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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.



I don't particularly like performance! - mostly due to the fact that I don't want my work to become an act or a form of spectacle. Interactivity has become an interest in my work but I want these to be natural more of documentation than performance as such. I also do not believe that my presence is necessary for my work or at least doesn't need to be shown - instead, I want the work to be for other people to participate in, intervene and ultimately disrupt the aesthetical and physical properties through an act of play. Although... as I was installing my work I found that I was playing with the sculptures. Much like 'Build/Stack/Collapse', I was rearranging the sculptures into different formations, they would collapse or I would push over and making a new form all over again. Repetition is often present in play. Even though the performance wasn't top of my agenda, I wanted this repetitive action to be documented in order to explore play further. I would have preferred it if I had filmed on using a plain background but as install had already taken place this was not possible and so I filmed on cite. I took this opportunity to step out of my comfort zone as it almost became a public performance, as people walked passed they would watch or people stopped to see what I was doing. Even though this was uncomfortable, it emphasised to viewers how the soft sculptures could be interacted with - breaking the boundaries of public and private play. Doing this documentation experimentation led me to think about the possibilities that participatory actions have upon the work... play, in a way, activates the work and this is something I would like to explore perhaps in a workshop allowing people to interact with the work I make and documenting it.



Our first concept of year 2, 'Material Matters', looked at the two main areas - content and form... the materials used within our practice along with the processes we put upon such materials with research, theories and ideas. With these concepts in mind, I wanted to observe and play around with the effects that material has upon a sculpture. In 'Playing with the Reef' (Year 1 exhibition piece at the V23 Biscuit Factory, Bermondsey) I first began to explore soft sculptures and this was an area I wanted to explore further. This piece was intended to emulate a soft play area, the audience would be able to rearrange the work, throw pieces or lie/sit, however, not much interactivity took place. With the work in Material Matters, I wanted to investigate the use of the material and how it would be touched, thrown, stroked, handled... I didn't want to make a sculpture/series of sculptures for aesthetical reasons (although this does play a part in drawing the viewer in) and in a sense, this is where I realised I need to rely on the context behind the work.

I have been recently researching in the context of play and the ideas of the transitional object as observed by Donald Winnicott. Often this object can take the form of a blanket, teddy, doll, etc where there is an external object relationship and places specific emphasis on the possession in times of play or comfort. It will seem to the "infant to give warmth, or to move, or to have texture, or to do something that seems to show it has vitality or reality of its own" (Winnicott, 1953). I was particularly interested in the ideas of an object being used to play but also have a comforting quality. I began researching popular infants toys and how a child would engage with them. One toy I was drawn to was wooden building blocks, I liked the geometric shapes, stackable dynamic as well as the fact they could be built into endless three-dimensional structures. Such elements also play a role in the ideas of learning motor skills through repetition and play.

I started to design my own version of children's building blocks, thinking about the individual components and how they could build together. I wanted to make these forms from material and stuffing - this would mean they had the physical structure of building blocks (edges and angles) yet be made from a more malleable material that could be squished and manipulated, a more comforting quality. I sourced two materials: A rough, muted-pink old fashioned blanket and a soft multicoloured fleece. I picked these materials with the idea of the home comforts and their childlike soft colours. I wanted the sculptures to be oversized to appeal to both adults and children, also the exhibition was taking place in the Linear Gallery of the University so the main viewers of the work will be adults. The larger sculpture I hoped would create a comical effect, perhaps there could be a struggle to assembling the blocks together. I constructed the sculptures by cutting each section of the shape out, sewing all the pieces together, stuffing and stitching together. Due to timing and the complexities of the shapes I was only able to make 3 oversized soft sculptures which I was disappointed by as I wanted it to be immersive. This being said, there was a restriction on the size the sculptures would be due to health and safety in the corridor so it was unlikely I would have been able to display many more.

During the installation process, I played around with the positioning of the sculptures - I did initially have an idea of somehow attaching them to the wall, however, they were too heavy and it wouldn't be safe for people walking past. I decided to display the sculptures in a random stack which I hope to each day change the order to create new structures as well as the work constantly evolving through the course of the exhibition.


Overall, although on a smaller scale than I had hoped I am quite please with the sculptures and their tactility and stackable dynamic also the use of the blanket materials which connoted ideas of comfort. The initial reactions from the crit were that my work took on the form of interactable sculptures which draw you in through wanting to touch it. They expressed that the material choice for this worked well in creating a welcoming comfort and suggested to research into different tangible materials and their effect. Some of my crit group expressed that the colours and forms had a nostalgic feel to it and reminded them of toys from their childhood which I thought was a really interesting point. However, the main emphasis from the crit was that the installation would have been stronger if I were to have made more sculptures as they could look lost in the space and there aren't many to actually interact with. This is something to think about in future crits and exhibitions to make a wider variety of sculptures and for it to be more immersive which in turn could promote interactivity with the work - which even though I tried to explore participation and play in this piece, is still not present.

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