Print Design Ideas

After visiting 'Decode:Digital Design Sensations' I have come away inspired by nature and technology. This video is not taken from the exhibition but the thought of filming or phtotgraphing a plant as it grows is communicating something we see everyday but do not notice. However, when the growth is sped up through film or condensed through a series of photographs it provides an interesting new form of communication. I like the idea of fusing light and plant growth into my designs.

Electronics

In order to include electronics in my designs to light up LED lights I will also have to encorporate the battery pack and wires between them. The wire is very fine and cam be moulded easily, this could be used as a feature, weaving in and out of the fabric or hidden (stitched to the back or into a lining).

I have been exploring light and movement using technology, using a motion sensor and LED's i have creted a device that could be encorporated into garments. When the wearer moves the LED's would come on and when they are still they would go off.

I find shadows intriguing, the silhouettes created by plants are beautiful and could be layered up into prints to create fabrics with really interesting depth.

This image by Sam Taylor Wood creates movement and light, I am Particularly drawn to the shadow as they are a form of communication.

Silhouette - Circular Form

After experimenting with subtraction cutting I found it interesing that my research also naturally lead me to circles as silouhette influence. Eclipses communicate to us what is going on in space and momentarally take away light - I like the idea that the circular form could be encorporated into my designs, they could either be obvious or hidden for example when they are used in subtraction cutting.

Concept

After looking quite broadly at artists who's work is very much inspired by communication I have decided to research in further detail the relationship between light and movement. All living things need light to grow and live, light brings day and movement, I will also be looking at when light is taken away, for example solar eclipses.

light is life and gives life...

Show Studio interactive exhibition

These images from showstudio create an explosion of light and although they are stills of a film I feel they still create movement as well. Light is a definate theme within my research and I now need to find a way to encorporate it into my designs as a form of communication to the audience from the wearer.

Shadows create movement...

These two concept boards create movement through shadow - I am interested by the silhouette created by the balloons in Sam Taylor Wood's image, i can see them coming though in my designs to create interesting silhouettes which would in turn cast shadows of a distortedhuman body.

I was also drawn to the image of the woman with her head in a cage as again the shadows it would create would distort and create new silhouhettes. These images could inspire designs that had lights intertwined within structures so when the wearer was in the dark the lights would make the body look a completly different shape than it would in the light.

Subtraction and Tube Patterncutting

Subtraction and tube cutting are two innovative, creative styles of cutting garments.

Learning and trying out this technique allowed me to explore pattern's in a different much more free way. This technique is very much about experimentation as the outcome is hard to visualise until the garment has been made up. I will be experimenting further with this technique, using larges circles and more fabric to create different effect. The workshop session also provoked thoughts about what other creative cutting techniques there are to be researched and explored, also if I can come up with a new angle on an existing technique or come up with my own.

Neon Signs

Neon signs are luminous tube signs that contain neon or other inert gasses at a low pressure. By applying a high voltage the tube will glow brightly, they are produced by bending glass into shapes.

Taking the idea of 'glowing' signs I have found a product called EL wire or neon glow wire. This runs off a low voltage and can be manipulated into shapes or words for a similar effect that would be suitable for use with textiles and fashion.

When discussing neon lights Nauman describes how he was intrigued by the idea of using a sign which you could read from the outside, but see also inside out.

Nauman's use of language twists and turns words, distorting logic to provoke thought. He creates new experiences that make the audience stop and concider the human condition.

I find Naumans work very thought provoking - it is so blunt and communicates to the viewer in a striking way. To take inspiration from him into fashion I think lights would have to be more suble and instead of communicating using words perhaps communicate through feelings to provoke the viewers thoughts.

I like the idea that lights could change depending on the feelings or ovements of the wearer.

'Feed me' is supposed to represent how it feels for Bruce to live in modern day society.

Bruce Nauman - Feed Me

Bruce Nauman and Jackson Pollock

This is a Bruce Nauman image which I have overlayed one of Jackson Pollock's paintings over, I think the two styles of art are quite similar although two completly different mediums are used. They both give me a sense of urgency and movemen, I especially like the movement created by Pollock and would like to encorpotate some sort of hand done process print into my designs...capturing a sense of movement and a story behind the fabric.

Paul Jackson Pollock

Pollock used spontanious paint pouring and dripping, by defying the convention of painting on an upright surface he created an innovative technique enabling him to apply paint to canvases from all directions.

Art is viwed as the creative journey and process, rather than an end product...

What is process art?