Final major project: Breaking the mould

When presented with the opportunity to create a performance piece, above all, what i really wanted to create was an experience that people could walk away from and think about. 'Breaking the mould' for my art foundation final major project was the first direct opportunity i've had to really challenge what i think about. Though, I didn't want it to be so much a personal subject, but touch on issues that everyone can relate to. In a nutshell, i aimed to address issues such as: gender inequalities, capital consumption, recycling, survival, headonism, historical developments within 'the suit', the nature vs nurture debate, media influences... norms and values... the size zero culture... women's independence... war... discrimination etc etc. Though, I didn't just want to have an angry show, i also wanted to include solutions and propose a potential for commercial viability within the designs. Within the concept, i wanted to present a physical journey between two people expressing themselves and uniting as a result of all these problems. Therefore, reaching some form of enlightenment through the midst of what we all have to endure on a daily basis, (whether it be on a personal level or observing it when we access the media saturated world surrounding us). However, it's not all doom and gloom: I did aim to achieve some kind of balance within the piece by showing positive and negative sides *Deep breath*. I'm going to stop writing now.

Thank you to everyone who helped me.

Sam



The video was edited using Final cut pro, and the music was recorded using pro tools.

Model used: James White

The live performance footage will follow shortly.

(A few shots from during the performance)




























The following photographs were shot by Leyla Collis.

Model used: Ria Edmenson

























Fashion illustrations:

































Final exhibition (all photos taken Sarah Lacey):

'Brighton Rocks': wallpaper project

For this project, we were required to create a wallpaper based upon Brighton. I decided to focus on the beach, and create some abstract wallpapers that changed throughout the day, along with changing further with day light by using forms that are part of the wall itself. As well as life size projections, to communicate my ideas further, I also built a model beach hut made from glass; intended to epitomise 'the beach' in every sense. Using a series of paintings and drawings, I juxtaposed recreated stereotypical forms we link within our schemas of what a beach is; i.e. birds, ice cream, sea, sand etc etc.

Skirt project: your colour is pink!

Outcome: a skirt representing our allocated colour and the items that were placed in the envelopes we were each given.

For this project, Gayle allocated me 'pink', mainly because I rarely used pink in any of my work. So during my project, I started to look at how pink is seen amongst different age groups and the ways in which stereotypes have been used to influence and develop the potential for its meaning. For example: pink is predominantly a very feminine colour, which for young girls resembles a playful innocence. For women, pink still holds that 'girlishness', but it can also been seen as quite sexual, and within the sex industry it can be used to promote and enhance that playful innocence in a regressive kind of act. Weird.






Initially, we used the envelopes to influence a moodboard we were required to make before we started the rest of our research. With all these ideas bobbing around, by coincidence I watched Terry Gilliam's 'Tideland'. Jodelle Ferland's character, 'Jeliza-Rose' and the psychology behind her escapism influenced me to design a skirt which also incorporated 'the psychology of lines' within a design, known as 'gestalt psychology'. For the shoot, I wanted to play out 'Jeliza' and Brendan Fletcher's character, 'Dickens'. As well as being her friend, Dickens also played a pivotal role to Jeliza as a father figure (the wig reinforcing this switch of roles). The photo shoot was influenced mainly by the psychotic nature of their adventures, with particular emphasis on role reversals and the naive, yet admirable nature of playful young minds, free of prejudice and conditioning that many of us are constantly challenged with today.

Found objects

Final outcome: Book/Journal

We were required to use a 'found object' from the onset of our project brief. I became drawn to a hot place I had found, and some place mats (with the Poiret on the back). What drew me to these objects initially was the use of pattern. When I started to develop drawings from them, something occurred to me that they both had in common: they both endured heat. I then went on to use a soldering iron to create fabrics. Although I essentially had two separate projects at one time, what influenced me to merge the two was the use of costume and branding identities in the commercial market. Through watching Agatha Christie's 'Poirot' episode of 'The dance at the victory ball', there was a story of a Piorot being murdered and the only evidence being a pompom. This then inspired me to redo the ending of the film and have the murderer flee to another country. I chose India (why not?), and created a new functional disguise costume, and a bag for carrying his/her belongings in with the patterns from the objects embellished to enhance the aesthetic of the soldered bag that carried the evidence and the fugitives journal. In the media, young children often play out characters, good and bad. Therefore, i decided to look at my project as a marketing devise to appeal to kids and sell the disguise.

Transport, and 'the stripe'

For 'transport, and the stripe' project, our task was to base our project on a form of transport, produce an outcome for our chosen discipline, and within that, incorporate 'the stripe'. I chose biological transport and my discipline was textiles. Therefore, my task was to produce 3 frames. I chose to take more of a fine art approach to my work.

Model used: Ria Edmenson.

'dancin jumpa'

We are visiting our friend, 'Birty' in Nottingham this weekend. I thought it was only appropriate i make a jumper especially for the night of mayhem that was ahead of us.

1 week to produce a short animation of a story you were told as a child

The animation was edited using Final cut pro. A shortened version of a song i wrote called 'verstehen' was recorded using pro tools.

My Great Grandma 'Muz' used to always tell us stories on the spot, many of which took place after or before sitting with her whilst she played and sang piano. This particular story I aimed to tell about how she convinced us that apple seeds would speed up your growth. She also loved her liquish.