My second context of year 2 is 'Retake, Remake' which was about reevaluating your practice so far, what are the areas that need to be improved and experimenting with processes that push our work into new territories. I think the main areas of concern within my practice so far is the lack of interaction with my work, the sculptures feel almost dead without the participation of the viewer, moreover, I need to be more experimental with the work that I am making - trying new materials and putting greater emphasis on the choice in the materiality of the work. I began to create aims (based on discussions I had and tutorials) of areas I would like to explore within this context or further along this year:
Create more soft sculptures BUT this time thinking about the tangibility, playing around with varying sizes, surfaces, textures, stuffing, weight...
Exploring abstract and ergonomic forms, how the forms fit the body or adapt to movements. These forms could be repeated forming collections of colours or shapes which could then be organised.
Must get children to interact with them, how does this change the work? And, how would the actions differ with adults? Observe what people are drawn to.
Design a space where soft sculpture could be placed to create an immersive environment much like soft play areas or sensory rooms, thinking about the floors, walls and ceilings. How could I fill the space?
Research play further, the history of toys, as well as contemporary art practices who use play as a theme in their work.
To begin this context I wanted to experiment with new materials to create work that is different from my current mode of making. Tom Dale's ‘Department of the Interior’, is a large adult-sized bouncy castle made from black leatherette. The piece resembles parts of Parliament "with an absurdity that mocks its claim for authority", taking a building which should present much importance into an object associated with children's play. It draws themes of grotesqueness as well as childhood, the piece does create some confusion as it is a tangible work it does not allow for audiences to use it. Instead, it almost becomes a dead object in the room, even melancholic due to the empty, dark space that creates a void in the exhibition space. I was really inspired by his use of the material and how inflatable connotes ideas of play even if interactivity isn't allowed.
I began experimenting with the idea of the inflatable, replicating the ideas of the geometric forms that I looked at in Material Matters but filling the shapes with air rather than stuffing, furthermore, observing the effects this had on interaction. I planned to make cubes that could stack on top of each other and have a precarious dynamic due to the lightness of the forms. I bought three different plastic sheets (pink, orange and yellow) cut them into equal squares before using an iron to create a seam on the edges. These seams, however, were not as airtight as I had expected. When I blew air into them and sealed up again even being very careful I was there would always be a loss of air... the problem with inflatables is they will always deflate unless there is a constant air supply and perhaps I could experiment with fans later on. I was really disappointed with this experiment so looked for alternatives in creating an 'inflatable' form. I came up with a solution to create a structure using paper straws inside so the cube would keep its shape even if there is a loss of air. This was a very tricky process as it was difficult getting the straws into the plastic shape and hot glue gunning it in place in the correct place (without burning myself!). Overall, I did produce four stackable cubes but the inflatable element was lost and so they ended up looking quite tacky and the fragility of them meant they were not suitable for playing with.
ADAPTING - Though this experiment failed, I thought the texture of the material was really interesting, how it rustled and how the translucent colours of the material could be built up in layers. I decided to make a second attempt with the plastic sheets, this time cutting out an abstract form which was simplified to two sides. Once 90% sealed with the iron I filled the shapes with toy stuffing. These appeared to work at first and they did have an interesting tactile quality, however, they were very fragile and this meant after squishing a few times the plastic could pull, warp and eventually snap. It did make me start to think about the lifespan of my work, does the work need to last? Perhaps the work could exist for a limited amount of time and the act of destroying this sculpture could become part of the work. Something to think about...
I liked the potentiality of the three-dimensional form of the cube, how it could hold its shape and be stacked, so I decided to replicate the cubes using more simplified materials. I bought three different materials (yellow thick fleece fur, red bumpy and a blue corduroy), I was interested in the fact that the different cubes would create a different sensory reaction from the viewer. Moreover, I picked these materials as the primary colour scheme is often presented in children's toys and so I thought it would promote play. This work was much more successful as the materials were strong, yet, they weren't particularly very interesting which could be due to the small scale or just making three isn't enough. Even though I wasn't happy with the work I produced here, I think it was important that I experimented and, from this, gained new ideas for making.