CRITICAL REVIEW | Final Major Project
Student Name: Anand Kaur Johal
Pathway: Fashion and Textiles
FMP Title: I LOVE WEED
To begin with, my project is all about my love of the natural world, and in particular the interesting textures and surfaces found in nature. In my proposal, I talked about how in the modern world today, people no longer appreciate nature, not even the little things like weeds and moss that surround us. I used my project to explore this and push people to take a much closer look at nature, and notice the details. My bibliography at the start, referenced several artists that inspire me such as Michael Landy (who does delicate drawings of weeds) as well as an exhibition that I felt was a key starting point for my project to reconnect with nature myself, in a modern context. As a base for my project, sustainability was also a major part of my contextual research alongside practitioners that use nature and sustainability within their work.
To gather substantial research for my project, I aimed to use a wide range of sources and collect both primary and secondary research. Primary research was an essential part of my work, as I took a lot of photographs using a macro lens to record the natural world, alongside observational sketches and collecting objects. I also visited a number of exhibitions and events about nature in the context of the fashion/textiles industry, and also talked to practitioners. In terms of secondary research, I used various books, magazines and web pages including articles and artist sites, to inform me about context and materials and methods.
As my project was about nature and sustainability, I was mainly interested in hand-craft methods- both traditional and experimenting with my own new techniques. A lot of my experimentation was with stitching and how I could use it in different ways to create texture, and I also looked into crochet, knitting, weaving and hand dyeing. To utilise the equipment available to me and see the difference between digital and hand techniques, I used the embroidery machine and the heat press to transfer prints that I had designed digitally.
Through-out this project, I produced many successful textile samples such as my embroidery and wool texture samples, however, I did come across some problems (such as not being able to use the laser cutter) which I talked about in my blog and discussed ways to overcome them. When thinking about solving my problems, I proposed theories of how I could do this if I had the equipment or more time, as well as physically altering my methods or materials to create a more successful sample. Towards the end of the project, toiling was an effective way of testing out the final garment and identifying any potential problems so that I could work them out for the final garment. Creating a toile allowed me to realise that I would not be able to stitch the structural texture into several areas on the garment as it would alter the shape too dramatically, so I would have to make the texture separately and attach them on. When developing my final design, I chose to use the sample that I felt was the most successful and effective way to recreate a texture that accurately reflected an element from the natural world- this was the moss texture I had produced by stitching with wool through hessian.
To keep myself on track during the course of the final major project, I wrote up a timetable that is part of my proposal, with a rough idea of what component I aim to be working on each week. I can confidently say that for the majority of the project, I was working on schedule to my timetable, as I kept on top of my work and was at the right stage of the project when I had my weekly tutorials. Weekly tutorials (both group and 1-2-1) were a good way to see where other people were in their projects and to discuss what we each need to be doing moving forward, giving ourselves goals for the next tutorial. I also constantly make notes and lists that I leave around the house to remind me of any major bits of work that I need to get done. Regularly posting to my blog was another way of analysing my progress and is a record of what work I actually completed each week.
I used group tutorials and discussions with peers around me to gather peer feedback about my project, to see if my concept was being communicated well through my work and also to suggest any ideas or improvements for me to take on board. We also had weekly 1-2-1 tutorials with a tutor, in which we looked over the work together to evaluate it, picking out successful aspects or areas for improvement. I then expanded on the feedback I received from peers and tutors on my blog as well as including my own evaluation of my processes and outcomes. For example, I used my blog to record the whole process of the making of my final garment, mentioning any feedback I gathered along the way and how I was developing and altering my design.
Initially, in my bibliography, I described my audience as everyone as the lack of appreciation of nature is a problem that runs through out society, across ages, races, gender…etc. Everyone lives on this planet and benefits from the natural world, so we should all be respectful as well as amazed by the sheer beauty and abundance within nature. After some research, I narrowed this audience down in order to make a customer profile to represent the nature conscious young adult living in the countryside and working as a gardener and seller of organic produce. In my opinion, the problem of a disconnection with the natural world is perhaps the greatest amongst working people as they become so absorbed in work and other daily stresses, and by targeting younger adults, I can promote the natural world before they become lost in this modern working world, and hopefully this connection will remain strong. My sketchbooks are laid out in a very clear way, and I feel it really shows my process, from responding to research, to the design process, experimentation and realisation of physical or theoretical outcomes. There is also a sense of flow through my project that connects all my work, in the presentation and the colour scheme that I have kept more or less consistent (to a palette of neutrals, greens and yellows).
I have learned a lot from this project at each stage, and I feel that I have developed my practice over the FMP, so by the last few weeks I was working more efficiently than I have in previous projects. While I always knew that research was integral to any successful body of work, during this project I realised the importance of contextual research as it informed me in many aspects, from materials to techniques, and outcomes as well as changing the way I interpret my research/material. Time management was also a key consideration in this project, as although I felt for the most part I was on track and kept a record of my progress on my blog, in the future I will aim to find ways of working even more efficiently so that I have more time to experiment as there are still many ideas and techniques that I would have liked to explore.
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