Modern Art Gallery | Oxford | Part 1

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Happy Wednesday to you! This post is a little late but interesting never the less. While in Oxford last month me and my uni buddies visited the Modern art gallery and I wanted to share what they had to show. Modern art gallery Oxford was founded in 1966 and showcases pieces of contemporary art. The gallery is free, which is great for students and people with an interest in contemporary art but have little money to visit galleries.

When we visit the gallery they were showcasing work from Yoko Ono, Helen Chadwick, Dorothy Cross, Marina Abramovic and a few others.

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Yoko Ono | Cloud Piece | Inkjet printed pad, 250 sheets | 14.8 x 14.8cm | 1963 (2016) 

Label reads ''Created in Spring 1963, this is an instruction work by Yoko Ono. Cloud Piece calls on each viewer to imagine a fresh way of encountering the natural world in the present moment. For It's Me to the World, visitors can take a copy of Cloud Piece and follow the instruction if desired.''

The pad was on the last piece when we got there so we didn't take it so that other people could enjoy the work.  The writing to me is some what poetic and gives a sense of warmth.

Helen Chadwick | Viral Landscapes | Five C-print photographs, powder coated steel, aluminium, plywood, perspex, 120 x 300 x 5 cm (each) | 1989

Label reads ''Purchased with Art Fund support. Helen Chadwick's Viral Landscapes are presented in the same location as they appeared in her solo exhibition in 1989. The photographs each depict a rocky coastal landscape in Pembrokeshire, overlaid with painterly marks. These marks are made from the artist's cellular tissue, which was removed from her kidney, ear, mouth, cervix and blood. In a letter to the curators Chrissie Iles and David Elliot, Chadwick implored them to ''look after my cells'', referencing the closeness of these works to her 'self'. Made during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, the works are a startling synthesis of the visceral matter of the human body, and a rendering of landscape in the vein of traditional painting. National Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund in 2008.''

Dorothy Cross | Scales | Human skull, yellow gold leaf, coat hanger, steel wire, meteorite suspended from ceiling, height variable | 83 x 50 x 13 cm | 2014 | Courtesy of Anne Madden

Dorothy Cross | Scales | Human skull, yellow gold leaf, coat hanger, steel wire, meteorite suspended from ceiling, height variable | 83 x 50 x 13 cm | 2014 | Courtesy of Anne Madden

This piece to me looks cheap due to the gold as it looks very artificial and because the materials used aren't high quality. Though looking at it is very interesting and knowing it's been made from a human skull gets you to think about the meaning behind the piece.

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Thanks for reading, I hoped you enjoyed. I'm sorry it wasn't very long but there will be a part 2. I haven't been very well so I've not been using this blog as much as I should, I will hopefully have a more thought out post next Wednesday! x

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Exploratory Practice | Textiles | Knitting | 30/9/2016

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Textiles is one of the things in life that can never go out of fashion because it is all around us in everyday life, clothes, bedding, curtains, rugs etc.

Textiles is also a good media to use due to it's stereotype. Most people connect knitting to the elderly and because of this you can be very daring.

Chunky Knitting Machine

Chunky Knitting Machine

                                                                             There are two types of knitting machines, this one which is a chunky and standard. Chunky is used for thicker yarn (3 needles per inch) and standard for thinner yarn (7 needles per inch). You need to remember that when you pick your yarn that the rougher it is the thinner it needs to be - it's better to use a smooth yarn.

Needles

To use the needles you push/slide them out (towards you) by the metal circle sticks that you can see sticking out at the back of the machine.

Knitting Machine Carriage

This is the Carriage of the knitting machine. It has a digital on it that you can see under the handle which controls the tension of the knitting (the bigger the number the looser it will be) and has a gap at the front of where you put the thread in. You move the carriage across the needles to knit. 

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STEPS.

1. You put your yarn on the floor and lead it around the back of thee table.

2. Thread up.

3. Put the carriage at the right of the machine if it's not already. 

4. Put forward the needles you want to knit on - you can use as many needles as you like. 

5. Wrap the end of the yarn around the clamp.

6. Go into the first gap of the needles and wrap it over the thread over the needle. (You want to end on the same side as the carriage when wrapping). 

7. Get a comb and hook onto the top of the yarn then hang weights on the comb to stop the knitting from getting in the way of the carriage.

8. Make sure the needles you want to knit on are pushed all the way forward and the needles you aren't going to knit on are pushed all the way back. 

9. Do the first two rows of the knitting lose. - the first two rows will be a little more difficult to do before you do the rest.

10. When you have done two rows give the comb a little wiggle to make sure all the yarn is neat and doesn't get caught in the carriage.

11. When you have done as much knitting as you wanted you will need to do a few rows that are tighter before you cast off.

12. Once you have finished and cast off you will need to pin your knitting down and steam it to make it flat as it will curl straight after knitting. 

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THREADING UP | CASTING ON | CASTING OFF.
 I found threading up, casting on and casting off a little difficult so I have found some videos on Youtube that show you how to do that. (These are not my videos\ I do not own any of the content).

THREADING UP

CASTING ON

(This channel on Youtube has other videos about knitting machines and different methods of knitting: https://www.youtube.com/user/thefashioncourse/videos )

                           

CASTING OFF

(I've noticed on this one that she misses out a step where you put the stitch onto the pins sticking up to keep the knitting straight and prevent it from stretching).

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STEAMING.

When you have finished your knitting you pin it to a ironing broad and then steam it. The knitting will stay to the form you have pinned it to. You can play around with the steaming by pinning the knitting in unusual shape like I have to create something more interesting to look at. 

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Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed and that this was helpful or useful in any way. x

(This is just a workshop I did to learn how to use the machine and learn to knit just incase I wanted to apply textiles to my project).

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VINTAGE FINDS | STROUD | PART 1

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Hello hello, happy Wednesday to you all. I'm very sorry there was no bog post last week, I was very ill so I kept myself cocooned in cozy blankets for most of my week (I know, it's a hard life).

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Before I was terrible ill I visited family in Stroud and one of the days we decied to go for a little shopping trip. One of the shops we passed was called Albert and the Giant Cat and I thought their shop window was perfect for what I am currently doing with my work as it's kind of like a collage playing around with different scale.

This has given me ideas on how I could play around with scale in my collages and how I could make them 3D.

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I also visited one of my favourite shops in Stroud called Stroud Vintage. Stroud Vintage is filled with vintage treasures such as jewellery, clothing, cameras and home-ware ranging from the Victorian area to the 1960's. These lovely pieces of vintage bliss are obviously second hand but have been kept in very good condition. I will link below their Twitter and Facebook if you would like to contact the owner/ like to know more.

I went there internationally to find things for my project. I've been experimenting with collage and the style of 1930-1960. I was looking for posters, letters, newspapers, books, any kind of paper from that time I could get my hands on. It was very hard to not pick things up for myself! I really enjoyed hunting for things in this shop, it was like I was going back in time and I felt great joy being surrounded by lovely things. For my project I found clothing patterns, books and a Birthday card.

I also visited this very lovely book shop suggest by the gentleman who owns Stroud Vintage named R and P Books as I felt I didn't get enough things and oh boy was I pleased with that I found! Tones and tones of goodies dating back to the 1930's and even earlier. I find it extraordinary how these things long before I was even born have been kept and are in such great condition. I found magazines, postcards, wedding invites and even driving lesson test papers!

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In part 2 of this post I will be showing you all the wonderful things I got from these amazing shops. Thank you so much for reading and I really hoped you enjoyed this post. Make sure to come back next week to see what I got! x

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Stroud Vintage:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StroudVintage?lang=en-gb
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StroudVintage/?fref=ts