i forgot a drill

Chipped paint - Aldgate East Station

Writing on the floor - Brixton

design a dictionary 3

So i popped into Mothercare in Peckham yesterday to take a look at the 'onsies' or 'all-in-ones' .. 

I also bought a few cuddly things (strictly for  research purposes) like a baby blanket and toy because they use the softest materials .. so snuggly ..

Mothercare, Peckham

They actually sell pyjama types 'onesies' for adults now .. my friend's sister has 'onesie' slumber parties .. gossip, high school musical and miley cyrus, all whilst enveloped head to toe in fluffy fleece! 

Primarni playsuits or 'onesies' Tooting branch

Some sketchbook notes:

......

Update: I've decided at present to ditch the onesie idea and instead make a giant pillow case that you climb into .. 

I'm thinking of using one of those heavy duty tent zips that you can unzip/zip from the inside and outside (to avoid possible suffocation) that i'm gonna purchase off of ebay .. tbc

design a dictionary 2

Step 1: Pick up 'sack'

Step 2: Place over head

Step 3: Rub over face

 Two 'hoods' one lined with that soft fleece/dressing gown stuff (i used a throw from primarni) and the other with the disappointing velvet from tooting market ...

Testing it out it just doesn't feel like enough, like its not a full sensory experience like i intended .. 

I was toying with the idea of a fleece 'onesie' or something that completely envelops you head to toe, like you become soft ..but instead of rubber latex a really soft fabric .. you know when you feel something and its just so utterly luxurious and meltingly soft that you just have to snuggle up to it? Like that .. but we'll see what budget will allow .. though budget anything doesn't conjure up images of anything vaguely luxurious i'm hoping i'll be able to find something that serves as a decent substitute...

....

Upon further reflection i've been letting my imagination run away with me and been thinking up lots of fun ideas...

I was thinking about how i could really make the 'definition' be a fully sensory experience, much like educating those with autism (i'm familar with this as my brother is autistic)

With autism the key is to use the senses to convey meaning, so through light and play therapy, colour and sound etc the child picks up on these sensations and can then 'sense' the meaning, so understanding it through experience.

So .. how can i convey the word 'soft?' For me when i think about this word or sensation i think of duvets and blankets and teddies and marshmallows and mums and feathers and pillow fights and slumber parties and warm towels after a bath ...
ok, indulge me ... what if you were to place your feet into the comfiest slippers and then slip into an all in one made of the softest fleece? To sip a mug of delicious hot chocolate topped with those teensy marshmallows whilst  lounging in Joey Tribiani's leather chair? And then dive into pastel shades of billowing softness? Velvet throws and crinkled piles of sleeping bags and dimpled sheets and puffy down? mmmmmm ahhhhhhhhhhh yeahhhhhh ...              

weeds

photocopy experimentation whilst prepping for screen printing on tuesday:

folds

Last week myself and a couple of friends went to the barbican to see the 'future beauty - 30 years of japanese fashion' exhibition.  

I can honestly say that it was the most inspiring exhibit ive seen for a while … the Japanese just have the knack of making extremely complex designs look effortless, which is something I really admire.

They really are the masters (in my opinion) of shape and form and fold and layer.. I almost can’t describe it ... it’s something that is Japan.

My friend bought the accompanying book .. though the garments really need to be seen to really see the beauty…

I love Rei Kawakubo … at the exhibit there was a video installation with interviews with the main designers, she seems stern with her blunt fringe (her haircut is now almost as famous as the anna wintour do) and her matter of fact attitude, but I think under that is just someone who takes what she does really seriously and someone quite humble and shy, I felt for her as she fumbled her way on stage and then scurried away like a mouse.

Her designs, particularly the ones below look equally beautiful lying flat as they do worn ... 

And today I went to the Whitechapel Gallery to see the John Stezaker exhibit.

He slices and dices, folds found images and melds them together to create new ones. Taking away a lover in an embrace, replacing parts of faces with the branches of a tree, taking away the part of a human that gives us the most information, emotion, intereaction ...  the result is visually interesting but also creates a sense of mystery and want, who are these characters and what are these images saying? i love the idea that he's created them out of found images and yet they are completely believable, hes created a narrative out of staged and calculated photographic scenarios.

design a dictionary 1

new project: design a dictionary

brief:

           'It is often forgotten that dictionaries are artificial repositories, put together well after the language they define. The roots of language are irrational and of a magical nature'

Jorge Luis Borges

define 40 words (suggested)

design a dictionary in any medium

I'm sort of battling with two different ideas, the first involves making several 'pillows' that you place over the head. The inside of the pillows will be lined with different fabrics, ranging from luxuriously soft plush or velvet to rough hessian or other fibrous material. The idea is that the recipient rubs the fabric on their face, smells it, 'senses' the fabric and then describes what he or she feels to onlookers. I don't know whether the outside of the fabric will have the word printed on it yet. 

Yesterday I bought some pillow cases and some velvet to line one of them with, I'll admit the velvet feels a little disappointing, but i think its important to line one and test it out ...

So the idea would be a series of them, creating almost an interactive dictionary that allows you to experience the word, and therefore understand it in a way thats more tangible than simply reading about the feel of something in a book. It's like trying to convey the view from the top of a mountain or an emotion, to be fully understood in needs to be experienced.

One friend pointed out that they could potentially be seen as offensive, and proposed the idea of boxes as alternative .. the thing is I want the fabric to be able to move and be placed against the face .. anyway, we'll see...

The second idea is a film that 'animates' or defines the word without image, so that although i say that it will be a film, all the viewer will see will be the word on the screen accompanied by audio of myself reading the definition.

Choosing words such as walk, run, breathe etc and I will record my voice as I do each one so capturing the 'action in action' ..

I did a little experiment in Lucas Gardens near the school and recorded my voice reading aloud the definition of run, whilst actually running (or jogging ha ha) ... which was quite difficult actually as i couldn't hold the text still ... also I thought about experimenting with different shoes such as tap shoes or heels to enhance the sound of the foot steps.

I also did a little experiment and ran around the park/exercised in my room to make myself out of breath and then recorded myself reading the definition of 'breathe.'

The result I think is quite successful because it begins with the breath being very harsh and strained, which actually expresses the action entirely and you almost feel breathless just listening to it. It's easily understood as everyone has experienced it, athlete or not.

erghh.. the other videos arent uploading! will keep you posted ..

night

slump