Integrated Project...final resolution and projection of film...block 2

And finally...here we have the product of research into community, magnets and murmurations.  I decided on filming various sequences of birds together then overlaying them and creating a paper murmuration.  I then cropped, detached the unwanted audio and blended in the video of magnetic iron filings.

I also created my own sounds to accompany the video. A bit of an assault on the senses, i mixed the noise of a group of people chatting and a group of starlings taking off and chattering too.  I felt they worked well together because I wanted to give the impression of something being overwhelming like very large groups of people or murmurations of starlings.

Stills from my video before adding the iron filings ...

A still frame from the final film I produced and uploaded to YouTube as Magnetic Murmurations...

A photo of the final projection of Magnetic Murmurations produced by myself M.Muir copyright 2014.  The videos of the rooftop projection and final video have been uploaded to YouTube for your viewing pleasure...

just follow this link to YouTube or copy it into your search engine...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJoTq9dMVgd7vw23Q5A2zlA/videos

Enjoy

Integrated Project...paper bird animation...block 2

My initial idea was to animate some birds that i would cut from paper, so i decided to continue with this idea too, to help create my paper murmuration and to try another effect...

This is a rough draught of the cut paper animation i had in mind...its amazing how quickly the brain joins things up and even though there is a full second between between frames we still see moving objects.

After the success of this video too I decided to incorporate both elements of handmade paper birds and iron filings together.

Integrated Project...block 2...development

Well, after finding out about all the magnetic properties of starlings I decided, on advice of a lecturer, to try out some iron filings...the last time I had seen any iron filings was in this old game...

I experimented with moving the filings around from underneath some paper with various sizes of magnets...

I was very pleased with the results I got. The filings looked like the shapes murmurations make in the sky, the only problem I had was that I needed to find a more secure surface as the paper had a tendency to buckle and warp as the magnets moved the filings around...

I tied to secure it with books and candle holders and all sorts but the paper wasn't strong enough, so I opted to use a streched canvas instead.  

integrated Project...starling murmuration experiments...block 2

Since I had decided I would create a stop motion animation, I started to research more about starling murmurations and their behaviour...why do they do that? knowing that they did it when coming into roost for the evening I found myself asking. I discovered its for more resins than just that and pretty much the same reasons we gather together in large groups, they do it to exchange information, for protection, for fun, for company, to find food...which all seemed to be very similar to the reasons I would give people for gathering together.

The Shee album cover for their album Murmurations...every one is slightly different...

I also looked into (briefly) the science behind the actual flight patterns of a massive fast moving flocking starlings otherwise known as a murmuration.  It turns out magnets can explain it, or the same principle can be applied to that of the murmuration to explain why they don't have masses of in flight collisions...WOW!

I decided to try and include a reference to the magnetic properties of starlings after finding out all this info.

Integrated project for Without Walls...block 2

At the start of this project, which specifically had to be produced for display outdoors I had a whole different medium in mind...sculpture, which I was soon to discover wasn't something I enjoyed, at all...don't get me wrong sculptures are fantastic, I'm just not very good at creating them as I thought!

The little maquettes I started creating before realising sculpture wasn't for me...

The concept of starling murmurations and relating their behaviour to our human communities stayed the same but I decided to create a stop motion animation instead as I had a good experience with making one for my last project and having some workshops earlier in the year also hugely informed my decision to choose stop motion animation.

experimenting with drawing onto 35mm film directly with ink...

I attended a Norman McLaren exhibition and workshop to learn a little more about how the animation is created on film as apposed to digitally aided stop motions.

Some film with sharpie marker pen scribbled onto it...

I was very kindly given some film from the camera less filmmaker Steven Woloshen, who works for the National Film Board of Canada and was at the workshop with a film he was working on.  It was great to speak to someone so knowledgable about film.

Textiles...final pieces...Block 2

In the development of my final piece I thought about producing a series of inkjet printed fabric in A4, to be hung like on a washing line or in a photographers dark room...however with a bit of thought and a good look at it, I decided that A4 was just a bit too boring for me, and it was at this point I changed my mind about the size and layout of the print...

First ideas about size change...

Hung on a window you could really see the fibres in the print too, I added some extra bits of fabric, which made me think of negative strips...so i changed my mind about layout again!

I love this photo of my fabric on a washing line, even although I decided not to go with this design after all...

I did go with this design however. In my final piece there was twice the amount of printed fabric strips, I also had more of the film draped and coiled over the washing line too.

Textiles...block 2...development cont...

So, I decided that the t-shirt transfer paper hid too much of the fibres in the fabric and gave it quite a glossy finish, which I didn't want...I was really looking for an image stained into the fabric so I could still feel the true texture of the fabric.
I decided then to try simply printing directly onto my fabric, I had tried to find printer friendly fabric but to no avail, and any I did find was out of budget.

I glued a sheet of fabric I had cut to the same size as an A4 sheet of paper onto normal printer paper, very lightly and only with a glue stick.  I then quickly printed my series of photoshop images onto the fabric and removed them from each other so as the glue wouldn't fix my paper completely to the back of the fabric.

This was the final article which was very cheap to produce and very simple to do...I also liked the photographic quality and detail I could achieve by doing this...

Textiles...Block 2...ideas development

As my project is based on transient memories, I thought I would focus in on the quick degradation of these unwanted memories.
I started to experiment with altering an image on photoshop then transferring it to fabric somehow...I bought some T-shirt transfer paper which I printed onto, then ironed onto my fabric.
I choose nice tight weave cotton so as the fabric would be as smooth and easy to print or draw on as paper/canvas.

photoshop images printed onto transfer paper...

image on paper cut out and placed face down onto fabric...

 transfer paper was then ironed onto fabric.  Iron hot with steam settings turned off completely...

The type of t-shirt transfers I was using were for light or white coloured fabric.

Textiles...Block 2...lovely fabrics!

Well...I previously mentioned how I had been trying out hand making paper.  In this blog however I'll be taking you through my devore velvet piece, which I enjoyed the process of very much.

To start with I cut a piece of freezer paper about the same size as my piece of black velvet and drew a small design onto the back of it.  I cut this out carefully with a scalpel then stuck it to the back of the velvet, the side with no velvety texture.

I then painted/brushed on some devore paste, which eats away at the back of the fabric so the fibres come away where it's been applied.  I left it to stand for a minute or two after ironing it in, and gave it a little wash to remove the excess fibres and any unwanted paste.

There are many ways of applying the paste and stencils need not be used all the time, many effects can be created with this technique.

Here is mine...

I over used the devore paste a little, as the two big birds near the top left have little holes in them...oops!

printmaking...block 2

For my final print idea, I took the idea for the colours from the suffrajet colours...green, purple and white.              
                  Green = Hope                Purple = Dignity                   White = Purity

                                        A beautiful protest poster with the suffrajet colours

My final designs for text and background of my notes...I had them framed with the final dry points over the top of these and framed with a brief handwritten description underneath about this note.

Printmaking...Block 2...

As I said in my previous post, I was looking into feminism and its origins and the ongoing fight for equality in the workplace...
I found some wonderful and harrowing photographs of Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters and the suffrajet movement.

      A Suffrajet being arrested by two male authority figures in 1914 for protesting for womens rights

               Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst, Emmeline's Daughters, with a large banner

Emmeline Pankhurst herself, being restrained both physically and mentally by the male authority figures of the time

Printmaking...BLOCK 2...research continued...

As I am planning on using screen printing as part of my final design, I had started looking into screen printers and their works.

Having also been looking at some of the advances in feminism from campaigning for women to have the right to vote to what it means now, I felt I should mention that I found it very difficult to find female screen printers via the Google search facility...I found way more male printers in my initial search and wondered about the right to equal pay we are supposed to have in the workplace.

I feel that even although we are told that there are regulations in place to make sure there is equal pay and treatment of the sexes in the workplace, the reality still remains one of an un equal workplace.

Thoughout my research in my sketchbook, I did mention artist Kiki Smith...She produces lovely screen prints with a very graphic appearance to them, mainly working in black and white with handmade papers, I particularly like her work, but already knew about this female artist, I was quite disappointed to have to struggle so much with finding female printers...

                          Kiki Smith...Lucy's Daughter...1992...screenprint on handmade paper

PRINTMAKING...research...BLOCK 2

So the research for screen printing continues...This time I've been looking at commemorative bank notes, there really is no limit to their designs, and importantly the display of these pieces.

               Princess Diana commemorative bank note and above certificate of authenticity...

The displaying of them seems to vary, but the main approach seems to be a mounted note on a dark background with a small plaque or sometimes handwritten note of important information, like designer, bank and date of release.

Above is an Australian £1 banknote circa 1949 framed with detail in type about the above note...this is how I would like to display my notes after I've come up with the final design...

I will base my design and display of it on the examples I have in the research section of my sketchbook, and photographic research I've done too.