Download - TRANSFORM // DARA ING
TRANSFORMEXPLORATION OF MATERIALITY IN TIME.
ADDING // JOINING DIVERSE MATERIALS
The range of different prope¬rties in the materials made it quite challenging to join them together in a way that would allow the two to hold together effectively. The synth¬etics and the plastics I found the easiest to manip¬ulate and blend because of the nature of the materials and how it could easily be heated or melted. With the paper mater¬ials, subje-cting them to liquid would easily allow them to mould around different shapes. A constraint that i const¬antly encountered was the inability to heat some of the materials to a point where they would become malleable to become useful. I think the workshop work out be very useful in thinking outside the box in ways to join fabrics without the need for a sewing techn¬iques. Just because turning to sewing machine to join materials together has become second na-ture. So some of the solutions that have been disco¬vered by doing such exercises as these could help solve this problem and help us come up with a more inter¬esting outcome. The first workshop has overall been a good intro¬duction to working on projects in a different manner. Instead of doing drawings and making patterns we’re going straight to handling the materials and taking a real tactile approach. This gives a good feel of how the final outcome may be like and it just feels much more organic to work in this manner.
AD
DIN
G /
/ JO
ININ
G D
IVER
SE
MAT
ERIA
LS//
PAR
T 2
This
wee
k w
e ha
d fa
shio
n ph
oto¬
grap
her D
ru B
lum
e¬ns
heild
com
e in
to th
e w
orks
hop
and
give
her
insi
ght i
nto
wha
t she
doe
s an
d th
e in
ner
wor
kings
of h
er c
reat
¬io
ns. S
he s
poke
a lo
t abo
ut h
ow s
he a
ppro
¬ac
h’s
her w
ork
and
wha
t she
is d
raw
n to
. Thi
ngs
such
as
how
she
out
so
urce
s m
odel
s an
d w
hat k
ind
of c
lient
s sh
e w
orks
with
. Wha
t I to
ok a
way
from
the
who
le ta
lk w
as h
ow s
he c
ould
ach
ieve
so
muc
h w
ithou
t su
ch a
big
bud
get a
nd th
e ap
pre-
ciat
ion
of h
er w
illi¬ng
ness
to a
ppro
ach
anyo
ne o
n th
e st
reet
to m
odel
for h
er s
hoot
s. A
lso
the
fact
that
she
ha
sn’t
real
ly ha
d an
y fo
rmal
fash
ion
train
ing
befo
re b
ut w
as s
till a
ble
to c
hurn
out
som
e re
spe¬
ctab
le g
arm
ents
in th
e sh
oots
. Eve
n th
ough
she
do
es m
entio
n th
at th
e fa
shio
n si
de is
com
pl¬
etel
y se
cond
ary
in th
e sh
oots
ther
e ju
st u
sed
mor
e as
leve
rage
. Res
ea¬
rchi
ng m
ore
into
her
wor
k on
her
blo
g I h
ave
seen
that
she
can
eas
ily a
dapt
to m
any
diffe
rent
kin
ds o
f sty
les
depe
ndin
g on
wha
t the
sub
ject
is a
nd a
lso
who
the
clie
nt is
.
This
wee
k w
e al
so b
egan
talks
abo
ut h
ow w
e w
ould
app
roac
h th
e ic
e w
orks
hop,
and
how
we
wou
ld m
anag
e th
e lo
gist
ics
and
the
asse
mbl
y of
the
piec
e. W
e sp
oke
thro
ugh
vario
us c
hall¬
enge
s th
at w
e w
ould
enc
ou¬
nter
, suc
h as
if it
wer
e ne
cess
ary
to s
tage
a h
uman
mod
el o
r jus
t us
e a
man
ne¬
quin
. In
the
end
we
chos
e to
go
with
the
man
nequ
in ju
st b
ecau
se it
wou
ld a
llow
us
to h
ave
mor
e cr
eativ
e fre
edom
. Mea
ning
th
at th
e fin
al p
iece
wou
ld h
ave
no w
eigh
t res
tr¬ic
tion
and
now
here
on
the
body
wou
ld b
e ou
t of b
onds
eith
er. T
he o
vera
ll for
m w
as a
lso
a m
ajor
ta
lking
poi
nt b
etw
een
the
grou
ps. T
here
wer
e m
any
idea
s th
row
n ar
ound
lead
ing
us in
man
y di
rec¬
tions
. In
the
end
we
deci
ded
that
eve
ryon
e w
ould
con
duct
ther
e ow
n ex
per¬
imen
ts a
nd n
ext w
eek
we
wou
ld c
ome
back
toge
ther
and
ass
ess
all t
he d
iffere
nt a
venu
es a
nd tr
y to
pie
ce
them
toge
ther
. I fe
lt th
at p
roje
cts
like
this
with
so
man
y co
oks
in th
e kit
chen
wou
ld n
ever
wor
k ou
t ver
y w
ell.
Just
bec
ause
ther
es a
lway
s go
ing
to b
e a
certa
in p
eopl
e th
at w
ill ta
ke c
harg
e of
the
proj
ect a
nd le
ad it
one
dire
c¬tio
ns th
an o
ther
mem
ber o
f the
gro
up w
ill fe
el it
s go
ne to
o fa
r in
one
dire
c¬tio
ns to
lead
the
who
le g
roup
in a
noth
er. I
t will
be v
ery
inte
r¬es
ting
how
it a
ll com
es to
geth
er a
t thi
s st
age.
The
who
le c
once
pt o
f the
ic
e w
ork
shop
has
gre
at p
oten
tial t
o be
a g
reat
pie
ce o
f wor
k if
exec
uted
pro
perly
.
In the time between the last week and this week’s studio we have all been trying to create different little experiments with ice. We had all been assigned different experiments to try out. Gabrielle and I were handed the task of coming up with a piece that would fit around the shoulders and neck area, which also had the potential to extending on and over the head. We had heavily considered whether or not we were having a live model or a mannequin. This would obviously restrict the size and weight the piece would be. Gab and I initially wanted to explore the use of making an ice mold by vacuum forming it out of a plastic sheet, but all the vacuum forms in the university were either in repairs or weren’t hooked up and working. Which was a real shame as this would of allowed us to churn out molds very quickly and quite accurately. I had the initial idea of layering elongated piece of rectangular ice over the shoulders that were different lengths. But this ultimately was going to be too heavy and much to difficult to produce in the short space of a week. In the workshop everyone brought very promising experiments. One that I thought that looked very impressive and would work well for next weeks Ice dress was the use of the balloons that had been hallowed out. Even though the ice left behind didn’t form a full sphere; it did leave a semi circle that still looked very effective. A lot the little experiments don’t directly relate to the body but instead would be used to hang off the underlay dress. Which would ultimately be used as a base for all the ice pieces to hang off on.
ICE // ADDING AND SUBTRACTING//PART 1
It ha
s fin
ally
com
e th
e w
eek
whe
re it
all c
omes
toge
ther
, al
l the
pre
p an
d lo
gist
ics
of m
ovin
g th
is v
ery
tem
pera
men
-ta
l mat
eria
l cal
led
ice.
Jul
iette
and
I ha
ve b
een
prep
arin
g ou
r ice
bal
loon
s th
e ni
ght b
efor
e, w
hich
end
ed u
p be
ing
mor
e tim
e co
nsum
ing
than
we
ever
imag
ined
. We
used
a
mixt
ure
of c
olor
ed c
halk
carv
ings
, ink
, and
wat
erco
lor i
nk
in th
e ba
lloon
s to
ach
ieve
the
diffe
rent
col
ors
that
we
had
prev
ious
ly di
scus
sed
with
the
clas
s. I
n th
e en
d w
e di
dn’t
end
up u
sing
all t
he 3
0 or
so
ballo
ons
we
had
mad
e.
The
colo
r pen
etra
tion
of th
e di
ffere
nt c
olor
ing
met
hods
al
so d
iffere
d. T
he in
k w
as th
e m
ost v
ibra
nt a
nd in
tens
e ou
t of t
hem
all,
and
the
chal
k sh
avin
gs s
eem
ed to
be
the
wea
kest
in c
olor
inte
nsity
. W
e al
so m
ade
sure
to m
ix up
th
e si
zes
so th
ey c
ould
be
easi
ly pl
aced
on
diffe
rent
par
ts
of th
e bo
dy. W
e al
so a
dded
little
stri
ps o
f thr
ead
just
to
mak
e it
easi
er to
tie
onto
the
dres
s. W
hen
it ca
me
dow
n to
put
ting
ever
yone
s ic
e cr
eatio
ns o
nto
the
dres
s, it
was
all
quite
rand
om, b
ecau
se w
e w
ere
all w
orkin
g w
ith a
mat
eria
l th
at d
idn’
t hav
e a
lot l
onge
vity,
eve
ryth
ing
had
to b
e pl
ace
on v
ery
fast
.
ICE // ADDING AND SUBTRACTING//PART 2
Also the fact the human touch would emit more heat on the ice causing it melt even faster would also prove to be a factor. Once the desired amount of ice balloons were on. Pieces began to melt very fast and started to drop away and trickle down with colour that had been imbedded in the ice. This worked out to be quite effective, even though the whole aesthetic of the piece wouldn’t be prove to very pleasing. The video didn’t work as the way it set out to be, just because of the rain it had to be moved to different areas. And we weren’t able to get good footage of the whole piece melting away. Which was a little disappointing as this would have been the most beautiful part of this whole experiment. The photos turned out quite well, with some detailed shots of colors dripping of the dress. From this weeks studio I have learnt that its quite important to set up the right recording tools such as cameras, videos etc, so that you have a way of presenting the work. Because even though an experiment may not work out, the videos or photos can almost make up for a lot of it.
//ICE // ADDING AND SUBTRACTING// PART 2
ICE
//
ADD
ING
AN
D S
UB
TRAC
TIN
G//
PAR
T 3
ICE // ADDING AND SUBTRACTING//PART 3
PHOTOGRAPHY AND EDITINGBY RAH MCVITTY
STIFFENING // TRANSFORMING
This workshop involved the process of stiffening; applying different stiffening techniques on are that would be subject to movement. Having ac-cess to wax a range of starches and glues in the workshop worked really well and everyone came up with different methods and ways to apply each individual technique. The bees wax especially had a great scent to it, even though I personally didn’t like the effect it left on the jacket that I had done. While the ordinary white wax looked much more effective one the grey toned denim jacket that I used. The normal wax also held much harder when dried compared to bees wax which seem a lot more malleable. It was also really interesting in the way you applied the hot wax and whether or not you allowed it drip down or held it in one place and allowed a large chunk to dry there. The other interesting things was that when applied to areas where required a lot of movement in a garment such as the shoulders and near the cuffs. The wax cracked away revealing a really interesting appearance that worked really well. I think its quite important to think about how you want to apply the wax before you do as it can just look extremely random and misplaced, but when done right you can come up with some very effective outcomes. Apart from the melted wax applications there were also a range of starch that we experimented with all with varying successes. The potato starch even though maybe not holding the most strongest and not smelling the best either, worked pretty well and had to applied by brush as spraying it would cause all the potato bits to get stuck in the nozzle. I feel that this weeks workshop with the focus on stiffening has been one that I have really enjoyed and would look at doing for my final piece. The whole concept of applying a stiffening to a garment and subjecting it to motion and seeing how that effects the piece I find really inspiring and something that I may want to push further. This would also allow a very compelling documentation of this process of a hard rigid stiff application and allowing it break away by either motion or heat or a number of factors.
FRA
GIL
E /
/ S
UB
TRAC
TIIO
N
FRAGILE // SUBTRACTION
For the fragile workshop the brief that our group faced was to come up with a process that would allow a piece to deconstruct and break away easily and would be interesting to document. There were a lot of initial ideas thrown around; with the use glass light globes burning away cigarettes. But we had trouble sourcing the materials and also funding the experiment became an issue with these initial ideas. So after talking to Miriam and discussing ways to evolve the idea of burning a material away and revealing some-thing different also being able to document this burning process, we all decided upon incorporating incense. Which were in the end were much cheaper and also much more pleasant smelling than cigarettes. We also initially had some troubles of finding solutions in ways we were going to attach it to the body, whether it was going be thrown over the mannequin like jewelry or whether we should make a piece and use it as a base for all the incense to attach onto. In the end we decided to use a hot glue gun that would glue all the individual incense together than finally this would be glued onto a calico top that we made. This would give us much more flexibility with placing the incense in a way that would look appealing but more importantly place the incense in a way that would burn more effectively. In the end it all started to look very American Indian like, but when it came down to burning the actual piece we had some major issues with safety issues which has seem to scar our studio from day one. Though there were at some stages some outbreaks of small flames it was largely controllable. As a whole I was quite satisfied in the way it turned out, especially when there were so many issues we encountered along the way, and many that were out of our control. Would I possible use any of these elements of the experiment in the final probably not, but it was definitely a good learning experience with how to work with fire and being able to control it.
FRAGILE // SUBTRACTIONincense that had been burned off the form, along with burnt calico and paper
FRA
GIL
E /
/ S
UB
TRAC
TIO
Nin
cens
e th
at h
ad b
een
burn
ed o
ff th
e fo
rm,
alon
g w
ith b
urnt
cal
ico
and
pape
r
TRA
NS
FOR
MAT
ION
//
THE
TRA
NS
FOR
ENC
E O
F O
NE
MAT
ERIA
LS P
RO
PER
TIES
ON
TO A
ND
AD
JOIN
ING
ON
E
TRAN
SFO
RM
ATIO
N /
/ D
etai
led
shot
s of
unr
avel
ling
the
vest
reve
alin
g th
e st
eel w
ool t
hat w
as u
sed
for t
he ru
stin
g pr
oces
s of
the
vest
.
For this weeks workshop task of transformation I decided that rusting would be an interest-ing technique to take up. Being able to insert different metals and allowing the rusting to take places in strategic placed areas would be an experiment worth doing. This week we given the task to follow through a much more resolved garment instead doing little test and swatches. So I decided to come up with a more resolved vest, with a draped collar that would allow rust-ing to take place on. The vest was made from a dense rayon twill fabric that came in white. Being a natural fiber I thought the results maybe effective. Adding the vest into the solution of vinegar, salt and bleach, I left it dilute over the space of a week. Everyday I would document on the results that had occur, I found of the duration of a day it had already rusted heavily in the areas where the steel wool I had inserted and held by elastic bands had instantly rusted. The steel wool was already going to rust as soon as it touched water, so that wasn’t that surprising. But the spoons that I had placed and tied in hadn’t done much at this stage. They took much longer to shows signs of rusting, around day 3 the spoons started to show small areas of rust.
Also after a week the areas where the spoons were sitting had torn right through the material. I think the stress caused by the pull of the fires caused it to weaken and tear apart. Overall results of the rusting I don’t think the rusting marks were that interesting, just because they were expected and it ended up looking a lot like tie dying because of the elastic bands that I used to secure the rusted objects which wasn’t the desired outcome. After the transformation process I am left much more interesting the break down of the material, than the actual rusting. Especially the random areas where materials were exposed to extreme stress the laddering of the individual gives out a really worn down look. Through these exercise I feel I’ve been more on the look out for achieving an aesthetic that suits my over all aesthetic that I could use or incorporate in a final more resolved piece.
TRANSFORMATION // THE TRANSFORENCE OF ONE MATERIALS PROPERTIES ONTO AND ADJOINING ONE
TRA
NS
FOR
MAT
ION
//
THE
TRA
NS
FOR
ENC
E O
F O
NE
MAT
ERIA
LS P
RO
PER
TIES
ON
TO A
ND
AD
JOIN
ING
ON
ES
teel
woo
l tha
t had
bee
n tie
d up
by
elea
stic
ban
ds a
t thr
ee d
iffere
nt p
oint
s. T
hese
wer
e th
e re
sults
whe
n th
e ve
st h
ad b
een
take
n ou
t of
the
solu
tion.
LEATHER // EXPERIMENTS
The initial experimemtational period of moulding leather, as in the picture on the left this is a super soft calf leather that has been heated and dipped in warm water to see if it would change the properties of the leather.Eventhough the results were not desired the leather did become less soft because the moisture may have been taken out in the drying process.
LEATHER // EXPERIMENTS
Leather experimentation with different ways of applying the wax, whether that be brushed or dip. The timing alsobecome very important in these initial test, as how long the leather is allowed to be immersed in the wax drastically changes the overall effect of the wax on the leather. Because the wax is constantly drying working at fast rate becomes very important.
LEATHER // WAXED SHOE
LEATHER // WAXED SHOESome photos that had been taken from the workshop of the visit i made to the brunswick campus footwear department. Andrew the technician that is sole person the runs the workshop, was a large help and guided me with how i should go about putting together the waxed shoe concept.
LEATHER // WAXED SHOEThe initial trial period of how i wanted to shoe to fit the foot, and how i would go about making a flat piece of vegetable tanned leather fit the foot in a way that would allow it movement but not restrict it either. The idea was to have to leather that surround the foot to move and be able to mould. whether that be from natural wear or from the wearer adapting it to another shape. The image on the right is off some experiments undertaken on the vegetable tanned leather.
LEATHER // WAXED SHOEThe first trial leather shoe that was made from the vegetable tanned leather, which was quite hard to work with because it was quite hard and difficult to work around, espicially for something that requires accurate sewing. This was with the waxed set in, i have also tried to have the laces set into the body of the show so that the wearer could pull it out when they needed to. But the lace became very firm and difficult to handle.
LEATHER // WAXED SHOEThe front end of the trial shoe i had chosen to fold over to see how it would fit on the foot. and see what kind of shapes i could create to form around the foot. Even though it does look quite strange and big, it does funtion quite well.
LEATHER // WAXED JACKET
LEAT
HE
R /
/ W
AXE
D J
AC
KE
TS
ome
initia
l toi
les
that
hav
e be
en m
ade
out o
f the
pig
skin
leat
her,
the
mas
king
tape
on
the
leat
her w
as
used
as
a gu
ilde
line
in w
here
to p
lace
the
lace
d ar
eas
whi
ch w
ould
be
used
to p
ull in
to a
mor
e de
sire
d fit.
Thi
s is
pre
wax
sta
ge. T
he a
im o
f thi
s ex
cerc
ise
was
to s
ee w
hat t
he la
ced
pullin
g sy
stem
wou
ld e
ffect
th
e ov
eral
l gar
ent a
nd s
ee if
it w
orke
d w
ith w
ax.
LEATHER // WAXED JACKETAn image of the pleat that will be placed along the side of the jacket, the aim of this design feature was to achieve the idea of the garment transforming when the body moves, Pleated panels that had been strategically placed would allow the wearer to move freely into he or shes desired position. The pleats would initially be waxed shut and held quite securely, but when enough force anc stress had been ap-plied, effectively the pleat would open up. The pleat has also been redesigned in a way, inside the pleate there is a second one under so if the wearer put extreme pressure in this area, it would give you even more range for movement.
LEATHER // WAXED JACKETThis is some of the trials of the pleated detailing that was done in the pig skin leather, a number of dif-ferent trials had been done because i wanted to achieve the most crisp pleats i could get with pig skin that i was working with. Obviuously you couldnt simply heat the pleats to keep them in place, i turned to alternative methods such as glueing a line in the folds of the pleats to create a stay. Also try seperating all the panels of the pleats and sewing them with a raw edge, this became problematic as the areas that got very fine, it became increasingly hard to work around. I ended up settling for top stitching the folds down, which seemed to be the most effective method.
LEAT
HE
R /
/ W
AXE
D J
AC
KE
TA
toile
of t
he ja
cket
that
will
be w
axed
in th
e fin
al, f
eatu
res
a la
pel t
hat f
olds
on
to th
e fro
nt o
f the
jack
et
that
als
o fits
in th
e se
am o
f the
low
er p
anel
wea
r the
poc
ket i
s al
so s
ituat
ed. T
his
crea
tes
a cl
eane
r fini
sh
and
allo
ws
the
lape
l to
stay
pla
ced.
So
this
wou
ld n
ot a
llow
wax
to p
enet
rate
the
unde
rsid
e of
the
lape
l, w
hich
wou
ld c
reat
e a
grea
t con
trast
bet
wee
n th
e na
tura
l pig
skin
leat
her a
nd w
axed
fini
sh.
LEATHER // WAXED JACKETWorking on the sleeve detailing of the elbow area, i wanted to achieve an area where it would allow the fabric to some how extend and allow the wearer to have full range of movement but at the same time have an extremely tailored fit in the sleeve. So allowing for this movement i have placed pleats in the elbows, that i have mapped out where the areas which requires the most movement. The pleat would initailly be closed shut by the wax, but when stress is applied the wax would break away and would be functional.
LEATHER // WAXED JACKETPreparations of final assessment photo shootphotographer // Nadeemy Betrosmodel // Paul Facchin
LEATHER // WAXED JACKET // BACK DETAILING
LEAT
HE
R /
/ W
AXE
D J
AC
KE
T //
PR
E P
HO
TO S
HO
OT
LEATHER // WAXED SHOESShoe fitting pre shoot, working with bending and moulding the vegetable tanned leather into desired position
DARA//INGPhotography // Rah Mcvitty
Photography // Nadeemy BetrosCreative Director // Jessie KielyCo Editor // Aleisha Whitson
Lighting // Juliette BoothVideo editing // Zachary Bradtke