liked our ‘Paper Towns’ brief and the concept behind it, however I did wish that it could have been slightly more focused on just interior design, whereas because we were given a similar brief and mixed with the 3D Design students, it felt more of a ‘general design’ based project rather than Interior Design.

  Overall, in my opinion I was very happy with our exhibitions outcome and after many hours spent together as a group I believe that the outcome was successful as we were able to achieve our final idea just how we wanted it. On the other hand, we were slightly disappointed as a group with the equipment situation regarding laptops/ iPads and projectors provided by the university. After requesting these items, then following instructions as of when to collect them on certain dates and times, we were told that all the equipment that we needed was booked out. Fortunately, we all managed to pull our own resources together in order to make our exhibition idea into the ‘Edge of Reality’.

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Unit X Blog Post - Final Weeks

Week 7 & 8

 Going into the 7th week of Unit X, as a group we started to physically pull all of the pieces together and gather our final ideas to make them a reality for our exhibition. After changing our original idea of having a space that you could step inside, due to this seeming too difficult to make a reality, we decided to make foam board boxes, varying in size and arranged accordingly to symbolize a cliff face, our idea was then to project our beach, cliff and sea footage onto these boxes with sound effects to create the atmosphere.

 As there are 8 of us in the group we collectively allocated each other job roles so that we all had something to do during this crucial week. Taking advantage of everyone’s strengths, some members of the team made the boxes out of foam board, sticking these together with a glue gun, some putting the film together that we plan to project onto the box configuration, and the rest of us using different techniques including the use of Photoshop to make visuals. Once we had gathered all this work together, we used InDesign to make a book filled with our own images, visuals, and some text explaining our concept and the ideas behind ‘Edge of Reality’. We thought that this would be a good addition to get our thoughts across to viewers of the exhibition.

 Reaching the final week of Unit X it was time for our exhibition. Held over two days at Chapter One Books, Norther Quarter, the exhibition went to plan and as a group we were happy with the outcome overall, despite the huge last minute change of plan for our idea, from a space that you step into, to a visual cliff illusion. During these last few days we put in many hours of hard work which I believe was apparent from the stage we were at in our last tutorial.

 On the morning of our exhibition we went down to the location to set up ‘Edge of Reality’ in our finalized space, over three glass booths in the back-left corner of Chapter One. Putting in a lot of thought, we carefully placed the boxes in a cliff like formation in the 3rd booth, in a way which we thought our footage would look most effective, for example making sure the waves from the sea crashed on the right angles of the foam board boxes. In the 1st booth we placed the projector on a table, along with the iPad showing our Instagram account and ‘Edge of Reality’ book. This spread our exhibition out over a nice amount of space. In the background of our film we had sound such as crashing waves, and the sharp wind, collectively we decided to have the sound level not too loud so that the noises were left subconsciously in the observer’s minds, hopefully creating the feeling of being in an isolated area.  

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Unit X Blog Post - Instagram Account - Location Reveal

Week 5 & 6

 This week we decided to create an Instagram account to document our process of the Unit X project. Our idea is then to show this account as a visual for our final exhibition, perhaps showcasing this on an iPad to make our exhibition interactive for viewers, creating a feel for our idea if it was placed around areas in Manchester.

We were given our location for the final exhibition, being Chapter One Books located in Norther Quarter, Manchester not far from Piccadilly Gardens. Following the news, we headed down to the place as a group and went inside to choose our ideal area of the space where we’d like our exhibition to be. Originally, we chose quite a large area which we intended to black out using fabric as we had planned on using a projector to present our work. However, the owners of Chapter One Books were not keen on our idea of blocking out the natural daylight that the space provides, therefore an alternative option was a corner space towards the back of the room which was darker making it easier to see our images on the projection and not needing to use fabric to stop any light. For this reason, it seemed to make more sense to use this section of the book store/coffee shop/ work space, it also had a nice feature of glass booths that would be nice to exhibit our model in, that would also not affect our use of the projector with it being able to go through the clear glass panes.

 Over the Easter break, the group managed to keep in touch and ideas continued to flow over social media. Deciding that we wanted to use an isolated beach to exhibit as our ‘paper town’, the group and I went on a road trip to Thursaston beach in The Wirral to get some footage for our exhibition idea. Rather than getting clips and sound effects off the internet, we wanted to visit the actual cliff side beach, being the best way for us to recreate this atmosphere for our exhibition. Experiencing this first hand, we stood on the edge of the cliff to try take in every factor that we were exposed to using our senses.

 Earlier on in the week 2 members of our group attended the film workshop provided by university, where they gained skills and experience which they then applied whilst taking footage at the beach. They also helped the rest of us in the group giving us tips and advice on what would look best through the camera lense as we took it in turns to film.

 Following our visit to Thursaston we came up with a name for our exhibition, ‘Edge of Reality’.

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Unit X Blog Post - Interior Design and 3D Design Collaboration - Paper Towns

Week 3 & 4

 For our collaborative project, I along with another Interior student, joined with a 3D Design student to teach each other skills. One of my own skills that I decided to teach was how to speak in front of an audience. Many people have difficulty getting up and talking in front of a crowd of people, so I gave the rest of my group some tips and advice on how to do this successfully. Such as; staying relaxed and calm, have planned what you are going to say, perhaps pretend you’re speaking to a friend.

 One skill that I learnt was Japanese, how to say, ‘Hello… Nice to meet you…. My name is’. After looking, covering and repeating this sentence multiple times, I managed to remember it.

The other skill I learnt during this 24-hour project was how to slab build by the 3D student in my group, initially she was going to teach us how to do ceramics, however as Bebhinn and I were not inducted in the workshop we were un able to do so. This process was very interesting, as I learnt how to cut and score the clay using the correct tools, then adding water in order for it to mold together. When put together the model was then ready to place in the kiln to make it solid, once out and cooled down you can then add your own design.

 I believe that this task went well and developed my teamwork and communication skills.

 This week was the launch of the next part of our Unit X project. Our given brief was based on ‘Paper Towns’, the concept of something being there that’s made out to be real but it is actually fake, almost like an illusion. After being given our exhibition brief, the group and I started thinking of potential locations around Manchester that could be suitable for our thoughts to create a ‘paper town’. After doing some research and throwing around ideas we decided to visited the Home area situated in Deansgate, a short walk from the university and a modern space. We went inside Home and looked around their current exhibition to gain some inspiration.

 Following our visit, we had a tutorial to give our initial ideas and show our tutors what action we had taken since being given the project brief. We were given feedback from our thoughts which helped point us in the right direction. Originally this was to create a space that you could step inside that took you away from the busy city life, to an isolated space such as a forest or beach, using senses like touch, sound and smell to create this illusion. Taking on our constructive criticism we regrouped in the library to do some further research and brainstorm more potential ideas as it is still early on in the project.

 During a second tutorial this week, we discussed and developed our ideas again and received more in-depth advice. We were given the task for the following week to make a presentation and prepare a pitch for our interim crit. Using a mixture of president images and our own images from visiting the Home area, we were able to create a feel for what we’d like our outcome of the exhibition to be.

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Unit X Blog Post - Manchester Grid & Ancoats Tour

Week 1 & 2

 Being set this Map Project gave the chance for interior and 3D design students to collaborate our skills and use our personal course strengths to create a Manchester Grid. After getting together in a group of 6 and choosing our section of the Map at random, we set off to our location that was situated in the Deansgate area to do some research and sketches.

As a group we worked well together, and after splitting our part of the map into 6 so that we individually had a section to focus on, we managed to locate the areas successfully.

 After making our recordings we headed back to the studio to brainstorm ideas of what we’d like the design of our part of the grid to look like, thinking of ways to incorporate interior and 3D aspects. Subsequently, following a lot of thought we decided to use foam-board, and cut out all main roads on the map to create layers, we used pins and string to add colour and make the outlines of streets and buildings stand out. To represent key locations on our map such as, albert square, ship canal house and the stock exchange building, we used small pieces of wood and metal by tying them together making our design 3D, a new skill that I learnt from the 3D Design students.

 After completing this 48-hour project, each group pieced their section of the map together creating a grid of Manchester which we pinned up in the Benzie Café.

For week 2 of unit X, we had a tour of Ancoats with an external guide. We met at a small steal bridge over the Rochdale canal to start our journey, hidden in the wall at the side of this bridge was one of 10, ‘Ancoats Peepholes’. These ‘Peeps’ are brass tubes set into the bricks around the area showing a glimpse of hidden spaces, this was a project by artist Dan Dubowitz.

The purpose of our visit to this location, situated next to the Norther Quarter, part of Manchester city center, was to focus on its history and industrial past. The former industrial district is now being gentrified as a residential area. These peepholes are evidence of a ‘hidden Manchester’ that many do not know about, thinking about this project by Dubowitz made me visualize that are probably lots more of unknown places in the city that still haven’t been discovered.

 It was interesting to find the Ancoats Peeps, and although some of the original ones are no longer there, it makes me wonder what could be seen through the other brass tubes? What else is hidden behind the walls? There could be a whole undiscovered town beneath us that know one has yet found. This tour certainly got me thinking and also guessing what our final exhibition for Unit X could be.

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CP Blog Post - Casa Batllo

Designed by Antonio Gaudi, Casa Batllo is a jewel of modernism situated in Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona, Spain. This renowned building is considered as one of Gaudi’s fullest and most mature pieces of work, with very interesting architecture and inspiring design both internally and externally.

 Josep Batllo, an influential businessman who owned several factories in the textile industry in Barcelona, gave Gaudi complete freedom and commissioned him to remodel an old building. The building was to be used by Batllo and his family as residences.

 Nature and the Mediterranean Sea was Gaudi’s inspiration for this design, this is made apparent through the shapes and shades of blue throughout the building, as well as the wavy ceiling creating an illusion of the sea. The colours of this house break with the general aesthetics of the other buildings surrounding it because of the Casa Batllo’s captivating exterior detail.

  One feature that I admired and stood out to me on the building were the balconies, shaped like the face of a skull, which is why the locals name Casa Batllo, ‘Casa Del sossos’, meaning House of Bones. This extremely impressive house features irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work throughout. Much of the façade is decorated with colourful mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles and there are few straight lines inside and outside of the building.

  Stunning views over the city can be seen through the windows of this great architecture, as well as on the arched roof, dominated by detail known as ‘the dragons back’ as it appears to be the animal’s spine with a beautiful blend of coloured mosaic tiles.

  When entering Casa Batllo I was given a headset which gave me an interactive tour of this inspiring building, making it easier for me to appreciate and understand the internal features. I found that Gaudi had taken both functions and aesthetics into consideration when designing the house and furniture. Gaudi made great use of natural light through the inner courtyards, reflecting onto blue tiles reinforcing his inspiration of the sea, as well as where the windows are thoughtfully positioned throughout the building to illuminate each room.

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CP Blog Post - Sagrada Familia

This Roman Catholic Church located in the heart of Barcelona, Spain was founded in 1866 and is an expiatory temple devoted to the holy family which to this day follows the original directives of architect Antoni Gaudi as the building is still under construction after 5 generations.

 The Sagrada Familia’s neo-gothic design was drawn up by the buildings first architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, however after a short period of time due to disagreements with the promoters of the temple, Francisco resigned from the post of chief architect, therefore the roll was handed to Gaudi in 1883.

  Gaudi’s conception of the Sagrada Familia was based on the traditions of byzantine and gothic cathedrals. He designed a floor plan based on a Latin cross and climbing towers, to create an extremely symbolic structure both architecturally and sculpturally, thus, conveying the teachings of the Gospel and Christian Church. His intention was to express Christian beliefs through the beauty and architecture of the building.

 The meaning of the Sagrada Familia is communicated through the expressivity of its architecture and the iconography of its sculpture. Therefore, the collaboration between form and Christian iconography, with architecture generated through logical structures, forms and geometries inspired by nature, with light and colour, play a central role.

  Gaudi made great use of light which enhanced his amazing architecture, as sunlight glistens on the pinnacles of the towers and windows. Antoni Gaudi’s design included the use of different types of stone and tiles in the vaulting of the building, as well as many coloured symbolic features to capture observer’s eyes, such as stained-glass windows and skylights in the vaults of the church, creating harmonious light inside the Sagrada Familia.

  Each of its 18 towers have a special significance, with the middle tower dedicated to Jesus Christ. When finished these peaks will provide a sense of elevation.

  Sadly Antoni Gaudi passed away during the development of Sagrada Familia, therefore his close collaborator, Domenec Sugranes, took over the management of the work in 1926.

  Currently, only 70% of the work on the temple had been carried out after all these years, however the goal to have all architectural work completed is 2026. Although still under construction, having seen this extraordinary temple in person the building is still an outstanding piece of architecture.

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CP Blog Post - Memory, 2012

Daido Moriyama, photographer born and works in Japan, uses photography to explore his personal relationship with Japans cultural landscape.

Moriyama is one of the key figures associated with ‘Provoke’, this is an influential photography magazine that rejected photojournalistic conventions of objectivity and clarity. Daido is also said to be one of the most key contemporary Japanese photographers and explains how he uses photography to convey his subjective experiences, “by taking photo after photo I came closer to the fragmentary nature of the world and my own personal sense of time”.

 The energy of the modern city is expressed through Moriyama’s photographed images, which provide an impression rather than a true representation of the urban environment. These photos provide a harsh, crude vision of city life and the chaos of everyday existence, unusual characters and strange worlds.

  Daido Moriyama’s approach to produce these images included working without a viewfinder, embracing printing errors and re-photographing images. His use of a small hand held camera gives these images a loose, casual aesthetic and decisive point of view. The result of his photos are scratched, blurred and grainy reinforcing his usual style of work.

  Daido compulsively photographed landscape working through 250 rolls. He kept these undeveloped images for 30 years before printing, in contrast to the claustrophobic energy of Moriyama’s images of cities. This series of photographs underscores photography’s ability to preserve but also add depth and resonance to memories and highlight how Moriyama re-uses and re-thinks his own work.

 This series of gelatine silver print photographs on paper is held in the Tate Modern – London. The black and white striking images caught my eye as they seem to tell an unwritten, non-logical story representing different class, cultures and lifestyles, as well as expressing a fascination with the cultural contradictions of old traditions that persist with modern society. After carrying out some research on these photographs, I found that Moriyama tries to re-appropriate photos of his past to relive forgotten emotions in order to face his own reality.

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CP Blog Post - Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams

This enamel and oil paint on cotton piece was created by El- Salahi, an artist who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern art in Africa, he studied painting in the late 1940’s in Khartoum - Sudan, before completing his studies in London.

El- Salahi developed a new visual vocabulary comprising simple forms, sombre colours and strong lines inspired by his environment and rooted African and Arabic forms and iconography.

 In this piece of work, held in the Tate Modern – London, Ibrahim El- Salahi captures the fleeting, and often dramatic, moments when memory and dreams, past and present collide. Finding out the name of this piece of work was what connected me to the painting, putting myself deep into the mind of El-Salahi, trying to figure out the meaning of these strange elongates, black eyed, glittering facial shapes, that I could not put together. The use of dark colours, predominantly black, blue, grey and deep red give this piece of work depth making you question if these dreams were nightmares?

  When studying this work I interpreted many faces across the cotton, many which can only be seen when looking at the painting in detail. I also noticed figures, some of which look like animals and others which appear to be hands. With this piece of work all seeming random at first sight, the title is what I believe translates these obscure visuals.  

According to Ibrahim, these figures may have represented the veils that his mother and grandmothers would wear in public, or they could be the faces of the drummers and tambourine players he had seen circling wildly during funeral ceremonies and chants in praise of Allah. From what I gather, each stroke of paint was an expression and interpretation of an unexplainable dream, what created this famous piece of work.

  Painted over 4 years between 1961 and 1965, these ghostly figures with long limbs, sunken eyes and stretched heads emerged from a pale-yellow background. The dark blue, black and grey bodies are made up of intertwining lines that converge in oil and enamel on damouriya, this is a narrow textile, hand-woven in Sudan.

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CP Blog Post - Cage (1) - (6)

Composed by German visual artist Gerhard Richter, these six paintings (Cage 1-6) held in the Tate Modern – London, were named as a coherent group, inspired by the American experimental composer John Cage.

 Since the early 1980’s Richter has frequently made abstract work. His technique for these paintings was using various colours of oil paint, then wiping a squeegee across the layers that he initially applied to the surface to create uncontrolled markings. With the upper layers of paint being dragged across the canvas, earlier elements from the painting manage to resurface forming this unique look. These several layers of oil paint and erasure is what creates the uneven overlay of colours on the Cage paintings.

The surfaces are animated by lines where the brushstrokes are paused and other scrapings and areas where the skin of oil paint has dried and therefore rippled and created a stippled effect, making the paint seem delicate and fluid in some areas and solid and coarser in others.

When researching I found that Gerhard Richter listened to John Cage’s music whilst working on these paintings, sparking his inspiration to title his pieces of art after the American composer. However, there are no direct links between any particular work in this series and any music by Cage. Nonetheless, Richter has long been interested in Cage’s ideas about ambient silence, which is in contrast to ‘Cage 1-6’, as well as his controlled use of chance in musical composition.

These pieces of work caught my eye due to their juxtaposition of complex simplicity, in the sense that all the paintings hold the same style, but not one marking is the same. The use of the colour grey ties each painting together, yet each piece holds its own as an individual.

Whilst in the Tate and watching observers I noticed how intently they were studying the art for their own interpretation.  Each piece showed the depth of the oil paint on the canvases which are the ideal size for the eye to capture; not too large or small making it easier for the gazers to analyse and decipher the art.