4th Nov
How have you ensured a successful collaboration?
I think a successful collaboration highly depends on communication, it is the main key as it ensures that we are on the same page and that we are working towards the same objective.
I also need to keep myself openminded with new ideas and new approaches to work as I am no longer working independently. I need to have a positive mindset as collaboration can be challenging sometimes due to conflicts but we need to be accepting and try to combine both ideas together.
5th Nov
What is successful about your project so far?
how will you develop further
how was seeing your peer work affected your way of thinking
7th Nov
Do you think your primary research supports your work? how?
What have you learned from your pair collaboration
Both my partner and I are in the textiles pathway so our collaboration focuses more on the material and making samples than the silhouette so we decided to make an installation rather than a garment. However, I learned some techniques from my partner including weaving.
We spent a lot of time deciding on the color scheme because we find it more easy to come up with before we start doing any experiments therefore we can combine our work together more easily. We decided on the color blue and orange as we got inspiration from Yayoi Yamamoto's work. I find that this make our work successful as it shows a clear collaboration link. However, we need to communicate more on the final outcome as my partner is doing an installation and im doing textiles samples but we didn't really combine the work together for the final outcome according to the size and material used. I think this can be improved by communicating with each other first before we go off and do our own thing.
11th Nov
What are your key strengths
I would say my main strength is working with various materials and combining them together by using textiles skills including hand embroidery, knitting, weaving, machine embroidery.
Moreover, I think I can work at a quick pace and can get things done quickly but the drawback is that I need to focus more on the quality and the finishing---> more polished
How will your skills work collectively?
I use my hand embroidery skills and collaborate with my other group members while others are doing weaving and cutting. We collaborate very well as we were given specific tasks to work on especially working under time pressure as we needed to change our original work to something else within a very short time frame but we managed to get everything done.
Plan your time as a group for the week
Have you successfully translated your message today?
20th Nov
We started the project by sourcing one material to work with. I bought 3 items which include pom poms, elastic bands and sequins. After several experiments with the object, I decided to change the object as it is quite hard to work with and doesn't give an interesting shape, texture. I went and sourced more material and found cleaning sponges in pastel colors. I started to cut them up into different shapes, the texture of the sponge is very interesting and I started to do a drawing of that. Due to the physical element of the sponge, it gives a very interesting shape once it is tied, painted, embroidered together. I decided to keep the rubber band and the sponge as my material. I started to combine it with something more hard and strong such as metal string, safety pins, and washing strings. I love how the texture of the glossy metal of the safety pin contrasts with a ragged and hallow surface of the sponge.
25th Nov
I find weaving really interesting as you can do so many objects within the weave. Each time that I weave, the outcome is very different and unexpected. Some of it is quite neat and compacted, some of it is loose and focuses more on objects and use less yarns. The successful one is probably the one that I didn't use yarn but I use washing strings instead. For that sample, I poured some latex on top and in between. However, I didn't really like the yellowish, brown colour of the latex so I decided to make another sample without the latex
28th Nov
I think the most successful sample for this project is the one with safety pins where I weaved into them. This is because I find it quite different from other people's work, instead of using normal weaving board, I weave into a different object instead which gives a very nice effect. Also, the colour scheme is not too overwhelming because there's only three colour which is pink, blue and yellow which I find more successful than the other sample which consists of rainbow colours.
13th Nov
For our banner, we decided to recreate the banner into a clothing price tag. The weaving part represents the bar code and we wrote "made in China" in Mandarin to represent the majority of the price tag. We decided to write "Fuck Fast Fashion" to make our statement stand out from the crowd and draws attention as it is quite harsh and very out there. Moreover, instead of having the price of the item on the tag, we chose to write 0 worth instead to portray that fast fashion doesn't have any value and worth and shouldn't be supported. We promote slow fashion which is buying vintage clothing, thrifting, reworked clothing, buying from a charity shop. This produces less waste and more environmentally friendly as fast fashion brands need to keep up with the customer's need and the fashion trend which change very rapidly but they lack in waste minimization.
14th Nov
final banner
Our group banner had some issues due to the message and how we corporate another language into our work and people misinterpreted it in a different way. We were told that our work can be seen as racist as the word "0 worth" is right beneath the sentence "made in China" as if we are accusing the Chinese of producing fast fashion items. Moreover, the braided fabric at the very top which represents the string of the clothing tag. However, in Chinese culture, it looks very similar to their traditional braided hairstyle so people assumed that we are talking directly about Chinese. The BOF published our work on their website with the headline "Central Saint Martins Criticised for Showcasing ‘Racist’ Student Projects on Social Media" This makes us very upset and we couldn't understand why they are saying that we are racist but once we look at our work in a different light, we can see where they are coming from. The use of color affects the way people perceive our work, we use the same color for "0 worth" and "made in China" so when people read it, they automatically group them together but actually they are two separate things and have no connection. We also learned to do more research and be aware of things around us as none of the group member is from China, we need to make sure that every element in our work is not offensive and doesn't represent something else to avoid misconception. The following day, we decided to get rid of the Mandarin writing and change the shape of the banner into a dress instead so it is obvious enough for the audience to understand our message.
Even though this project is only one week long, it taught me a lot; I need to think more deeply and put more thoughts into my work. It also teaches me how to deal with criticism and also come up with an action plan to make a change.
The social media also plays a very big part in this. Once the BOF posted our work, we got so many negative comments and it got spread very quickly. This makes me be more aware of what to post and what not to post on social media as it is how message gets transferred the quickest.
21st Nov
I started to do more experiments on each of the objects by changing them physically such as pouring latex on top of the sponge which gives a rubbery texture, using the heat press to melt and flattened the rubber so it connects together. I then did some hand embroidery inside the rubber, this is inspired by the artist... However, I didn't really like how it turns out so I removed some of it and added bent metal on top instead.
22nd Nov
After a tutorial with Patricia, she gave me much useful advice and it gives me a direction to work towards. She said my samples are too flat as I didn't combine other material together because I only use rubber band which I then improve on that. Furthermore, I need to produce way more samples and experiment more on different objects and see the potential of different materials, use more techniques. However, she said I have very interesting drawings such as a drawing of gloves and sponge where I focused on drawing textures and different ways of arranging the object.
1st Dec
We started our print project by choosing a location in London. I was given Notting Hill gate which I was very pleased with. I went and do research at the location the following day and took some photos of the architectural elements of the place and also closep\d up photos that focuses more on texture and also did some sketching and mark making on the day.
inwards reflection
I have this instagram account where I write about my life and I use that account to express my feelings and thoughts both positive and negative thoughts. It is actually my 3rd instagram account and it has 10 followers. I am most active in this account as I feel like I can post whatever I want to and not being judged or criticized. It makes me question myself, how many accounts do I need to have in order to be able to be myself and feel comfortable. My main account has almost 4000 followers but instead I rarely post anything and I am always afraid of posting pictures as I give a lot of attention to likes and comments and scared that I won’t get enough of them. I always feel insecure about how I look on social media and I feel the need to post pictures which is different to others in order to be unique and different from the crowd. I will often have days where I feel like “this is not my hair day” or “my face is super bloated today” which makes me feel insecure about myself and wouldn’t take any pictures because I am not looking at my best. Sometimes, I will even use a beauty application on my phone to make my face look slimmer on days where I feel like my face is bloated or remove my acne when I don’t have nice skin so people see me as this perfect girl on instagram. Everytime when I am on vacation, I feel the need to take pictures for my instagram therefore I dress in a certain way and do my makeup differently. I will dress in my best outfit and much more make up but for days I don't take any pictures, I will be in a hoodie and sweatpants with no makeup on. This makes me realise how much social media influenced me and took control over my life. I never thought that social media can become very toxic and its shaped me as who I am and also my lifestyle. After analysing myself, I am setting a goal for myself this year to spend 50% less social media than before and delete my Instagram for a couple of weeks for a break. Social media should be a platform where we can be ourselves and represent our lifestyles and personality but over the years it is a scarier place than hell, it affects your mental health and makes me develop a lot of bad habits such as social media addiction, feel the need to show my best life on social media but actually I am suffering in pain, not appreciating things in real life but pay attention on the internet life instead.
This is actually the first time I get to sit and think about myself very deeply which brightened up my vision and make me see things in a different light. The starting point for this is when I look at my screen time and it shows which application I spent the most time on which is Instagram where I spent around 4 hours per day. The number of hours shocked me and makes me want to find out why I am using Instagram so much during the day. I came to a conclusion where I am actually addicted to Instagram. I feel the need to check the amount of likes and comments very often.