Monday 26 November 2012

reuse / remake / reinvent



Making new from old… This is what some 130 Foundation students specialising in Design at Camberwell College of Arts were assigned to do, when using old pieces of furniture, taking them apart and using the pieces to create something new. Deconstructing is often the best way of finding out how  things are made, and with this brief students got the opportunity to experience first hand how to identify elements of design from the structural to the functional, how materials were combined and how the furniture was constructed.  While teaching them I for one got to refresh my memory on some technical jargon and certainly won’t be forgetting the difference between a dado and groove joint in a hurry! The whole project amounted to a cut and paste exercise in 3D, with making leading the design process.



The best part, aside from the final display of outcomes illustrated below, was when students traded and exchanged parts during a bric-a-brac / flea market type event half way through the project.  Not everyone got what they wanted, some lost almost all they had brought, but with this new opportunities for thinking and making were made possible as an ad-hoc element was thrown into the brief.



The potential these works have lie in their open ended functionality: a constructed piece might become  a chair when positioned one way, a table when used on its side, or a piece of architecture when it's  turned upside down. Their practicality will ultimately be negotiated between the maker and the user. Meanwhile, the 3D workshop area with all its tools and equipment has become less of an alien environment for the students, a must for future designers.















Wednesday 21 November 2012

exploding bird nests



Someone once described contemporary baskets as things that look like exploding bird nests.  It was meant as a criticism I believe but no matter, I love that image… 

Looking at a whole bunch of dailymades while still in the spirit of the first anniversary of the blog, I’ve put together the selection below with this in mind. There lies an idea for an exhibition... It needn’t be about contemporary basketry or even basketry art, but simply a sculpture show with works informed by the craft as well as a wider practice of weaving. Any interested curators out there?

pens, pencils and elastic bands
dailymade #120104
 
masking tape, paint and bristles
dailymade #120312
sycamore leaf stalks
dailymade #120613
paper clips
dailymade #120107
cardboard and clothes pegs
dailymade #120217
paper spills and wire
dailymade #120125
clothes pegs and card labels
dailymade #120808
paper and crayon
dailymade #120804
 
banana skin
dailymade #120309
orange peel and dental sticks
dailymade #120505
balsam poplar prunings and bamboo skewers
dailymade #120227

Friday 16 November 2012

now we are one



Dailymades is 1 today! That’s 365 posts in the last year, one sculpture made everyday.  I’m surprised I’ve got this far with the project, and there’s no sign of stopping anytime soon either…

My aim, as with weeklyweaves, was to make sense of my interests in making and weaving with relation my own sculptures, installations and performance work. I aimed to make my practice a daily activity working with everyday materials and techniques.

From this a pattern of producing archetypal/symbolic shapes has emerged, circles for example, and making has become automatic, almost instinctive. Does it all make sense yet?  Yes and no. As with any research, one question leads to many more, and the answers (as well as inspiration to make more) are to be found amongst all of these.

dailymade #121108

One of my own personal favorite outcome meanwhile is the one illustrated above, produced last week and made from lollipops. Below is another survey, that of the 10 post popular posts since the blog began. Thank you for reading and following!

dailymade #120714

dailymade #120901

dailymade #120905

dailymade #120102

dailymade #120611

dailymade #111116

dailymade #111213

dailymade #120531

dailymade #120722

dailymade #111127