4. A Multi-Pass of Skill

Complexity of pattern has a systematic coded construction. Is this necessary for the bearer/maker? Cutting, slashing, pressing and preparation, the piecing and trimming, the matching and tacking, stitching. Taking a project from the seed of conception through the cell dividing thought process, the sense of knowing where each point connects, how each piece will fall or not, is part of the flesh.

Exploring the process of making, encouraging each piece to take on a life of its own, leading to chance encounters changing direction of the life journey embarked with each piece of work.

Resulting in mutations of influence that cannot be foreseen in a twelve-week module life plan. Where will this piece be in 12 weeks’ time? Why is that method even a useable entity in the creative process? The tributaries of art’s creative waters don’t always work like this as new channels are carved, diverting experiential flow to an alternate destination. Why does corporate strategy have to subject neat little boxes upon the art world, why doesn’t commerce grow and tributise the valleys of Cultural Ecology in the Creative Industries instead?

The drawn application of instinctual pattern cutting is developing an indelible aesthetic method to my practice. To  step outside the boxed purpose of a technique or re-contextualise the functionality and place of a discipline, creates something new. Just as Nic Clear converges architectural Schematic drawing into graphic and marketing strategies to form peripatetic alliances. His Utopian Geometries series fragment and abstract the concept of drawing using the technology usually deployed within in CAD drawings for architecture.

I have been working on such a convergence in my practices. Digital manipulations of drawings to print fabrics, the pattern cutting process, and archival photographic documentation have been used to create abstract artwork. In this module I have expanded my knowledge and learned lots of new skills, processes and software that will enhance my future practice Such as 360 photography as an effective way to document my pieces in the future. Yet often the skill is resourcefulness and ingenuity. The photos I took of Sculpdress in the basic photographic area on the 3rd floor, had simple lighting and the portrait setting on my smartphone to shorten the depth of field. Even with limited resources and technical knowledge, good effects can still be achieved.

As with fabric printing, others wish to avoid the halo effect of the colour replacing discharge process, preferring to take experimental chances I pushed the emphasis on unknown parameters resulting in a lightning halo effect on the sheer silk pane of the devoree satin.

This low-tech emphasis evident in Nic Clears’ video for Disco Machine Gun. Despite being made decades ago, the basic effects are still engaging and I find the low tech more interesting in its distorted resolutions. Also shown in the recently viewed work of Shigeko Kubota at the Whhitechapel Gallery using, video , colour and dsitortuions of the body. To create the digital manipulated artwork I used limited technology, smartphone filters and adjustments, PowerPoint, Windows picture editor and GIMP. 

Take image – exposure adjust – filter – double print  – colour enhance – sharpen the edges + invert – reduce resolution + pixelate, sharpen, < PowerPoint – colour changes infuse glow – presets -transparency remove background –  crop, photograph distortions on screen – invert x 2 – enlarge to GIMP – find the edges, photograph, upload + process more  – trial + error, filters as paint – are they pure/fraudulent trick? Sufficient manifestation > change = true ownership?

“..the framing of something is almost as important as the work itself.” (Clear, N. 2023)

Various factors changed how the piece was to be viewed in Art Bar. The additions of podiums to the amphitheatre, conflicted with my wish to hang the piece. In discussions with Ryan Durrant, Art Technician,  Simon Baines, Hard Materials Technician and Jamie Collier, Photography Technician, the idea of laser cutting a frame was explored and Aqeel helped by drawing the shapes on Illustrator. But investigating the logistics of taking photo’s from beneath, using backdrops and turntable, alongside calculating scale, the frame to hang Sculpdress would need to be 2.5 metres high. The clear acrylic we were to use only 1000mm x 600mm meant this objective became impossible to achieve. I decided that Sculpdress should be mounted with as little photographic interference as possible. Simon laser cut an acylic disc with glued on stabilizing discs to insert a clear acrylic pole from Ryan, making a transparent plinth to mount the wired bodice. Despite not being able to hang Sculpdress, this proved an effective alternative and photographs raised up on top of the lockers gives an impression of how it was intended to be viewed.

Upon evaluation, I feel Sculpdress is still visually fashion orientated. I need to challenge the duality of exposition and functionality to develoop a piece as contemporary art but also retaining the function of a garment. When contemplating how this piece would be experienced as a hanging form, the discomfort of viewing the interior from underneath was initially a deterrent. Yet a skirt lifting visual discomfort may challenging perceptions – exposing the artistic inner self with impact.

References

Clear, N. University of Huddersfield. (2023, January, 10). Convergence [Presentation]. Arts & Humanities

(23) Lo Fidelity Allstars – Disco Machine Gun [Official Video] – YouTube

Images

1. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023). Sculpdress Front. [Wool, Silk, Cotton and Metal]. Huddersfield.
2. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023). Sculpdres Right Side. [Wool, Silk, Cotton and Metal]. Huddersfield.
3. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023). Sculpdress Backt. [Wool, Silk, Cotton and Metal]. Huddersfield.
4. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023). Sculpdresst. [Wool, Silk, Cotton and Metal]. Huddersfield.
5. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023Shape Exterior [Wool, Silk,Cotton]. Huddersfield.
6. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023). Ruffle Close [Wool, Silk, Cotton, Linen and Metal]. Huddersfield.
7. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023).  [Wool, Silk, Linen,Cotton ]. Huddersfield.
8. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023). Section Perfection. [Wool, Silk, Linen, Cotton]. Huddersfield.
9. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023). Print Exterior. [Wool, Silk, Linen and Cotton]. Huddersfield.
10. Commercial Projects [Presentation Image]. In Clear, N.. (2023). Convergence (p9)
11. Utopian Deometries, drawing01[Presentation Image]. In Clear, N. (2023). Convergence (p39)
12. Chronogram01 [Presentation Image]. In Clear, N. (2023). Convergence (p40)
13. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sculpdress, Macro Back [Silk, Linen, Wool, Cotton, metal] Huddersfield.
14. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sculpdress, Super Macro Side Front [Silk, Linen, Wool, Cotton, metal] Huddersfield.
15. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sculpdress, Back Macro [Silk, Linen, Wool, Cotton, metal] Huddersfield.
16. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Monochrome Paper Window[Digitally Manipulated Photograph] Huddersfield.
17. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Enhance Print [Digitally Manipulated Photograph] Huddersfield.
18. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) PixelPrint [Digitally Manipulated Photograph] Huddersfield.
19. Low Fidelity Allstars. Disco Machine Gun [Video Still]. Skint Records. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&q=Lo+fidelity+allm+stars+disco+machine+gun&docid=603547801101100137&mid=199E98361EF34B8D64AF19
20. Shigeko, K. (1974) Analogue Magnestism, Action,[SD Video] Gesture, Performance: Femionism the Body and Abstraction, Whitechapel Gallery, London.
21. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Papier Fenetre [ Digitally Manipulated photograph].
22. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) MacroLayer [ Digitally Manipulated photograph].
23. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sett [ Digitally Manipulated photograph].
24. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sharp Points [ Digitally Manipulated photograph].
25. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sculpdress, Hepworth Hang Side Front [Silk, Linen, Wool, Cotton, metal] Huddersfield.
26. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sculpdress, Hepworth Hang Back [Silk, Linen, Wool, Cotton, metal] Huddersfield.
27. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sculpdress, Hepworth Hang [Silk, Linen, Wool, Cotton, metal] Huddersfield.
28. Sivinska McCartan, C. (2023) Sculpdress, Hepworth Hang Front [Silk, Linen, Wool, Cotton, metal] Huddersfield.