Wednesday 3rd November 2011
I attended the first meeting of the group that I will be working with for this module. Everybody seems very nice; the team consists of Mike, Emma and Phebe. After discussing our first ideas about the theme ‘Applications’ we have agreed to get on with some research. Mike is planning to research architecture, Phebe is looking into lighting and Emma is studying surface pattern. I, very foolishly, said that I would research lighting and surface pattern. Having said that that is what I plan to do, I will do so. At the same time I also intend to do some research into other methods of applying pattern designs to surfaces, other than appliqué. There are several traditional crafts that I may be able to incorporate into my business. Initial thoughts are découpage, collage and pyrography, all of which could be produced within a cottage industry situation.
The lighting element of research may have some uses within my chosen field, but they will mainly relate to colour, shadow and perception, although the projection of a pattern onto a surface may also be of some interest.
I am intending to visit the Whitworth Gallery, in Manchester, at the weekend. This will, hopefully, give plenty of food for thought in the context of applying meaning or subtext to a design.
‘Wallpaper collections are relatively rare. The Whitworth's comprises several thousand examples and has an international reputation. The bulk of the Collection was given to the Gallery in 1967 by The Wall Paper Manufacturers Ltd., which had controlled most of the UK wallpaper industry since 1899. Since the 1970s further donations and purchases have helped to make the Collection one of the most important in the country.
It contains wallpapers and other wallcoverings dating from the 17th century to the present, from simple patterns printed on small sheets of paper, 18th century luxurious embossed and gilt leather hangings to numerous late 19th century examples by well-known designers such as William Morris, Voysey and Crane. The 20th century is represented by products showing the skill of craftspeople involved in producing a wide variety of decorations, the inventiveness of early post-war designers and the exuberance of those working in the 1970s. A relatively recent departure is the acquisition of work by late 20th/early 21st century artists such as Abigail Lane, who use wallpaper in a fine art context.’
It contains wallpapers and other wallcoverings dating from the 17th century to the present, from simple patterns printed on small sheets of paper, 18th century luxurious embossed and gilt leather hangings to numerous late 19th century examples by well-known designers such as William Morris, Voysey and Crane. The 20th century is represented by products showing the skill of craftspeople involved in producing a wide variety of decorations, the inventiveness of early post-war designers and the exuberance of those working in the 1970s. A relatively recent departure is the acquisition of work by late 20th/early 21st century artists such as Abigail Lane, who use wallpaper in a fine art context.’
http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/collection/wallpaper consulted on 3/11/10
The Walls are Talking: Repeating Patterns
What do Barbie, Batman, James Bond and the Spice Girls all have in common? You will find them all pictured on classic 'boys' and 'girls' wallpapers in this display that explores wallpaper's connections to gender and sexuality.
As well as featuring stereotypes and celebrities, the exhibition includes many one-off or limited edition artworks. Artists such as Robert Gober, Niki De Saint Phalle and Allen Jones knowingly play with visual representations of sex, celebrity, machismo, pornography and childbirth. Made for a domestic setting where gender roles are played out, wallpaper is the perfect medium to highlight and question these repeating patterns.
http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/wallsaretalking consulted on 3/11/10
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