Shoal of Light

Hello everybody sorry about the lack of updates but I have been busy moving into my new house. However, I finally have something to report as I am back at uni and here is one of the projects that I have worked on recently. We had an external design brief and I chose to respond to a brief provided by the Plymouth Museum.

We were required to respond to a gallery space with a wall and ceiling, next the the main atrium. The was an exhibition celebrating the life of a local artist, Charles Eastlake, who went on to become the first director of the National Gallery. He met JMW Turner while studying at the Royal Academy, and Turner would visit Plymouth to paint. He was inspired by the "Italianite" light of the South West, and this would be the main focus of my piece. I started by taking photographs of the area.

My initial idea was to have garlands of coloured leaves hanging from the ceiling.

I became concerned with how the leaves would attach to the main cables, that would be suspended from the ceiling, so I also considered panels with leaves as motifs on panels.
After presenting this idea I felt that the idea represented Autumn and nature instead of light. So I looked at the reflection and refractions of light on water.

Again I was not happy with this approach, there seems to be a lot of glass panels that take inspiration from the movement of water. My ideas seemed to be hackneyed and trite. I even looked at children's construction toys for some kind of inspiration.

I resumed my research, desperately in need of inspiration. I came across some work that used many small individual elements like "Swarm"(2006) by Zaha Hadid, and Thomas Heatherwick's "Bleigiessen".

So I investigated complex systems of animals that engage in swarming, flocking and shoaling behaviour. The movement caught in time, like hot lead in cold water. So I looked back at the Crystal Climbers as a way of constructing this form.

After making a maquette I felt that the form was too angular, and seemed to appear like a leaf!

I had been looking at frit (granulated glass) for another brief and I was getting some excellent results. I thought of the possibility of using panels of fritted glass.

The gaps were meant to be fish-shaped but the irregularity of the gaps emphasised the watery appearance of the melted frit. I still needed to represent the shoal, so I experimented with sand blasting and the glass lathe on float glass. The back of the float had the fishes carved into the back of the float glass and the fritted panel was UV glued on top.

From this sample panel I was able to configure the panels to create the sense of movement of the shoal across each panel.

My finished piece is the sample panel and presentation boards that I used to pitch my proposal. I used the photo below, which I manipulated in Adobe Photoshop for one of my boards.

Shoal of Light, 2012

Despite all the anxiety and creative blocks, this was a success as the presentation will be on display in the museum after the private view on the 1st Feb.

Until next time, chiao for now.

Hill #1 - Lunar House

I have finally got around to mentioning my latest assignment, which is based on the 7 "hills" of Croydon.
































Well I decided against solid cast glass as it was difficult to achieve the sharp, precise edges that I wanted.

So I decided to use flat float glass, as it would be easier to cut precisely and print the photographs onto the surface.

I manipulated a photograph in Adobe Photoshop and created a very contrasty image to use for screen printing the image onto the glass.













I made the screen using film copies of the photoshoped images.

















Then screen printed onto the glass, ensuring that the registration was as accurate as possible. Here I made a screenprinting board that marked the corners of the screen for consistent registration for each sheet of glass.






The black was printed for the inner section.

















 Then I hand-painted the enamel spot colours.












Then screenprinted the sandblast resist onto the outer sheets.



















Then assembled the piece using UV glue.

 This is a detail of the finished piece. The sandblasted outer is obscuring the screenprinted and hand painted inner section. I wanted there to be a refractive quality to the piece, that is why I wanted to use solid cast glass sections. However, because of the nature of the subject, austere buildings, cut float glass emphasises the subject of construction.

 Overall I happy with this piece, although the plinth that I fashioned from polyboard and a portable LED light, makes it look like a bedside lamp. This is what it looks like without the light show.


One down, six more to go! Phew!

Art and Text - Got something to say?...Er...no...

For the past few weeks at Uni, I have been working on the "Complimentary Studies" assignment. Complimentary Studies is a compulsory module that all 1st year degree students must do. The reasoning behind this is to experience another area within art and design and transfer those ideas to your own practice. I have chosen "Art and Text" as I have still retained my interest in graphics and typography.

However, this course, which is one afternoon a week and worth 10 credits, has been quite enjoyable despite the possible Fine Art bias. The first week we had to decide what we had to say, but I have nothing to say really. So having established that I am a bit of a blank canvas with nothing to say, I researched quotes and slogans and came across many quotes from jazz artists. Being a fan of jazz and the typographic designs of album covers from Blue Note Records, I decided to use the quotes and the style of Blue Note. So basically I am appropriating an established style, using quotes from cleverer, cooler people. Got something to say Adele? No, I'm afraid not!

Anyway Steve seems to think they're niiice, so I created my personal "zine", and used these designs for other pieces we had to do. For example, a badge, a placard, a t-shirt, a page for the class "zine" and a performance-based art and text thing.

 Typically for my performance I did a Powerpoint presentation about what powerpoint presentations should be called. I found a message-board that was discussing a possible generic name for such presentations, not not a name of a brand of software. Anyway I drew from what was said and turned it into a "Deck".

Anyway, as for the ongoing Artist Designer Maker assignment, I'll keep you posted once I settle on a solution. A lot has been going on with that and I may have to write a blog about it! ;-) Until next time, see ya later gang!

What is Craft Utopia?

The romantic notion of a craft utopia usually conjures up thoughts of contentment in skilled labour, typically in an idyllic rural setting. Could escaping from society to establish a utopian community be a viable proposition? Alternatively industrialisation could be seen as natural evolutionary progression, but combining craft and technology could create a modern utopian society. When the Bauhaus reluctantly moved further towards industrial design, was the pressure to conform the only reason for the demise of a Modernist utopia, and what were the implications? It would appear that there are differences between technology and craft, but the digital age is changing that relationship. How will digital technology inspire new approaches to the way we work and what is produced?

By examining these questions and the relationships between craft, industry and technology; the different approaches and interpretations, as well as new proposals, we can gain a better understanding of what is a craft utopia.

During the Industrial Revolution the role of the artisan declined. Industry established principles of manufacturing based on the division of labour that reduced the worker to a part of the process, a component in the machine, which led to an underclass of deskilled manual labourers. John Ruskin discussed the standards of manufactured goods and the working and living conditions of the factory workers. Also, William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement were concerned about the loss of traditional handicrafts. The Guild of Handicraft, in East London, was eventually founded and was modeled on medieval guilds. Charles Robert Ashbee’s Guild was well received but with one exception, Morris himself who was becoming deeply involved with politics by this time. Morris felt that the it was insignificant in the grand scheme of revolutionary socialism. Ashbee undeterred set about the next stage, which was to set up a community near to nature. Ashbee moved the Guild to the Cotwolds, where he found the Old Silk Mill. Unfortunately from the outset, the move to this country idyll proved to be unsuccessful, and had recorded a loss and attempts to economise proved unsuccessful and eventually it went into liquidation.

It would appear then that its utopian ideals caused the Guild to collapse, a failure for the craft romantics alternative approach to the ever increasing growth of industrialisation proved to be ineffective. Their total rejection of technology and harking back to revive medieval working practices proved to be their undoing. The Guild was living beyond its means and the expensive materials and hand-crafted methods which were expensive to produce were only affordable to the wealthy. The market forces seemed too powerful for such a small-scale idealistic enterprise to compete against, and compromising socialist idealism would go against what the Arts and Crafts endorsed.  The Guild ceased to trade as it could not compete with industry’s cost-effective production methods, which made available cheap goods for consumers with some disposable income. Although a utopian failure, the Arts and Crafts have go on to inspire other craft-based communities and has influenced modern ideas on craft, but at the expense of compromising their socialist ideals. Scott points out that Morris had become very successful selling elite handmade goods to the upwardly mobile middle-class. Morris seemed to have a separate philosophy and practice and his utopianism dwindled with the success of Morris & Co (2010). The Guild may have appeared to be insignificant, but it actively attempted to create utopia in a physical sense, not just publishing articles about it for further discussion.

Industrialisation was seen as progressive and modern, and some viewed it as beneficial  for the factory worker. The designers of this new way were artisans, experts in their field of production. Charles Babbage was an advocate of the division of labour which he felt was a part of the natural evolution of society. Artisans became specialists in a particular field which enabled a quick return on their labours. He believed that instead of acquiring all manner of different skills through long apprenticeships, this time could be best served learning one operation that would decrease the period of training (1832). Conversely by mastering a relatively low-skilled process, employment flexibility will enable the worker to move freely from one process (or factory) to another. Also according to Babbage, familiarity with the process enables the worker to work efficiently and rapidly, providing improvement to the process as his focus is on one specific task (1832). Although working on an assembly line was well paid by comparison, but with the improvement in processes the worker would become a mere servant to the machine.

Improvements in the quality of manufactured goods began to influence modern artists and designers, signaling a shift to products that had improved in quality as well as were economical to produce. Before the formation of the Bauhaus, the German Werkbund’s philosophy was to combine art, industry and crafts so that Germany will become a major industrial power. However, the eventual formation of the Bauhaus and the publication of its manifesto, outlined Gropius’s vision of unity of art, crafts and technology for the creation of a utopian whole, Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). The belief that the collaboration of all the arts would create a new society was contrary to the target set by the Werkbund, who wanted to push Germany to the top of the industrial pecking order (Droste 2011) . The Bauhaus were focused on a utopian ideology to change society, not escape into a community of like-minded artists. However, the fractious political climate meant that Gropius had to constantly justify the school to whoever was running the town council at the time. Subsequently Gropius has acknowledged that, “...only ten percent remained for actual creative work” (Davis, 2010) while the other ninety percent was spent countering local and national animosity. A reluctant move towards industrial design suggested that the Bauhaus was forced to readdress their original utopian ideals; and the move to Dessau heralded a capitalist era as the students became cheap labour, and the utopian ideal became a tool for big business (Davis 2010). The political landscape did not favour the Bauhaus as the rise of the Nazis meant many of the tutors who were Jewish left Germany, and Modernist innovations and ideals were considered socialist, so the school was forced to close in 1933.

The avant-garde radicalism of Modernist architecture, was also to eventually be the demise of its modern utopia. Their enthusiasm for order and rationality to create simple and efficient worker’s housing and cities of the future may seem good in principle, but this is viewed as autocratic as it suppresses the individual to conform to their ideal. Modernists have assumed to provide everything the user needs (Johnson 2010). Whether the architecture can be seen as an elegant solution to the postwar housing shortage, is dependent on personal taste, but it is without a doubt a utopian vision.

There seems to be a paradox between craft and technology, but a skilled computer artist performs a sophisticated set of actions, not unlike a skilled artisan. Direct manipulation enables the user to manipulate the program with a mouse or tablet instead of typing source code. However, this method of creating lacks the direct tactile experience usually associated with handiwork, although the many tacit skills associated with digital operations can be compared with those of a musician, as the software artist performs the actions instinctively (McCollough 1997). Although creative computing is commonly associated with flat, two dimensional graphics packages, the arrival of 3D printing can be seen as a the way forward. The ability to produce prototypes from the desktop to the shed (or factory), could be the model for the “2nd Industrial Revolution” (Scott, 2010). The use of 3D software, and a printer that uses plastic or clay slip instead of ink, can be built using open-source parts and plans. These can be ordered or downloaded at a cost that is not too prohibitive. Adrian Bowyer, who’s team developed the RepRap 3D printer has coined the term “Darwinian Marxism” (Scott, 2010) to describe this movement. This is because this technology is likely to evolve within an open-source environment, resulting in a decentralised means of production. This revolutionary sentiment is reminiscent of past utopian craft movements. However, ecological concerns must be taken into account, as many 3D printers that are featured in open-source sites have many plastic components and this will need to be addressed (Scott 2010).

Concerns about ecology and sustainability has created much interest in alternative forms and sources of energy. One aspect of craft making is that the use of materials and the techniques can be inefficient with natural resources. For instance, studio glassblowers tend to work seasonally when the furnace is on, and then it is turned off for months during downtime. However, an alternative is available for that is ecologically and financially efficient. A furnace has been developed where it can be switched on few hours before reaching working temperature, as opposed to a few days. Again all the parts are made from easily accessible materials and cost a few hundred pounds, as opposed to a few thousand pounds.  These forms of micro-manufacturing and cooperative skill sharing can shift away from large-scale industrial manufacturing. Centralised industry is seen as old fashioned that uses outmoded processes. It wastes natural resources which in-turn can cause catastrophic environmental problems. Also the emergence of Low-tech is seen as a positive reaction to contemporary anxieties about environmental issues. It is retrospective as it evaluates how past technology can influence today’s new industrial age, but also advocates new green technology as possible alternative solutions. Past technologies are re-imagined as feasible and sustainable alternatives.

The craft utopia experiment attempted by Charles Ashbee proved unworkable. Moving away from an established customer base and the competition from cheaper machine-made goods does seem to be hopelessly idealistic. Rejection of modern technology led to the Guild’s demise and eventually they were unable to compete with mass production. Even the division of labour was seen as evolutionary and progressive. Although innovations in manufacturing and the quality of the goods improved, so the deskilling of the artisan had become a part of this evolutionary process and was now just a component in the machine. The Bauhaus had to compromise their ideals to survive. The constant justification to the ever changing town councils led the Bauhaus to reappraise their ideals to appeal to industrial backers. The anti-Semitic and anti-socialist stance of the Nazi government, and persistent local hostility eventually lead to their downfall. The radical, rational and inflexible nature of Modernism can also be seen as mitigating circumstances, despite the good intentions.

The previous efforts in creating a craft utopia were foiled as there was always a bigger opponent either political or industrial. There now seems to be a unity of craft and technology as we move into the postindustrial digital age. As computer-aided methods of creation and production have advanced, so the 3D digital printing phenomenon has returned manufacturing to the individual maker. The re-appropriation of the means of production away from industry, and low-tech solutions may provide a progressive way of working towards a better way of working for everybody. Maybe this is craft providing utopia.

(1876 words)
Bibliography

Babbage, C. (1832) On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers in Adamson, G. (ed.) (2010) The Craft Reader: Craft and the Industrial Revolution. Oxford: Berg.

Cardoso, R,. (2008) Craft Verses Design: Moving Beyond a Tired Dichotomy in Adamson, G. (ed.) (2010) The Craft Reader: The Persistence of Craft in the Age of Mass Production. Oxford: Berg.

Davis, B., (2010). The Bauhaus in History. [online]. USA: Artnet. Available from:
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/davis/bauhaus1-28-10.asp [Accessed on 9th November 2011, at 18:34]

Droste, M. (2011) Bauhaus: Bauhaus Archiv: 1919 1933. Berlin. Taschen.

Johnson, M., (2010) Utopian Cities. [online]. USA: Factoidz. Available from: http://history.factoidz.com/utopian-cities/ [Accessed on 16th February 2012, at 14:13]

McCarthy, F., (1981). Endeavours towards an Arts and Crafts Utopia. [online]. UK: Utopia Britannica. Available from: http://www.utopia-britannica.org.uk/pages/Ashbee.htm [Accessed on 14th November 2011, at 13:11]

McCollough, M., (1997) Abstracting Craft: The Practiced Digital Hand in Adamson, G. (ed.) (2010) The Craft Reader The Persistence of Craft in the Age of Mass Production. Oxford: Berg.

Scott, S. J., (2010), At-Home 3D Printing and the Return of a Craft Utopia: Part 1. [online]. USA: The Journal of Modern Craft. Available from:
http://journalofmoderncraft.com/responses/at-home-3d-printing-and-the-return-of-a-craft-utopia-part-1 [Accessed on 15th February 2012, at 1735]

Scott, S. J., (2010), At-Home 3D Printing and the Return of a Craft Utopia: Part 2. [online]. USA: The Journal of Modern Craft. Available from:
http://journalofmoderncraft.com/responses/at-home-3d-printing-and-the-return-of-a-craft-utopia-part-2 [Accessed on 15th February 2012, at 17:35]

State of Flux!

Hi everybody. it's been a while since my last post, but I have finally finished the profoundly dull assignment for Uni, so I can get back to some proper full-on creative expression. However, maybe because of the boring assignment, or I'm just not in the groove, I've been having great difficulty coming up with an idea for the next brief "Artist/Designer Maker". After last terms constrained "Design for Industry" brief, which turned out very well for me, this new brief allows a lot more freedom. Freedom to express myself is the problem. I have too many unfeasible ideas which has cause this state of flux, which is not a comment on the condition of my Borax (a bit of a silver soldering in-joke, sorry).

My first idea came from an old brief that Sue McGillvray mentioned when I was first shown around the Glass Department, at an open day. That theme was "Message in a Bottle". My idea is to use my favourite bottle-related song "The Bottle" by Gil Scott-Heron and transfer that song around the outside of the bottle, etched on the surface. Then construct a Phonograph, the type used to play wax cylinders before discs were invented, to play the song. A kinetic sculpture!
 

The problems are that glass will be very difficult to etch sound onto and I don't know how to build a phonograph!

My next idea was to use the "9 Cubes" and develop the flexible composition idea of having many similar forms and blocks of glass that can be arranged accordingly. I can across a couple of amazing Czech glass artists who use kiln formed and cut glass, Frantisek Vizner and Stanislav Lebinsky.

Vizner's pieces are based on functional vessels, but they defy expectations and they are beautifully cut and finished, and Libensky creates forms and cuts into them to create interior shapes and spaces. Sidney R Hutter's geometric vessels contain "...nothing but the liquidity of light" and are cut from laminated plate glass.

I also looked at Op Art from the likes of Bridget Riley and Victor Vaserely, but I have always been interested in including photography to glass and I am an admirer of the work of Deborah Sandersley. She makes photo-montages and prints them onto glass, and it is as if the 2D medium of photography acquires 3D properties.

 A while back I took some black and white photos of my home town of Croydon (pre-riots)  and I thought I might try and use them to create a 3D sculptural block of cut glass, where the images react to the light and the refractive properties of glass. So I printed the photos on overhead projector film through my printer and came up with this!

The top picture is a transparent maquette from made from transparent film prints and acetate, and the bottom is a just paper impression. the print quality on the transparent maquette is a bit light and insipid, but I'm hoping that when it is printed on the glass it will have more definition. I will add some enamel paint for some spots of colour and the outer cast will have sand-blasted details. and heat polished to give a smooth glossy finish. This is still a work in progress and I may even change my mind and do something completely different.

My plan is to make seven different sculptures based on these photos. As you all know, all the great cities are built on seven hills (Rome, Athens, Lisbon, Barcelona and Edinburgh to name a few of sixty or so) and Croydon has seven hills! During the regeneration of Croydon in the 50s and 60s, seven car parks were built and the are known locally as Croydon's seven hills. You can even go on a historical walk to these edifices of the automobile!

Quality! See you soon.

On the wheel of steel!

I came across this photo of some pots that I did just before Christmas.

When I first did the "Pot Throwing" workshop, I managed to drop a days worth of pot throwing on the floor! At the end of the day, I was moving the pieces that I had thrown to a shelf for bisque firing. The pieces were lined up on a plank of wood behind the wheel, but the plank was not fixed or a part of the wheel station, as I was lead to believe. As I lifted the second piece, the rest of the days work fell to the floor as the plank tipped.

So always check that shelves are shelves, and not planks! As you will end up looking like a plank!
Anyway, I returned and redid all the pots that I did the first time round, then when they had dried Leather-hard I was able to finish or turning them.
I find pot throwing very therapeutic and I can easily zone-out when I am at the wheel, which is okay when throwing pots but not when you are driving! Pot turning also has that affect on me. To those of you that don't know what I mean by turning, is the method of smoothing the pot, in particular the base or foot of the pot. When the pot is almost dry it is leather-hard, and the pot can be put upside-down on the wheel, secured with wetter plastic clay around the lip and the wheel. Once it is secure and centred, the base can be shaped and smoothed to form a foot using tools.
 So if anyone knows of a cheap potter's wheel for sale let us know. Anyway peace out until next time.

Another "Blast from the Past"

Hi you lot, I'm just taking a break from some profoundly dull college work to show you something else that I made a while back. Yet again it is the copper-foil method of joining stained glass and this was my first attempt at a box.

The glass reminded me of a beautiful sunset which I thought was appropriate, and the lid was cut in sections to represent a cross and a capital "A" for Anita. The side is made from cut rectangles of glass to roughly form the shape of the heart.

The handle is made from pink geometric beads that I stuck with epoxy resin. It is not quite the correct shade and in hindsight I would have used the same glass and copper-foiled the edges and soldered. The handle was a bit of an afterthought.